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Special education for students with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic: “Each day brings new challenges”

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Abstract and Figures

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disrupted how educators provided supports and services for students with autism spectrum disorder. School closures and related pivoting between learning modalities were difficult for all students, but especially for students with autism, who rely on routine and often require individualized instruction. There has been limited opportunity for teachers to share their experiences of rapidly changing educational circumstances. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate how special educators and school-based specialists adapted practices for such students in response to pandemic conditions. One hundred and six educators from 40 school districts completed a written survey inquiring about the modifications they made to Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and their efforts to implement evidence-based practices. Participants reported adding individualized contingency learning plans to Individualized Education Programs, adjusting service minutes, and sometimes eliminating social goals. A thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) of educators’ written reflections identified four themes, highlighting a renewed importance on collaboration with parents, who helped deliver intervention and monitor progress in the home setting. While students with more intense needs struggled, others actually preferred virtual instruction. This raises concerns for what will happen in the future, when social expectations resume. Despite the overwhelming challenges posed by COVID-19, participants demonstrated remarkable resiliency and innovation. Lay abstract The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disrupted how special educators provided supports and services for students with autism spectrum disorder. School closures and the related pivoting between learning modalities (i.e. virtual, hybrid, and face-to-face) were difficult for all students, but especially for students with autism, who rely on routine and require individualized instruction. In this study, we surveyed 106 special education teachers, behavior specialists, and speech pathologists who work with autistic students to learn about how they adapted instruction to comply with the complex social distancing rules and changing expectations of the pandemic. Participants reported “making the best out of a bad situation” and “constantly using ‘trial & error’ to find the best way for our students to eLearn.” They emphasized the importance of collaboration with parents, who helped deliver intervention and monitor progress across settings. They made alterations to Individualized Education Programs, by adding individualized contingency learning plans, adjusting service minutes, and sometimes eliminating social goals. Participants were surprised that while students with more intense needs struggled, others actually preferred virtual instruction. This raises concerns for what will happen in the future, when social expectations resume. Despite the overwhelming challenges posed by COVID-19, participants demonstrated remarkable resiliency and an innovative ability to adapt instruction.
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https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613211035935
Autism
2022, Vol. 26(4) 889 –899
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/13623613211035935
journals.sagepub.com/home/aut
Special education for students
with autism during the COVID-19
pandemic: “Each day brings new
challenges”
Sarah Hurwitz , Blaine Garman-McClaine
and Kane Carlock
Abstract
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disrupted how educators provided supports and services for students with autism
spectrum disorder. School closures and related pivoting between learning modalities were difficult for all students, but
especially for students with autism, who rely on routine and often require individualized instruction. There has been
limited opportunity for teachers to share their experiences of rapidly changing educational circumstances. The purpose
of this mixed-methods study was to investigate how special educators and school-based specialists adapted practices for
such students in response to pandemic conditions. One hundred and six educators from 40 school districts completed
a written survey inquiring about the modifications they made to Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and their
efforts to implement evidence-based practices. Participants reported adding individualized contingency learning plans to
Individualized Education Programs, adjusting service minutes, and sometimes eliminating social goals. A thematic analysis
(Braun and Clarke, 2006) of educators’ written reflections identified four themes, highlighting a renewed importance on
collaboration with parents, who helped deliver intervention and monitor progress in the home setting. While students
with more intense needs struggled, others actually preferred virtual instruction. This raises concerns for what will
happen in the future, when social expectations resume. Despite the overwhelming challenges posed by COVID-19,
participants demonstrated remarkable resiliency and innovation.
Lay abstract
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disrupted how special educators provided supports and services for students with
autism spectrum disorder. School closures and the related pivoting between learning modalities (i.e. virtual, hybrid, and
face-to-face) were difficult for all students, but especially for students with autism, who rely on routine and require
individualized instruction. In this study, we surveyed 106 special education teachers, behavior specialists, and speech
pathologists who work with autistic students to learn about how they adapted instruction to comply with the complex
social distancing rules and changing expectations of the pandemic. Participants reported “making the best out of a bad
situation” and “constantly using ‘trial & error’ to find the best way for our students to eLearn.” They emphasized the
importance of collaboration with parents, who helped deliver intervention and monitor progress across settings. They
made alterations to Individualized Education Programs, by adding individualized contingency learning plans, adjusting
service minutes, and sometimes eliminating social goals. Participants were surprised that while students with more
intense needs struggled, others actually preferred virtual instruction. This raises concerns for what will happen in
the future, when social expectations resume. Despite the overwhelming challenges posed by COVID-19, participants
demonstrated remarkable resiliency and an innovative ability to adapt instruction.
