How should special education related services be delivered during distance learning?
Many special education related service therapists have been thrust into providing online telehealth sessions for special education students but that doesn’t mean that it’s best practice. If you are a special education related service professional it may seem overwhelming to navigate how to deliver services at home. Hopefully, this post leaves you feeling organized with an appropriate game plan to meet your families needs.
It’s been 4 weeks now that school has been closed for most schools across the county due to the Coronavirus.
Many schools have completely automated all their curriculum to online platforms while others are providing alternate learning opportunities through paper packets sent home.
What seems like a monumental task was put together in a matter of days or weeks…Seriously, I think teachers need to be running this country!
For the typically developing child and parent that has the time and resources to assist their child, this might be a fine solution to keep the child on pace with academic demands.
But what about the child with special needs? The one who requires assistance from other professionals to modify their lessons so they can be successful?
What are special education related services?
Special education is specially designed instruction that addresses the unique needs of a student. Students qualify for these services in school when they have met the criteria for of a particular learning disability as set forth by IDEA (Individuals with disabilities education act).
Related services help a child meet his educational goals, but they aren’t necessarily specialized instruction. Kids usually get them along with some sort of specialized instruction, as part of special education. But in some schools, they are the special instruction. That may happen when a child doesn’t get any other services.
Related services can include:
Speech-language and audiology services
Interpreting services
Psychological services
Occupational and physical therapy
Recreation, including therapeutic recreation
Counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling
Orientation and mobility
Medical services (but only for diagnostic or evaluation purposes, not for ongoing treatment)
School health and/or school nurse services
Social work services
Parent counseling and training
The main goal of these services isn’t to offer special education. It’s to help kids benefit from general education. They help make it easier for kids to participate in classroom and school day activities.
How do special education related services get delivered?
When school-based therapists work with students in the school environment their goals for that student are directly related to helping the student access the general education curriculum.
As a school-based Occupational Therapist, most often I work with students on fine motor, visual-motor, sensory or handwriting concerns.
In order to be most successful with helping the student, I need to know what type of assignments they are working on in the classroom and what the classroom expectations are.
Sometimes I will work on instructing the student how to use technology to produce and correct their written work. Other times, I may teaching a child how to properly form letters of the alphabet with their pencil.
For younger students, it may look like targeting some foundational skills of pre-writing like teaching how to hold the pencil or regulation activities to improve their attention and focus.
Another big part of my job in schools is providing education to the students teachers, paraprofessionals and other related service professionals so that we are all on the same page and so that the skills that I teach during my individualized sessions with the student are carried over in other environments.
Just because a student may be delayed in certain skills, it does not necessarily warrant related services. Again, it all goes back to how those skill deficits impact the child’s ability to access their education.
A child may be delayed with fine motor skills but is independent with using technology to produce all of their school work.
School-based therapy is not medical intervention! We need to be cautious that we are not working on skill deficit in isolation during this home-based learning time because we’re not sure what else to do.
Why special education related services might need to look different at home?
I’ve been in the process of attempting to schedule 42 OT Telehealth sessions over the past week. My success rate has been pretty dismal. 3/42 sessions scheduled…ouch!
When you stop to think about it…it’s not that surprising.
We are living through a global pandemic right now and there is not one of us whose life hasn’t been altered dramatically overnight. When we are stressed, higher level needs take a backseat.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs explains that basic level needs such as food, water, shelter need to take priority over higher level needs (academic learning).
After looking at the pyramid it makes a little more sense, huh? Anyone feeling deprived of social needs yet?
It’s not that parents don’t want what is best for their child….It’s more a matter of parents not being able to help their children right now because there are other more important needs that are demanding their attention.
For those families that are in a place to receive services, the parent will now assume the role of teacher, paraprofessional and other related service professionals.
If you’re a parent reading this, please don’t be intimidated. Your related service professional is here to help!
Tips for providing special education related services at home
Meet the family where they’re at
This is a term that I used frequently when working in Early Intervention in families homes. Ask those important questions so that you have a good idea of what is really going on at home right now. Some questions might include:
What does your daily routine look like?
