Special education for students with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic: "Each day brings new challenges".
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disrupted how educators provided supports and services for students with autism spectrum disorder. School closures and related pivoting between learning modalities were difficult for all students, but especially for students with autism, who rely on routine and often...
| Publicado en: | Autism: The International Journal of Research & Practice Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 889 - 900 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Sage Publications Inc.
May2022
|
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=156316987&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 156316987 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 13623613 F9D jtl: Autism: The International Journal of Research & Practice issn: 13623613 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: May2022 vid: 26 iid: 4 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. place: Thousand Oaks, California artinfo: ui: 156316987 151752289 156316987 156316987 10.1177/13623613211035935 156316987 ppf: 889 ppct: 11 formats: tig: atl: Special education for students with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic: "Each day brings new challenges". aug: au: Hurwitz, Sarah Garman-McClaine, Blaine Carlock, Kane affil: Indiana University Bloomington, USA sug: subj: COVID-19 Pandemic Autism Spectrum Disorder Faculty Attitudes Evaluation Work Experiences Evaluation Adaptation, Occupational Education, Special Online Education Implementation Science Human Multimethod Studies Time Management Thematic Analysis Collaboration Students with Disabilities Teaching Methods ab: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disrupted how educators provided supports and services for students with autism spectrum disorder. School closures and related pivoting between learning modalities were difficult for all students, but especially for students with autism, who rely on routine and often require individualized instruction. There has been limited opportunity for teachers to share their experiences of rapidly changing educational circumstances. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate how special educators and school-based specialists adapted practices for such students in response to pandemic conditions. One hundred and six educators from 40 school districts completed a written survey inquiring about the modifications they made to Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and their efforts to implement evidence-based practices. Participants reported adding individualized contingency learning plans to Individualized Education Programs, adjusting service minutes, and sometimes eliminating social goals. A thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) of educators' written reflections identified four themes, highlighting a renewed importance on collaboration with parents, who helped deliver intervention and monitor progress in the home setting. While students with more intense needs struggled, others actually preferred virtual instruction. This raises concerns for what will happen in the future, when social expectations resume. Despite the overwhelming challenges posed by COVID-19, participants demonstrated remarkable resiliency and innovation. The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disrupted how special educators provided supports and services for students with autism spectrum disorder. School closures and the related pivoting between learning modalities (i.e. virtual, hybrid, and face-to-face) were difficult for all students, but especially for students with autism, who rely on routine and require individualized instruction. In this study, we surveyed 106 special education teachers, behavior specialists, and speech pathologists who work with autistic students to learn about how they adapted instruction to comply with the complex social distancing rules and changing expectations of the pandemic. Participants reported "making the best out of a bad situation" and "constantly using 'trial & error' to find the best way for our students to eLearn." They emphasized the importance of collaboration with parents, who helped deliver intervention and monitor progress across settings. They made alterations to Individualized Education Programs, by adding individualized contingency learning plans, adjusting service minutes, and sometimes eliminating social goals. Participants were surprised that while students with more intense needs struggled, others actually preferred virtual instruction. This raises concerns for what will happen in the future, when social expectations resume. Despite the overwhelming challenges posed by COVID-19, participants demonstrated remarkable resiliency and an innovative ability to adapt instruction. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|