Indiana University Bloomington, USA Corresponding author:
Sarah Hurwitz, Special Education, School of Education, Indiana University
Bloomington, 205 N Rose Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
Email: shurwitz@iu.edu
1035935AUT0010.1177/13623613211035935AutismHurwitz et al.
research-article2021
Original Article
... Although all students were impacted by the pandemic, those with pre-existing mental health difficulties (e.g., anxiety and depression, and students identified with autism and ADHD) were disproportionally affected because they learn best with consistent schedules, well-rehearsed routines, and supportive relationships, rather than the erratic transitions between instructional modalities and uneven educational supports caused by the pandemic (Zijlmans et al. 2021;Hurwitz, Garman-McClaine, and Carlock 2022). It fell to special education teachers to provide students with disabilities with both academic and emotional supports. ...
... These teachers, who have been referred to as the "forgotten frontline workers" (Beames, Christensen, and Werner-Seidler 2021), were still expected to follow federal regulations to provide students with disabilities with a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and monitor their progress despite pandemic circumstances (Yell and Bateman 2022;IDEA 2004). For some students, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) was adjusted to accommodate pandemic restrictions, for example, by reducing the minutes of special education services that students received due to shortened school days, or by dropping social skills goals entirely in order to comply with social distancing requirements (Morando-Rhim and Ekin 2021; Hurwitz, Garman-McClaine, and Carlock 2022). For the first time in history, IEP meetings had to be held over video platforms rather than in person, which meant families and educators were navigating a new format (Scheef et al. 2023). ...
... Participants for this study were recruited from a larger group of special education teachers that had completed a survey regarding autism and the COVID-19 pandemic (Hurwitz, Garman-McClaine, and Carlock 2022), using opportunity sampling. All of the special education teachers who participated in the previous study were invited through email to enroll in the current interview study. ...
Article
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Special education teachers described experiencing significant mental health challenges, such as stress and burnout, when teaching students with autism and other disabilities during the pandemic. They struggled to engage students virtually and found it difficult to progress monitor and comply with IEP regulations. Special educators suggested that they needed protected time for planning and collaboration in the future. To improve their mental health and mitigate feelings of burn out, they wanted more time for self‐care and emotional support. Special educators predicted an escalation in mental health issues among their students after the pandemic. They called for expanding supports for social anxiety in order to avoid behavioral outbursts. This article discusses how high rates of post‐pandemic teacher attrition may mean that students with disabilities are not able to access the specialized academic supports and behavioral interventions to which they are entitled.
... In terms of education, many countries felt obliged to close schools [3][4][5][6][7][8], redirecting daily work and in-person classes to new learning scenarios in which education became based on various Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). These new modalities shine a spotlight on the work of teachers, demanding that they deal with and shift to a virtual form of education based on digital tools that is both synchronous and asynchronous. ...
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Citation: Gallardo-Montes, C.d.P.; Caurcel-Cara, M.J.; Fuentes, A.R.; Cid-González, C. Teacher Monitoring of Students with ASD and Their Families During Lockdown: A Comparison Between Spain and Mexico. COVID 2025, 5, 87. https://doi. Abstract: Since the establishment of the State of Alarm resulting from the current COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown, and quarantine have been imposed in most countries, with serious health, social, economic, and educational consequences. The health emergency caused by COVID-19 led to the closure of schools, forcing students from all over the world to stop attending schools and compromising the quality of care offered to students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In order to examine how teachers supervised students with ASD virtually during the lockdown period, and to determine whether families considered the support provided by teachers to be adequate, a cross-cultural study design was adopted. An ad hoc questionnaire was administered to 415 families in Spain and Mexico in April 2020. We calculated frequencies and carried out descriptive analyses, parametric inferential analyses, and correlations. Families reported that educational monitoring and contact with the family member with ASD during home lockdown was scarce, despite the provision of activities appropriate to their needs. Significant differences were found as a function of country, age of participant, age of family member with ASD, type of ASD, type of schooling, and length of lockdown. This study highlights the need to train teachers in inclusive digital education and to establish effective protocols for communication and follow-up with the families of students with ASD.
