Julia, as I read your paper, I love your energy and enthusiasm for working with students with special needs. This pandemic has hit everyone pretty hard, but I feel that it has hit our most vulnerable population, like our students with special needs, that hardest. I am thankful that people like you love their job and go far and beyond to make things possible for these special kids. Your paper helps to identify the massive need for teachers to receive the support and resources to help and reach out to all students, especially those with learning differences and disabilities. I
Hi Julia,
Your presentation was awesome and kuddos to you for all the excitement and joy you show when talking about your field in working with the spec ed students. My nephew does the same in high school and loves it. In any case, your presentation made me think of several of my students who have shared with me how when the pandemic hit, they had to quickly readjust to online learning and for some of them it was an emotional roller coaster and they stopped engaging in class. One of my top students in AP chem failed several of her classes. She is back on track and doing great but summer school was the life saver for her. My nephew, who was in 4th grade, now in 5th, missed school so much and family that he just wanted to sleep. My sister had to get him a counselor and what was discovered was that he was reacting to the stress involved in not being in school, not being in sports, not being able to see his friends and not being able to hang out with family. When you spoke of Danielle, that is what I was thinking about. In your paper you state that for some kids, lack of structure at home, English language learners, to name a few especially for those with limited cognitive abilities can be reasons for their regression or lack of participation with the online platform. I agree. I hope you are able to actually follow through on your research proposal. I wish you the best in your educational journey Julia. Some lucky kids are waiting for you to enter their classroom and make a difference in their lives for the better.
Julia – I found your research paper very interesting. I, too, have a vested interest in students with special needs, as I have a niece who has special needs. Special Education teachers and paraprofessionals are a gift to the families of special needs students. The educational services they provide are invaluable. I am certain that the research done to find ways to continue their work virtually would be a great gift to all, including general education teachers.
Special Education Instruction during the Pandemic
Julia Nicole Cruz
I appreciate your willingness to grapple with this very important question in terms of how exactly we are addressing the very real and diverse special needs of our special education students during this pandemic.
Danielle’s story, which you reference in the opening of your research proposal really does illustrate a not so unique situation being repeated for every special needs’ child across the state and nation.
On page 4 of your research proposal, you offer “According to Blank, Boustani, Chou, Cumming, Fraizer, Goodman, Helseth, and Martinez-Pedraza (2020), “approximately 7.9 million students with learning, behavioral, or developmental disabilities are among the most impacted by COVID-19 as they require intensive academic support and related services (p. 1).” This is a very unfortunate statistic and one that deserves our great attention. This great sense of disconnection and isolation that our special needs students find themselves in even in the best of situations with remote learning is not the same. This need for inclusion and the least restrictive educational setting is truly what our students with special needs require according to each student’s unique I.E.P.
This is a real challenge for all districts, campuses, special education educators, itinerant support teachers, and parents.
Danielle’s ‘story also helps to highlight the major loss of ongoing earned success through hard work, support, and connection as well as the resulting regression that comes from this loss of support. It also helps to explain where the parents of special needs children have struggled to encourage their children to engage with virtual education and/or in-person education that looks much different than it did before COVID-19.
Your work helps to raise awareness of this very real and serious situation affecting millions of our most vulnerable population.
Excellent paper Julia, in the past I have worked at a special care home with individuals with special needs. During the pandemic I have found myself thinking of them and how they are doing with the changes in regulations to who can come visit them and the excursions they can take with staff, etc. I worry that in many cases students with special needs may not be giving the adaptations they need in order to thrive from online learning. I hope you can follow through with your study and offer some advice to what can be done moving forward.
Julia, as I read your paper, I love your energy and enthusiasm for working with students with special needs. This pandemic has hit everyone pretty hard, but I feel that it has hit our most vulnerable population, like our students with special needs, that hardest. I am thankful that people like you love their job and go far and beyond to make things possible for these special kids. Your paper helps to identify the massive need for teachers to receive the support and resources to help and reach out to all students, especially those with learning differences and disabilities. I
Hi Julia,
Your presentation was awesome and kuddos to you for all the excitement and joy you show when talking about your field in working with the spec ed students. My nephew does the same in high school and loves it. In any case, your presentation made me think of several of my students who have shared with me how when the pandemic hit, they had to quickly readjust to online learning and for some of them it was an emotional roller coaster and they stopped engaging in class. One of my top students in AP chem failed several of her classes. She is back on track and doing great but summer school was the life saver for her. My nephew, who was in 4th grade, now in 5th, missed school so much and family that he just wanted to sleep. My sister had to get him a counselor and what was discovered was that he was reacting to the stress involved in not being in school, not being in sports, not being able to see his friends and not being able to hang out with family. When you spoke of Danielle, that is what I was thinking about. In your paper you state that for some kids, lack of structure at home, English language learners, to name a few especially for those with limited cognitive abilities can be reasons for their regression or lack of participation with the online platform. I agree. I hope you are able to actually follow through on your research proposal. I wish you the best in your educational journey Julia. Some lucky kids are waiting for you to enter their classroom and make a difference in their lives for the better.
Julia – I found your research paper very interesting. I, too, have a vested interest in students with special needs, as I have a niece who has special needs. Special Education teachers and paraprofessionals are a gift to the families of special needs students. The educational services they provide are invaluable. I am certain that the research done to find ways to continue their work virtually would be a great gift to all, including general education teachers.
Special Education Instruction during the Pandemic
Julia Nicole Cruz
I appreciate your willingness to grapple with this very important question in terms of how exactly we are addressing the very real and diverse special needs of our special education students during this pandemic.
Danielle’s story, which you reference in the opening of your research proposal really does illustrate a not so unique situation being repeated for every special needs’ child across the state and nation.
On page 4 of your research proposal, you offer “According to Blank, Boustani, Chou, Cumming, Fraizer, Goodman, Helseth, and Martinez-Pedraza (2020), “approximately 7.9 million students with learning, behavioral, or developmental disabilities are among the most impacted by COVID-19 as they require intensive academic support and related services (p. 1).” This is a very unfortunate statistic and one that deserves our great attention. This great sense of disconnection and isolation that our special needs students find themselves in even in the best of situations with remote learning is not the same. This need for inclusion and the least restrictive educational setting is truly what our students with special needs require according to each student’s unique I.E.P.
This is a real challenge for all districts, campuses, special education educators, itinerant support teachers, and parents.
Danielle’s ‘story also helps to highlight the major loss of ongoing earned success through hard work, support, and connection as well as the resulting regression that comes from this loss of support. It also helps to explain where the parents of special needs children have struggled to encourage their children to engage with virtual education and/or in-person education that looks much different than it did before COVID-19.
Your work helps to raise awareness of this very real and serious situation affecting millions of our most vulnerable population.
Excellent paper Julia, in the past I have worked at a special care home with individuals with special needs. During the pandemic I have found myself thinking of them and how they are doing with the changes in regulations to who can come visit them and the excursions they can take with staff, etc. I worry that in many cases students with special needs may not be giving the adaptations they need in order to thrive from online learning. I hope you can follow through with your study and offer some advice to what can be done moving forward.