Children with disabilities disproportionately affected during COVID-19 - By Lucyna Lach and Donna Thomson

New study offers families parent training for children affected by neurodevelopmental disorders

The global pandemic has been hard on Canadians, but it has hit families affected by disability disproportionately, particularly young families.  School-aged children with disabilities were suddenly without supports of any kind.

Schools were shuttered in March, and while remote learning was put in place, gone were Education Assistants or Special Needs Coordinators.  Parents were expected to teach their children alone, many of them still juggling full time work.

Therapy centres were also shut down until recently in most provinces, which meant that psychological, speech and occupational therapy were no longer available.  Many parents spoke of watching their children lose hard-earned advances that were months or years in the making.

Specialized recreational programs were closed and respite care was not available.  Homecare workers were often unavailable or were asked not to come since many also work in long-term care facilities where the coronavirus was rampant.

Some disability supports and services are slowly coming back, though not all and not fully.

Return to school plans have not been friendly for children with neurodiversities. In many boards, there are no Education Assistants and children who are not fully mobile and who have learning challenges cannot follow the school protocols without assistance. Yet, children with neurodiversities need the school experience even more than other children.

How are parents supposed to be employees, therapists, teachers and caregivers for their children with disabilities all at once?  It is an impossible ask.

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