The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all Americans. SafeMinds specifically recognizes the unique needs and challenges of the autism community during this unprecedented time. Our goal is to lessen the impact of COVID-19 on families by regularly monitoring and sharing resources that may help children and adults with autism cope with the uncertainty of the pandemic.
Special Needs Caregivers Describe More Negative Effects From Pandemic Versus Non-Caregivers
A new report issued from the National Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Family Support at the University of Pittsburgh found that caregivers of individuals with special needs are more likely to experience health and financial difficulties since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh conducted a survey of caregivers from April 15 to May 27 and found that sixty-three percent faced an increase in responsibilities since stay at home orders began.
Participate in Autism Research: ASD COVID-19 Study
The Johnson Center for Child Health and Development is conducting an online, questionnaire based study to address the psychosocial and behavioral impact of COVID-19 on children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study includes questions about the level of supports and services your child received at the beginning of 2020 and compares with the time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Disability Community Balks at Senate Republican’s HEALS Act
On July 27, Senate Republicans introduced components of the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools (HEALS) Act. Their $1 trillion proposal aims to provide additional coronavirus economic relief for Americans beyond the assistance provided by last March’s CARES Act, which unfortunately, did not include disabled adults in its stimulus payments.
LA Times Finds Extensive Regression in Special Ed Students Since March
“Stalled progress,” “loss of skills,” “no semblance of education,” “helpless,” “frustration,” “huge regression,” “inconsistent,” ”not sufficient,” are just a few terms parents, teachers, advocates, and therapists used in a recent front-page Los Angeles Times article to describe special education services provided to California’s 760,000 students with disabilities since COVID-19 shutdown schools.
Conveying Educational Needs Via Remote Learning Proves Challenging
School closures have provided students in special education with lessons that are reduced to just minutes a day, coupled with isolation from peers, these students have experienced weak educational programs and loneliness via home learning. These students aren’t the only ones in distress. Special education teachers with advanced degrees and specific certifications feel unprepared and unqualified to instruct via remote education. Parents are frustrated as well, maintaining that in person instruction is critical for their child’s progress. Could there be hope for these groups to adjust to remote learning this fall?
COVID-19 Autism Resource Round-Up
To support special needs families during COVID-19, SafeMinds has assembled a comprehensive list of resources to make life at home more manageable. These resources have been broken down into different categories. Most categories include several links, giving many options to see what works best for your special needs family member.
