Here’s How Students with Disabilities and Their Parents Adjusted to Remote Learning

For Jackie Goldberg’s son Sam, who is nonverbal, losing the physical presence of his teachers and peers was confusing and anxiety-provoking, like it might be for anyone. But the transition to remote learning last spring—in which students and classmates are replaced by images of themselves on an iPad—was particularly challenging for students with disabilities, their families said. Sam’s agitation has increased, Jackie said, and he developed separation anxiety and wouldn’t leave her side. As of May, he hadn’t been outside of his Upper East Side apartment in months, as it’s hard for him to understand social distancing. There was no plan for what would come next.

“[The people in his life], they’re just gone. They’re erased,” Goldberg said. “And now that he is with me all this time, is he going to stay with me? Is he going to go back? What’s he going to go back to?”

Four families shared their experiences with the transition to remote learning and thoughts about all of the unknowns coronavirus presents, from what school will look like in the fall to how losing therapies and services has impacted kids. Every family’s experience was different, but a common thread comes through: for students and parents who don’t have safety nets, the transition was a uniquely trying one.

Remote Learning Led to Regression

Parents said remote learning had tangible consequences for their children. Acola McKnight’s 5-year-old son Kaleb didn’t receive his physical and occupational therapies for the first three weeks of remote learning because each therapist had to be approved to do work over Zoom. Kaleb goes to a school specifically for children with disabilities. In those therapy-less weeks, Kaleb regressed “tremendously,” McKnight said.

“It was horrible. It was as if he had never gone to that school and gotten services,” she said. “Since Zoom has started, he’s a little better, but it’s not good. Occupational therapy is a therapy you need to do hand-over-hand. It’s not the way it used to be. [For physical therapy], it’s hard for him to be motivated over Zoom.” 

Kaleb’s frustration boiled over sometimes when he was asked to attend class or do work on his tablet.

“He hasn’t adjusted well to not being in the classroom. He doesn’t have the patience to sit down in front of the tablet. And at some point, I can’t make him, because I don’t want to traumatize him by forcing him to sit down,” McKnight said. “It’s not fair to him. He doesn’t understand this change.”

For Amber Decker’s son, who is a freshman, the biggest challenge came from the disproportionate amount of asynchronous work he was asked to complete during remote learning. Asynchronous work is homework or class assignments students are asked to do on their own, without live instruction. Decker said her son was particularly unmotivated because he already did well in the first three marking periods of the year, and struggled to see the point of this last one. 

“He’s doing work, but he’s not doing well. He’s getting thirties and forties. And that’s not typical for him at all,” Decker said. Students in her son’s class weren’t graded on their synchronous work, such as class participation during live lessons or in 1-on-1 sessions with their teachers. Decker believes her son would do better if those aspects of his schoolwork were assessed like they are when school is running normally.

Losing school meant losing more than academics, too.

“He was doing extremely well in gym, which he has always done really poorly in. This was the first year he was [doing well],” she said. “He was really excelling in that area, and having more friendships, and going out to lunch. He wasn’t coming home by himself, which was a big deal. All of that has stopped. He was finally catching up, and now that’s fell by the wayside.” 

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Supporting Kids While Working from Home Took a Toll

Some kids might be able to navigate their online classrooms independently while their parents work. But some kids need more support—they couldn’t get into Zoom meetings themselves or needed to be guided through PT sessions—and parents were doing balancing acts.

McKnight is a single parent, and she works from 9am-5pm. But during that time, Kaleb had class on his iPad, and McKnight also has a 20-month-old baby. She hired a nanny to watch the kids, an added expense, but if the nanny needed to help Kaleb in an OT session and McKnight had to watch the baby, her work slipped through the cracks.  

 “I feel like I’m making everyone else’s job easier, and no one is making my job easier as a parent being at home,” McKnight said.

Paola Jordan’s 12-year-old twins, Thomas and Maya, both have disabilities. Thomas is classified as having a learning disability and has dysgraphia, which means he has trouble with handwriting; assistive technology helps him complete assignments. Thomas also has anxiety and ADHD. He is part of an integrated co-teaching (ICT) classroom. Maya has autism spectrum disorder.