The CDC estimates that 1 in 54 children have autism. For these kids and those with other special needs, access to learning services is vital, but with COVID-19 many of those offerings are stuck on pause.
For Brad Davis when it was announced that school and other programs would no longer continue in person this past spring, he immediately thought of his 6 year old son who has autism.
“Not only did the school based rigidness of his daily activities stop abruptly,” said Davis, “but also the therapies he needed in order to continue to progress with his disability stopped abruptly as well so it was challenging.”
Davis’s son is one of approximately 8,000 children in Central Illinois expected to be living with Autism.
“Being with other kids and being able to see how they act in certain environments is absolutely crucial and the fact that that has all but gone away has been difficult.” said Davis
For children with autism, virtual learning doesn’t always click.
Danika McGandy is the Chief Operating Officer of GBC ABA, a therapy center for those with autism and special needs who have been working throughout the pandemic.
“Knowing that so many kids were going to be losing some of those opportunities to work on social skills, transitions and other school readiness skills we really started to consider if we could be able to offer that program safely this year.” said McGandy
This fall for their ABA therapy program they were able to go back, but only at half capacity. The necessary measures in order to keep them safe.
Another challenge to overcome, personalizing education outside the building. The regional director at GBC ABA in Peoria, Mackenzie Laesch, said in a traditional school setting these kids often have IEP’s or 504’s. Specific programs that were hard to translate to the virtual platform.
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Source: week.com