How Kids Who Need Special Education Services Are Falling Through the Cracks During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our society in ways we  never imagined. Our unemployment system, healthcare system, social services, and education became clearly inadequate. They always were, but this seemed to emphasize it — for a while at least. Now as I look around and through the news, it appears that we are all pretending none of this is an issue or are just accepting it as the way things are. I am not ready to accept the inadequacy of our ability to help our kids with disabilities.

My son is 4 years old and gets speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and was supposed to be getting special education services. These services are so vital for his academic success as he is already behind his preschool peers. At the start of the shut down we shifted to packets from the school. The agency that provides his services laid off their providers and he went without any of them for 3-4 weeks. Then they contacted us offering teletherapy.

“This will never work,” my husband and I both said in private. But we felt we needed to do everything possible to support him, so I said we would accept it. Here is how it went.

Physical therapy — he starts off with a new therapist he has never met before.

Physical therapist: “Do you like yoga?”

Him: “Yes! Yum Yum!”

Me: “Not yogurt, buddy.”

He proceeds to roll around on the floor instead of doing the activities she is trying to get him to do. She puts up a video to screen share and as soon as she starts screen sharing, our connection slows down. Now she is doing moves out of sync with the video we are seeing and he gives up (I can’t blame him for that one).

Speech therapy — This is the hardest for him. She relies heavily on digital activities which often crash or won’t restart.

Therapist: “Where did he go?”

Me: “Watching the garbage truck outside.”

Each session was more exhausting to all of us than any benefit he may have been deriving.

Fast forward to the fact that we need a speech apraxia eval. We can’t do this adequately over Zoom and the majority of people are not seeing kids in person. I contact agency after agency and they keep punting me to other people, saying they do not have anyone qualified to evaluate for apraxia. Turns out there is a vacuum and no one knows where I should go.

This is not new. This was broken before COVID-19, and that is not OK.

Last week Governor Cuomo announced that special education services can be provided in person 1:1. I eagerly anticipated the switch. Yesterday, his speech therapist shared with me that the agency had no guidance and so they would not be doing it in person. This is consistent with many districts across New York. When she said it, I had to turn the tablet away from me to hide the fact that I was crying. I feel hopelessly inadequate at helping my child and in getting the help he needs right now. And no one can help. No one knows what anything will look like. No one has answers.

I do not want to risk anyone’s health and safety during this pandemic. I don’t know what the answer is. However, when they talk about the pandemic possibly lasting years, I fear my child’s educational attainment will be an invisible casualty. This is not acceptable and I call on parents, educators and lawmakers across the country to find a better way. Find a way to prevent kids from falling through the cracks at this time, or we will be seeing the effects years down the road.

For more on parenting during quarantine, check out the following stories from our community:

• Please Wash Your Hands Year-Round — Not ‘Just’ Because of the Coronavirus
• Creative Activities to Try With Your Kids While We’re Isolated at Home
• How We Can Promote Continuity in Special Education Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• What It’s Like Parenting a Medically Complex Child During the Coronavirus Outbreak