Holes, Patches and Multiple Hats: The Experiences of Parents of Students with Special Education Needs Navigating At-Home Learning During COVID-19

In the spring of 2020, schools across Canada and beyond closed as a public health measure to address the growing COVID-19 global pandemic. The abrupt shift to at-home learning necessitated, for many children, significant engagement by parents and family members. This chapter brings forward the perspectives of 36 Canadian parents of students with special education needs as they supported the learning of their children during school closures. Analyses of in-depth interviews revealed interrelated influences of community, family and school supports, parent efficacy and mental health. Stories shared by parents highlighted the weaknesses of school systems that were exposed when the first wave of the pandemic hit. Lessons learned include the need to develop and sustain networks of support for families of students with special education needs, particularly working mothers, and the importance of building authentic and productive partnerships between families and schools. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

Exploring School Principals' Experiences During the First Four Months of the Pandemic as a Way to Reimagine Inclusive Education

This study involved interviewing Canadian principals (N = 37) to determine how they responded to students with special education needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yamamoto et al.'s (2014) concept of critical incidents and Heine et al.'s (2006) meaning maintenance model were used to evaluate the transformational power of principals' pandemic experiences in order to reimagine inclusive education. Findings revealed that these critical incidents broadly fell into four categories: 1) family support and the complications associated with partnering with parents virtually, 2) meeting students' needs in new and often innovative ways, 3) disparities in student experiences as a result of virtual schooling and 4) responses required in light of logistical and technical challenges.

Exploring special need students' perceptions of remote learning using the multimodal model of online education.

The global pandemic of COVID-19 forced institutions of higher learning to implement emergency remote learning and to change pedagogical approaches to enhance access and success for all students. Students have mixed views about remote learning. The purpose of this study is to examine special educational needs and disabled students' perspectives of remote learning in the United Arab Emirates. The study was conducted using a qualitative case study within an interpretivist paradigm. Thirty-three special educational needs and disabled students were selected to complete an open-ended questionnaire and participate in semi-structured interviews. It was found that students applauded extraordinary convenience and reasonable accommodation they were getting as a result of remote learning. However, post COVID-19, the majority opted for face-to-face instruction as they described it as 'irreplaceable'. The study concludes that students' nature of special needs and disabilities are influential towards their choice of a mode of instruction.

Designing an e-learning ecosystem to support people with autism spectrum disorders. A digital transformation in special education

COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exposed the inequalities in the access and use of Information and Communication Technologies and exposed also existing challenges in assistive technologies. Schools closure and the switch to online education revealed limitations in the education system, particularly, in the case of special education needs. This PhD research intends to analyse the challenges of remote learning and to provide applicable solutions to build an e-learning platform for people with autism that can enhance and enable special education in a collaborative setting for professionals, relatives, and students, considering also the cases when face-to-face interactions are not possible. In addition to this analysis, some more contributions are provided such as the themes where COVID-19 impacted autistic people the most and their relationship with technology, a mapping of technological categories that define the working areas specifically aimed to cover the their needs, the challenges faced in special education along the pandemic and their possible solutions. © 2022 Owner/Author.

Specific Learning Disorders and Special Educational Needs during COVID-19 Pandemic; Pilot Survey Study Performed in Local District Schools in Italy.

Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are a group of heterogeneous health deficits frequently diagnosed in early childhood that cause difficulties in general intellectual functioning. In the last decades in Italy new laws have been developed to give practical guidelines for the best education plans for children with SLD. BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to determine the efficacy of the educational treatment on SLD in Primary and Secondary schools in the Italian city of Barletta. We acquired valuable data to evaluate Special Education Needs during COVID-19. METHODS: Our study was conducted from April to June 2021, during the second "lockdown" period in Italy. A fact-finding survey was conducted to schools with a questionnaire provided to the teachers to acquire data on the SEN applied in the management of distance learning for children. RESULTS: The study involved 15 male and 6 female pupils with SLD in Primary Schools and 18 male and 6 female in Secondary Schools. The schools participating in the study organized distance learning programs with a support teacher with a 1:1 ratio. Data showed that all children with SLD needed a support teacher. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this pilot study suggest that distance learning programs are able to achieve adequate educational goals, despite the difficulties of the lockdown period.

