Mom: Virtual education was ‘a disaster’ for my son with Down syndrome - The Washington Post

Mom: Virtual education was ‘a disaster’ for my son with Down syndrome - The Washington Post

Virtual education was ‘a disaster’ for my son with Down syndrome. Here’s what students with disabilities really need

When covid-19 began to spread in the United States this past spring, schools closed around the country and most of them stayed that way through the end of the 2019-20 academic year.

Districts had hoped that remote learning could replace in some measure the learning that students would be missing while not in school. In some places it was enough, but in many it wasn’t — especially for students with special needs.

Special education students were stuck at home, most of them without the full array, or any, of the special services they get in school as required in their federally mandated Individualized Education Programs. And in many districts, remote learning will be the order of the day again when the 2020-21 academic year begins this fall, as covid-19 rates are spiking in many states. Several districts have announced that they are going to all-remote learning for the start of the school year, including Los Angeles, the second-largest in the country.

Allison Wohl’s son, Julian, is a rising fifth-grader in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, and virtual learning was “a disaster” for him, she said. In this post, she explains what happened to him and sets out exactly what schools need to do now to help students with special needs.

For parents trying to replicate school for children with disabilities, a confounding task

By Allison Wohl

The covid-19 pandemic has laid bare deep inequities in our society, particularly in access to quality education. While some students benefited from the makeshift distance learning program that schools put in place, many more, including students with disabilities, were frustrated and left even further behind.

For our son Julian, who recently finished fourth grade, and who has Down syndrome, distance learning CONTINUE READING: Mom: Virtual education was ‘a disaster’ for my son with Down syndrome - The Washington Post