Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
Just as many schools prepared for the end of the school year, most of the country entered lock-down. The pandemic upended education for children everywhere. Schools and students relied on distance learning and virtual classrooms to salvage the last quarter of the academic year. While virtual learning helped create safe conditions for children at risk or their family members, it also failed many special education students.
In districts across the country, special education classrooms cater to children with a range of developmental, emotional, and physical disabilities. These classes usually require two to four teachers and aids to meet all of the children’s needs. Social distancing in these settings is all but impossible. Many students in special education also have comorbidity that put them at risk for medical complications associated with Covid-19.
However, the difficult implementation of virtual classrooms this spring raised concerns for many families with students in special education programs. They found that virtual learning could not meet their children’s’ needs. Resources and guidance for these lessons were lacking, posing a danger to the development of many students.
Challenges in Virtual Classrooms
In the US about 14 percent of students require some special education resources. The needs of these students vary greatly. Each special education student has an Individual Education Plan (IEP) developed and implemented by special education professionals, administrators, and parents together. Now parents must shoulder the burden of implementing this plan. In many cases, they must also juggle working from home while ensuring that their child receives some form of education. Being taken out of their classrooms not only deprives these students of education but in many cases it also causes regression.
Many students with disabilities, such as down syndrome, require direct and physical engagement to participate in lessons. For some students who may be nonverbal, this means creative tools, such as word boards or cards, which they may not have access to at home. In many cases, schools provide physical therapy, which is now left to parents to carry out through online instruction. For many students who have difficulty physically controlling themselves, sitting still in front of a computer for even a few minutes is not realistic.
In many cases simply losing the schedule and consistency of the classroom is disruptive for the student’s development. Many children with autism spectrum disorder or ADHD require a consistent and predictable schedule. Having that schedule can allow the student to engage and focus in lessons. Losing it can be devastating, make it difficult for them to focus, understand their surroundings, and even cause regressive behavior. Families of these children are doing their best to provide what they can of their child’s education and to keep track of the changes in their development.
Left Without Guidance
While families and teachers are doing their best to accommodate student needs, many districts and schools have provided little guidance. Federal law requires that school districts provide adequate special education for the development of students with special needs. However, the federal government has offered flexibility in those standards throughout the lock-down.
Distance learning for students with special needs is never going to be ideal. Home classrooms will not be able to provide the resources, organization, or attention that a classroom in a school will. And lessons over a computer will always fall short of what these students need. In addition, many families and teachers are frustrated with just how little support they are receiving from school districts. In a survey conducted early in the Spring, fewer than half of parents surveyed reported the school calling to check on their students with disabilities.
Several advocacy groups have raised concerns that special education is being ignored by school districts trying to handle the pandemic. They are concerned that if this is not addressed before school begins in the fall, many of these students will lose the important gains that special education services have provided.
Finding Home Solutions
In the absence of guidance, many teachers and caregivers have created their own solutions to the unique challenges of virtual special education. By turning to online resources parents are providing as many tools as they can for their children. This includes anything from educational Youtube videos, online learning games, or instructional packets for home activities.
Among these resources, Step Up For Mental Health® provides educational and mental health tools for families to utilize. At the Step Up For Kids programs page, you can find resources from book readings and literacy lessons for young children, to breathing practices to help kids calm down. There are even resources for parents to learn how to encourage mental health habits in children. These can be vital for children in need of structure.
Parents, teachers, therapists, and advocacy groups alike are all collaborating to provide some sense of normalcy for children with special needs. While it cannot be a stand-in for structured educational resources, they can be a lifeline for families in need.
Whatever school will look like in the fall, it must take into account special education. School districts must provide better tools for virtual education or home lessons, in case students can’t safely return to their classrooms. If students do return to class, it will mean reevaluating progress and learning plans for millions.
