Making special education work for your child during COVID-19

Even in normal times, parents wrestle with decisions about how best to support their children’s development. Now, however, parents are faced with nearly-unprecedented choices, and problems with no clear solutions: What if in-person schooling is better for emotional health, but remote schooling is better for physical health? How can children foster social skills without typical social interactions? How can parents select among learning environments when all the options have clear downsides? These concerns and choices 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 during school disruptions. Special education: One size does not fit all Of course, students who receive special education are not a uniform group. They range in age from 3 to 22, attending preschool through post-secondary placements. They include students with a wide variety of mild to severe cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and behavioral disabilities. But students with disabilities share a need for special services, accommodations, or both, in order to fully access the school curriculum, and to make meaningful progress appropriate to their ability. At a time when schools are scrambling to deliver regular education in a novel and frightening new context, parents and educators must also work together to select and design appropriate programs for students with special needs. Remote learning Remote learnin...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Children's Health Coronavirus and COVID-19 Source Type: blogs