How COVID-19 pandemic impacts special education services, rights

HOUSTON - This month, the CDC found two in five Americans were reporting mental health issues as direct results of the global pandemic. As the pandemic carries on, parents have the added stress now of back to school. That stress is particularly heavy on those whose children already struggled with a learning disability.

The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that seven in every 50 public school students receive special education for a learning difference or disability.

"We kind of stalled," explains Brandi Luther, referring to her son who is in special education classes at Conroe ISD. "It's hard, as a parent, when you're sitting there watching your child struggle. It's a struggle for both of us. At times you get to a point and you're just like, 'it's not worth the struggle.'"

Yet every day, she takes on the task of guiding her son through virtual learning. Luther's son lives with dyslexia. It impacts his ability to process symbols, like letters and numbers. It is often known as a disability that delays or reduces someone's reading skills. Last year, Luther says an exceptional special education teacher helped make major strides in her son's reading ability. Then, the pandemic hit.

"All the progress that we have made last school year? It seems like it's just kind of lost," Luther said.

Dr. Kimberly Harrison is a private therapist with the Conative Group in Houston. She works with many students whose disabilities create debilitating anxiety.

"With the pandemic, they hear these messages all day long: 'Don't go out! Be afraid of going out. Don't touch other people.' That really exacerbates their internal wiring which says, 'Be afraid," explains Dr. Harrison.

Harrison says the stress and lack of in-person engagement with others during the pandemic are causing many of her young clients to regress in ways she worries could delay their development into adulthood.

"Let's say we've been working for two years. Well, in this short time frame since March, I've seen regression back to baseline," she says.

Private therapists like Dr. Harrison tend to work in tandem with a student's educators to develop techniques and routines to help them learn in a classroom. That can often take years to establish. Now, Dr. Harrison coaches educators on best practices for handling a special needs student in a virtual setting.

"There are very limited things you can do in a virtual world for people who have real-world issues that require being with other people," Dr. Harrison laments. "That said, oh my goodness, there have been some creative solutions."

Yet in many solutions, parents are now key players in a child's special education experience. For example: Brandi Luther has to read aloud the material presented in her son's virtual lessons. She has essentially become a replacement for the one-on-one aid he was entitled to at school.

"It is taking away from my work, you know, my normal job," Luther says, "but it's a sacrifice that we have to make as a parent. Most kids his age can log on and they can read and they can follow the directions and move on. Because of his dyslexia he can't sit there and read it."

A pandemic does not change the fact that, by federal law, schools are legally obligated to provide the learning accommodations and services for which a student is deemed eligible.

"Some people think, 'well, that's an unfair advantage,' but that's not true," explains Dr. Harrison. "If a student meets eligibility, they've gone through rigorous testing to see if they meet criteria. The accommodation levels the playing field. If we don't have that in place—virtual classroom or not—then the student with a disability is always at a disadvantage."

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Luther says she is thankful for the educators helping her navigate this experience. The special education teacher her son had last year reached out and offered to support him through this virtual classroom experience. She feels the pandemic has highlighted the passion with which special education teachers approach their job.

Parents who do not feel their teachers or districts are meeting their child's needs should contact the school principal or district superintendent. Dr. Harrison emphasized that this is a time when parents must step fully to the plate of being their child's truest advocate.