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This handbook discusses open and distance learning for students with disabilities during COVID-19, through vivid stories and experiences. Particularly, it describes, through illustrative stories, innovative approaches on how to design learning activities in open and distance learning environments for students with disabilities. Additionally, this h...
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... The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a shift from the face-to-face educational system to a digital learning education system. Distance learning education system promotes the educational outcomes of students with ASD because it encourages the development of more individualized education programs, reduces social pressure encountered in traditional school settings, and allows the students to learn in a familiar and comfortable environment (Huang, Tlili, Jemni, & Burgos, 2020). However, the lack of ICT infrastructure, poor or lack of internet access, and lack of skills and educational resources (Mekonnen & Muluye, 2020) required for distance learning education present key challenges for implementing online teaching for students with ASD. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has created new educational challenges and presented new opportunities for educators and students with learning disabilities, especially due to the increased awareness and focus on inclusive education. While extensive research has been done on effective strategies for teaching students with autism in an inclusive classroom environment, there is minimal research conducted on strategies for distance learning education for students with autism. This group is at a higher risk of being excluded from online education compared to their peers who have no learning difficulties. Recommended strategies for enhancing effective online education for students with autism include strategies for developing instructional materials. Another is collaborative engagements with all stakeholders to develop an understanding of each student’s strengths and weaknesses. The other is the provision of teacher training and continuous professional development. Next up is developing strategies for creating effective home-based learning environments such as providing all the required infrastructure for online learning. Finally, are strategies for instructional delivery such as the use of effective assistive technologies such as Zoom, collaboration with caregivers, and ensuring the active engagement of the students during instruction delivery.
The transition of universities to the distance education system due to the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the need to take measures to ensure the active participation of students in educational practices and to prevent their education from being adversely affected. If proper measures are not taken, students with special needs are among the groups with high probability of experiencing difficulties even in formal education. Therefore, in this study, the experiences of students with special needs as well as ways to cope with these difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic were investigated. 56 students with special needs studying in various universities across Turkey participated in the cross-sectional study in which a survey questionnaire developed by the researchers was used. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that students mostly experienced difficulties regarding the devices used (41.07%) and internet access (33.93%). It was also determined that courses and exams were not adapted according to the students’ needs (39.29%), and students experienced difficulties in accessing the resources while preparing for the exams (57.14%). In addition, students also had difficulties in reaching the authorities from the university (28.57%) and reported that the announcements made by the disability services office were inadequate (25%). In dealing with the difficulties students either increased the limit of their internet or bought unlimited internet access packages (62.50%), and they also asked friends (69.64%) and student counselors (42.86%) for help. Although precautions were taken during the Covid-19 pandemic, students with special needs still experienced difficulties in accessing education at universities. For this reason, it is important to conduct comprehensive studies on the causes of the problems experienced to facilitate the educational accessibility for students with special needs and to find solutions for students with special needs to ensure that they actively continue their education.
