Amid COVID-19, Autism Families Face Back-To-School Dilemmas

Back-to-school means a lot of worry and scrambling as families try to navigate our nation’s uncertain future. When medical experts were queried as to whether they would send their child back to school, their answers distilled down to whether or not they lived in an area experiencing a spike in infections and how good the disease control was at their child’s school. Those experts have options many do not, because they can afford tutors and childcare. Many parents face hard choices, especially parents of special needs students. Choices available certainly depend on where you live and as we’ve all come to learn, every state is different. Some states only have online learning, while other have in person options or hybrid programs. Here is a map of school closures as of July 18th: https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/map-covid-19-schools-open-closed.html

Parents of special needs children, including those with autism, face intense dilemmas if and when schools close and their children cannot access the services they receive for their disability. Recently, there was some confusion regarding schools believing that serving special education children at a distance is too daunting and can’t be done during COVID-19. They claimed their services were enrichment and not direct education thus, not subject to the same bylaws as in normal circumstances.

The Office for Civil Rights Office for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services issued a statement on March 21, 2020 clarifying that schools must provide FAPE (Free Accessible Public Education) during COVID-19. Recommendations were made to regard distance learning as not just online but “might include extensions of time for assignments, videos with accurate captioning or embedded sign language interpreting, accessible reading materials and many speech or language services through video conferencing.” Districts were strongly warned against discrimination against special needs students during the pandemic.

Communication is key in these troubled times. Family Equality suggests the following:

Whether your school district has implemented distance learning or not, if you have a child with special needs, reach out to your IEP team to discuss your child’s particular needs and what homebound services would be most helpful to them. And if you are in a district that has not closed yet, request an IEP team meeting to proactively discuss the potential need for such services. Further, if your schools are open but your child is required to stay home due to a condition that puts them at a heightened risk for COVID-19, there should be an IEP meeting to discuss appropriate accommodations for your child.

If you are homeschooling your special needs child, it’s a good idea to document the experience. Track regressions, changes in behavior, medication, trips to the hospital, etc. and expenses incurred by you in privately paying for therapies the school would’ve provided. You and your family need all the support you can get. And it’s your right under the law.

Here are tips for setting up ASD remote learning at home.

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