Who is caring for your children?
Are you currently working inside/outside the home?
How is everyone coping with this “new” life?
Are you able and willing to be an active participant during online therapy sessions?
These questions will paint the picture of what that house is looking like right now and will give you good clues on what types of support the family may be needing.
Although it is not up to the special education related service professional to solve all the families problems, having a rich discussion of these topics upfront may lead you to find other, more appropriate supports for the family/student so they can prioritize academic needs in the future.
Advocate to your schools on behalf of your students and families
If you follow social media you’ll already know there seems to be a variety of ways in which students are being supported during this time.
Some schools are delivering telehealth related services to all students, some are only using related service as a support when the family needs it, others are sending home more generic therapy specific activities to benefit the entire class.
The ways in which the services are being delivered is vast and the direction from many states is grey at best!
If you are part of a district that has adopted a more rigid, one-size fits all approach to distance learning, don’t be afraid to speak up and advocate for your families.
Often, administration is unaware of some of the stories we are coming across first-hand. If you can offer a better solution to service a certain family, do it!
I spoke with a mom the other day who really wanted some support to help her young child with schoolwork at home but couldn’t fathom doing online visits while she cared for other younger children in the home.
Just as we do our best to deliver the “just-right” challenge to our students in school, we should be looking at ways to deliver the “just-right” challenge for our students and families at home.
3. Consider alternatives to online therapy visits
I know this may depend on your state’s guidelines and school policies but if you don’t ask about the possibility of alternative methods of delivery we might miss an opportunity to truly support those families choosing to decline online sessions.
You know as a therapist if you don’t provide the “just-right challenge” you risk non-compliance and failure.
Alternatives to online sessions could include:
Simple activities sent home weekly or monthly via email
Brainstorming with the family how to work on the student’s goals during everyday activities or through class assignments
Phone check-ins
Planning with the teacher to collaborate on therapy ideas for the entire class
Pre-recorded video lessons delivered via school learning platform or email
4. Be flexible with your goals
Some existing IEP goals may not be as relevant during this distance learning time.
The games and tools that you are used to using in your therapy room may not be accessible in your student’s homes. Think about functional activities that the student needs to participate with in the home environment and how that relates back to one of their goals.
For example, one of my student’s goals was around time management and organization of their classroom supplies so that they would recall which materials were needed for each day.
After speaking with this child’s family, the same struggles around time management and organization were happening at home so we discussed ways to have the student come up with a daily schedule written on paper and using their iphone to set reminders for school assignments that needed to be completed that week and also for chores the family expected the student to participate with.
5. Become a parent coach
Parent coaching is the preferred model of delivery in Early Intervention when working with small children in their homes.
It works so well when you have a family that can invest the time and effort into learning alongside the professional.
Parent coaching helps to build parents’ confidence and competence in how to help their child. It also helps to build connection and understanding of their child’s unique strengths and challenges.
10 Steps to make the most of your Telehealth session:
Select activities that involve limited prep and materials.
Plan ahead for activities related to student’s goals but be flexible. I always have some movement activities and games ready to go if all else fails!
Communicate with families prior to session to confirm. I find that text messaging has been the most successful!
Check-in with student at the beginning of the session! I like to use a feelings chart this this one or Zones of Regulation
Find out about the school work they are working on.
Introduce the lesson and instruct on strategies to try during the session.
Coach parent how to help the student (ie. prompting, setting up the environment, alternative materials to try)
Reflect with student and parent to get feedback on the strategies trialed during the session.
Review expectations for carryover of strategies during the week.
Make a joint plan for next therapy session.
Keep up the great work!
A lot of amazing things will come out of this time spent with children and families at home. I’m already hearing of so many great success stories and how appreciative parents are for the expertise and support from their related service providers.
What an amazing opportunity to allow parents to learn how to help their child succeed not only in school but in life!
I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below and tell us what is working well for you and your school so we can all learn how to get through this together!
More OT Telehealth treatment ideas
Want to save time planning your April OT pediatric telehealth activities?