Reading Rockets–NEA Guide
Supporting Students in Special Education Through COVID-19
How have school closures and hybrid schedules impacted the delivery of special education services to students across the U.S.? How can families and educators work together to support all learners during the 2020-2021 school year and beyond? Which districts have had success in serving their special education population remotely? Find answers to these questions and more in this resource section.
This project was developed in partnership with the National Education Association and Colorín Colorado.
Learning and attention issues
- Podcast: Exploring Learning Differences during COVID-19 (National PTA)
- COVID-19 Educator Resources (NCLD)
- COVID-19 Parent Resources (NCLD)
- Coronavirus: Understood Resource Center (Understood)
- Forward Together: Helping Educators Unlock the Power of Students Who Learn Differently (Understood and NCLD)
- Apps and Websites for Kids with Learning and Attention Issues: Top Picks from Common Sense Education (Reading Rockets)
- Will Months of Remote Learning Worsen Students' Attention Problems? (Education Week)
Speech and Language Disorders
Autism
- 12 Ideas for Supporting Students with Autism in Virtual Classrooms (Reading Rockets)
- When School Is Closed: Supporting Children with Autism at Home (Reading Rockets)
- Coronavirus (COVID-19): Helping Kids With Autism Cope (KidsHealth)
- COVID-19 Resources and Information (Autism Speaks)
- Parent Resources During COVID-19 (Echo Autism)
- Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic (Autism Research Institute)
- COVID-19 Toolkit (Autism Society)
- Tips for Helping Your Child Learn at Home During the Coronavirus Outbreak (Nicole Eredics: The Inclusive Class)
- Connecting with Students in Special Education is Essential While Learning from Home (Indiana Resource Center for Autism)
- Toolkit: Supporting Individuals with Autism through Uncertain Times (Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina)
- Autism Science Foundation President Shares the Best Ways to Manage COVID-19 (Autism Parenting Magazine)
- Talking Autism Treatment and the Family (ASHA Voices)
- What School Could Be If It Were Designed for Kids With Autism (The Atlantic)
Assistive technology: resources from Reading Rockets
Support for families
- Family Toolbox: Ways to Support Students with Disabilities During School Closures (Louisiana Department of Education)
- Evidence-Based and Promising Practices to Support Continuity of Learning for Students With Disabilities: Practices and Resources to Support Parents and Families (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs)
Distance learning in special education
- Don’t Socially Distance, Physically Distance! How to Support Social-Behavioral Needs in Virtual, In-Person, and Hybrid Learning (Webinar: National Center on Intensive Intervention)
- COVID-19: Evidence-Based Practices (DOEd Regional Education Laboratories)
- Distance Learning for Special Education (Resource collection)
- Distance Learning Guide for Special Education (Oklahoma State Department of Education)
- Special education guidance during the coronavirus school closure (United Federation of Teachers)
- Educating All Learners During COVID-19 (Educating All Learners)
- Resources for Supporting Learners with Disabilities (Digital Promise)
- New Strategies in Special Education as Kids Learn From Home (Edutopia)
- Creating a PBIS Behavior Teaching Matrix for Remote Instruction (Center on PBIS)
- Providing Speech Teletherapy: How I’m Getting Ready (Understood)
- Tips for Educators Based on Parent Experience with Remote Learning (Learning Disabilities Association)
- How to Serve Students With Special Needs From Afar (EdSurge)
News and updates
- The Unexpected Benefits of Remote Learning for Neurodivergent Students (EdSurge)
- Advocating for a Dyslexic Student Through Online and In-Person Learning (The Dyslexia Resource)
- 5 Ways to Remotely Support Students With Dyslexia (Education Week)
- Masks Present a Challenge for Deaf Students. Here’s How Colorado Schools Are Adapting (Education Week)
- How to Help Autistic Students Navigate a Turbulent School Year (Edutopia)
- Guiding Special Education Students to Stay on Track for Success in Hybrid Classrooms (Edutopia)
- Parents With Disabilities Face Extra Hurdles With Kids' Remote Schooling (KQED Mindshift)
- School Bus Becomes Mobile Classroom For Special Ed Students (Disability Scoop)
- Some Families Hope Pandemic Can Spur Change in Special Education (KQED Mindshift)
- For students with disabilities, a return to schools means more learning and needed services — even if nothing’s normal yet (Chalkbeat)
- Reading School District special education teachers make house calls when virtual teaching isn't enough (Reading Eagle)
- How New Orleans Schools Are Making Up Special Education Losses From the Spring Pandemic Shutdown — and Why the Process Could Improve Distance Learning This Fall (The 74)
- Behind the masks, teachers and students struggle to communicate (Christian Science Monitor)
- Accessibility Features Can Ease Remote Instruction for Students (Edutopia)
- Remote learning has been a disaster for many students. But some kids have thrived (Hechinger Report)
- Bridging Distance for Learners With Special Needs (Education Week)
- Teachers of Special-Needs Students Struggle With Feelings of Helplessness (The New York Times)
- Tricks to settle your fidgeters, wigglers, and fingernail biters (National Geographic)
- Zooming in on keeping kids focused (National Geographic)
- Parents vs. teachers? For special education, together is better. (Christian Science Monitor)
- Two Chicago families, two experiences: Stories spotlight challenges ahead for special education (Chalkbeat)
- Students in Special Education, English-Learners May Go Back to Class First. Here's Why (Education Week)
- Special education students are not just falling behind in the pandemic — they’re losing key skills, parents say (The Washington Post)
- Parents (and Lawyers) Say Distance Learning Failed Too Many Special Education Students. As Fall Approaches, Families Wonder If Their Children Will Lose Another School Year (The 74)
- How remote learning upended instruction for NYC students with disabilities and their families (Chalkbeat)
- Ideas to power next school year in NYC: How to confront trauma and foster healing (Chalkbeat)
- The Pandemic Is a Crisis for Students With Special Needs (The Atlantic)
- Remote Learning and Special Education Students: How Eight Families Are Adapting (Education Week video)
More from Reading Rockets
- A Chance to Read (PBS Show)