Beyond the School Walls: Keeping Interactive Learning Environments Alive in Confinement for Students in Special Education.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying safety measures, including confinement, has meant an unprecedented challenge for the world population today. However, it has entailed additional difficulties for specific populations, including children and people with disabilities. Being out of school for months has reduced the learning opportunities for many children, such as those with less academic resources at home or with poorer technological connectivity. For students with disabilities, it has entailed losing the quality of the special attention they often need, in addition to a more limited understanding of the situation. In this context, a case study was conducted in a special education classroom of a secondary education school. This class started implementing Dialogic Literary Gatherings with their special education students before the COVID-19 confinement and continued online during the confinement. Qualitative data was collected after a period of implementation of the gatherings showing positive impacts on the participants. The case study shows that interactive learning environments such as the Dialogic Literary Gatherings can provide quality distance learning for students with disabilities, contributing to overcome some of the barriers that the pandemic context creates for the education of these students.

Are Self-Efficacy Gains of University Students in Adapted Physical Activity Influenced by Online Teaching Derived From the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Due to the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, e-learning suddenly spread to different levels of education, including university. In Spain, students of sports sciences are prepared during a 4-year study program to work in different areas (including physical education) and with different populations (including people with disabilities). The aims of this study were (1) to assess the effect of pandemic-driven online teaching on self-efficacy (SE) for the inclusion of people with disabilities in a group of university students enrolled in a compulsory course on adapted physical activity (APA); (2) compare the gains from SE before and after the APA course with a sample of students who followed the same course before the pandemic; and (3) explore the influence on SE scores according to three demographic variables: gender, previous SE training, and previous experience with people with disabilities. The study involved a sample of 124 university students (22.1 ± 2.6 years), distributed into two groups: prepandemic (n = 86) and pandemic (n = 38). They voluntarily completed the Spanish version of the Scale of Self-Efficacy of Physical Education Teachers of Physical Education toward Children with Disabilities, obtaining pre- and postcourse measurements. Due to the sudden lockdown, two-thirds of the pandemic course was taught online, and changes in the teaching strategies and tasks had to be made. Similar gains were obtained in both groups for the three subscales of the SE scale (p < 0.001, large effect sizes): intellectual, physical, and visual disability. No significant differences were found for comparisons between groups and the interaction effect of the course taught, nor for the three demographic co-variables. This study shows that teaching strategies that encourage student participation and reflections on learning increase student SE, regardless of the teaching format (i.e., face-to-face vs. online teaching). Moreover, the gains in SE are invariable to demographic co-variables.

Parental experiences of homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic: differences between seven European countries and between children with and without mental health conditions.

The aim of the present study was to examine parental experiences of homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic in families with or without a child with a mental health condition across Europe. The study included 6720 parents recruited through schools, patient organizations and social media platforms (2002 parents with a child with a mental health condition and 4718 without) from seven European countries: the UK (n = 508), Sweden (n = 1436), Spain (n = 1491), Belgium (n = 508), the Netherlands (n = 324), Germany (n = 1662) and Italy (n = 794). Many parents reported negative effects of homeschooling for themselves and their child, and many found homeschooling to be of poor quality, with insufficient support from schools. In most countries, contact with teachers was limited, leaving parents with primary responsibility for managing homeschooling. Parents also reported increased levels of stress, worry, social isolation, and domestic conflict. A small number of parents reported increased parental alcohol/drug use. Some differences were found between countries and some negative experiences were more common in families with a child with a mental health condition. However, differences between countries and between families with and without a mental health condition were generally small, indicating that many parents across countries reported negative experiences. Some parents also reported positive experiences of homeschooling. The adverse effects of homeschooling will likely have a long-term impact and contribute to increased inequalities. Given that school closures may be less effective than other interventions, policymakers need to carefully consider the negative consequences of homeschooling during additional waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics.