Making special education work for your child during COVID-19 – . Health Blog

Even in normal times, parents struggle with decisions about how best to support their children's development. Now, however, parents are faced with near-unprecedented choices and problems with no clear solutions: What if in-person lessons are better for emotional health, but distance learning is better for physical health? How can children develop social skills without typical social interactions? How can parents choose among learning environments when all options have clear disadvantages?

These concerns and decisions are even more difficult for parents of children with disabilities, who are among the most vulnerable students and who are at increased risk of regression if they are ill at school.

Special Education: One size doesn't fit all

Of course, students who receive special education are not a single group. They are between 3 and 22 years old and attend pre-school through post-secondary internships. This includes students with a variety of mild to severe cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and behavioral disorders.

However, students with disabilities share a need for special services, housing, or both, in order to have full access to the school's curriculum and to make significant advances that match their skills. At a time when schools are struggling to provide regular education in a novel and terrifying new context, parents and educators must also work together to select and design appropriate programs for students with special needs.

Distance learning

Remote learning has two obvious advantages. First, it is the safest choice from a physical health perspective. In fact, it may be the only choice for students who are medically fragile. Second, distance learning is less likely to be disrupted or changed over the course of the school year. Students struggling with transitions or anxiety can benefit from the relatively predictable nature of distance learning.

However, distance learning also carries risks, some of which are particularly acute for students with disabilities. When children are at home, educators may not be able to provide some services or accommodations. It can be more difficult, or even impossible, to work towards specific goals, especially goals that require proximity or interaction with others, e.g. B. going to the toilet independently or buying lunch in the school cafeteria without adult assistance.

Distance learning also requires flexibility in parents' schedules and intense parental participation. Even with parental involvement, students differ in how effectively they can engage in distance learning. And students struggling with attention, intellectual functioning, language, self-regulation, or a combination of these challenges may have great difficulty learning efficiently from a remote platform. The lack of peer models can lead some children to behaviorally or academically regressive.

Personal learning

In-person or hybrid models (a combination of remote and in-person learning) offer most of the benefits that remote options offer. This includes a social environment with peers and access to services and accommodation in an environment that is as normal as possible. Students in need of intensive support, hands-on services, or working on school-specific or professional skills may need face-to-face learning opportunities in order to have full access to the curriculum.

Personal models, however, harbor one major and obvious risk: the potential for increased exposure to COVID-19. All parents must be wary of this dangerous disease, and parents of medically complex children may find such a risk unacceptable, despite potential academic or social benefits.

Personal models are also likely to evolve as the pandemic progresses. As a result, students need more flexibility in order to be successful at a sports school.

What should parents do?

Parents and educators have to face this challenge with creativity, flexibility and cooperation. Parents should ask to meet with their child's education team as soon as possible and should meet regularly thereafter to monitor their child's progress and update the education program as needed. When parents meet with their team, they should be open about each goal and service and discuss multiple options on how a goal can be achieved and how a service or accommodation can be provided.

Some customizations are easy: for example, large print, screen reading software, and speech output are instantly available in a remote context. Other adjustments present challenges, but not necessarily insurmountable ones. For example, a behavioral analyst might offer video call coaching. Or a teacher certified in intensive special education can remotely issue discreet testing instructions by placing two tablets in the children's home, one for the child and one as a screen to display the child's answers. An aide or behavioral supporter can join a child's virtual classroom and chat with or break out with the child if necessary to offer support.

Now is the time for innovation, and many schools and families are discovering great new ways to deliver special education safely and effectively.

Put the school in perspective

While it may seem like there aren't any great opportunities for school, parents should try to take comfort in accepting that this year "good enough" is really enough.

We should also strive to prioritize the things kids need even more than school: physical and emotional security, a responsive adult, and unconditional love and acceptance. Children who feel safe and loved will emerge from this pandemic and be ready to face other challenges in their future – and they may even have learned a thing or two along the way.

resources

Autism speaks of COVID resources

Children's Trends (includes several great articles to help support children through COVID-19)

.'s Center for Children's Development Guide to COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development

Helping traumatized children learn, a joint effort between MA Advocates for Children and . Law School

Resources and examples from the Learning Policy Institute

PTA resources

Department of Education resources for schools, students, and families