... Lastly, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SET wellbeing and burnout is still not well understood, as only two studies Ruble, Cormier, et al., 2024) directly examined pandemic impact on SETs. Although stress, depression, work complexity, and SETs' perceived impact of the pandemic on burnout increased Hurwitz et al., 2022;Ruble, Cormier, et al., 2024), the interplay between changing working conditions, stress outside of work, and SETs' burnout and occupational wellbeing is in need of further research. ...
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Teacher burnout and wellbeing are crucial to address as chronic teacher shortages persist, especially for special education teachers (SETs). Extending Brunsting et al.'s prior review on special educator burnout published in 2014, we synthesize 29 studies from 2013 to 2023 assessing factors associated with SETs' work wellbeing or burnout. Most studies were quantitative, used cross-sectional analyses of convenience samples of SETs, and explored a range of factors, including working conditions (i.e., structure of work responsibilities and supports to meet those responsibilities) or affective responses to stress. Some recent studies provided initial responses to prior calls for longitudinal analyses, mixed methods studies, and intervention development. Our synthesis identifies strengths of the literature base and areas for future research, as well as implications for teacher educators, practitioners , and policy makers.
... General education teachers, special education teachers, and related service providers can work together to plan and deliver instruction, share expertise, and provide individualized support to students. Co-teaching models such as team teaching, parallel teaching, and station teaching can be adapted for hybrid environments, allowing educators to leverage their strengths and meet the diverse needs of students (Hurwitz, 2021). ...
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Education is a powerful instrument of social change, and often initiates upward movement in the social structure. Thereby helping to bridge the gap between the different sections of society. The educational scene in the country has undergone major change over the years, resulting in better provision of education and better educational practices. The traditional classroom provides a classic way to educate students by allowing an open forum for communication between students and teachers. The past twenty-five years have opened up a new field of possibilities in education through the use of technology and complementary virtual resources designed to engage learners of all learning levels. The Hybrid Learning approach has been proven effective in achieving this goal in the present era. A Hybrid Learning environment provides students with special needs the dual benefits of a live physical teacher to ask questions and seek advice, in addition to the benefits of virtual resources. Students will adapt to a new learning style because longer lessons and new routines are a source of stress and anxiety for some. Students with special needs often want consistency, routine, and predictable situations to facilitate transitions. Hybrid Learning has several factors that do not allow for consistency and predictability. In addition, students with special needs will benefit from encouragement, homework options, ongoing support in lessons, and extra time for individual homework, which is often easier to provide in the Hybrid Learning based classrooms. The main objective of this research paper is to describe the complex issues based on applying Hybrid Learning methods in the special needs students’ education to prevent social exclusion, poverty, unemployment, and developing economies. In the case of vulnerable and marginalized communities, social inclusion is fundamental to a healthy society. Therefore, researcher will be focused on the Hybrid Learning based strategies and techniques which is directly beneficial and effectively used in special needs students’ classrooms and while using hybrid learning in classrooms so what difficulties are faced by teachers and students in the successfully implementation of Hybrid Learning in classrooms of students with special needs and how to overcome with this situation so that possible education provided to all students with special needs and promote them. Keywords: Hybrid Learning Approach, Students with Special Needs, and Equitable Use of Technology.
... These data support a need for revision of teacher training pathways. Indeed, the drastic testing ground of Covid-19 has challenged many teachers [14,15], underscoring the importance of training education professionals in the use of platforms, media, and innovative tools that can improve students' learning experiences [11]. ...
... Cultural differences, student behavioral management, educator quality, necessary funding requirements, and curriculum disparities due to the demands of standardized testing are just a few of the many issues that will undoubtedly complicate this program in the public school system. Despite these difficulties, students with disabilities have made significant progress academically, behaviorally, and socially because of the inclusive programs in which they participated in general classes with children without disabilities [11,12]. Although a diverse body of literature exists on the topic of inclusive education, a study analyzing the effort to cultivate an inclusive culture of schools involves unique perspectives from high school students, some of whom are in special education. ...
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