Special Needs Students and School Closures: Solutions for Unprecedented Times
Routine is important, especially for children with special needs. Local school closures have caused many challenges for families across the United States. For special needs parents, the pandemic has left their children particularly vulnerable as schools scramble to implement virtual classrooms, often leaving them without the services and resources required by IEPs and 504 Plans.
How School Closures Affect Special Needs Children:
Before COVID-19 closures, school districts struggled with limited funding to provide the services required by law to students with disabilities. It’s no surprise that schools are now overwhelmed by trying to provide these services remotely. To complicate matters, the two bills in place to protect children and their right to education (IDEA & Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act) have raised complex questions on how these laws should be carried out when schools are closed. Up until recently, the federal law was silent on how districts should address the nearly 7 million students in special education programs during extended school closures.
For many special needs students, this meant that school closures brought their education to an immediate halt. Fortunately, we live in a time where technology can connect us with one another instaneously, providing practical solutions in times of social distancing.
Benefits of Teleservices for ASD
Most services required by special needs learners could be challenging to provide in a virtual setting. Traditionally, services require real-time interaction between the professional and student so that feedback and correction can occur at the exact moment that it is needed. However, in these unprecedented times, paraeducators are implementing innovative virtual services to help meet the needs of special needs children.
Usually, telemedicine connected doctors to patients via smartphones, and computers have made visits and treatment more cost-effective. A study by the University of Iowa has found that parents with children on the autism spectrum can have a specialist address challenging behaviors over the computer, too. This has been especially helpful for families who live in areas where services for ASD children are hard to come by. Thanks to the availability of telemedicine, families will be able to connect with a specialist without causing big disruptions to their child or family. Additionally, researchers have found that specialists can successfully train parents to use ABA procedures using telehealth technology (University of Iowa Health Care, 2016).
We are here to support you during these difficult times. 121 Learning Works has a dedicated expert team to provide outcome-focused Applied Behavior Analysis services that customized to meet your needs. Our goal is to use our advanced telehealth methods to give you specialized care in your home, where it’s needed the most! To get started, call us at 732-884-0580, speak to someone on our expert team, and schedule a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss your child’s unique needs.
