While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education, students with disabilities were particularly affected. A new study from IU School of Education researchers investigates how educators modified individualized education programs (IEP) and adapted interventions to provide academic, behavioral and social-emotional support to autistic students.

Assistant Professor Sarah Hurwitz, Blaine Garman-McClaine Ph.D. student in special education and Kane Carlock, Ph.D. student in school psychology surveyed teachers from 40 different school districts across Indiana in the study, with 106 teachers and specialists who work primarily with elementary-aged students responding. Originally, the team was concerned about how the pandemic was affecting services such as speech pathology that kids with learning and other disabilities are legally entitled to get and wanted to know how teachers were getting those services to kids under such challenging circumstances.

“[Kids with disabilities] need routine, they need structure, they cannot really learn easily on Zoom. Distance learning is especially difficult for [them],” Hurwitz explained.

Teachers reported to the team that last year was one of the hardest years they’ve ever had teaching – but they also rose to the challenge. From creating separate sets of materials that sometimes were hand-delivered to coming up with individual contingency learning plans in the event schools went virtual, teachers came up with new options for helping their students no matter what. They also found a renewed sense of communication and collaboration with parents.

But the pandemic also came with a cost: improving social goals are often part of the individual education plans of students with autism, but those goals weren’t as achievable in a virtual setting or even when students went back to the classroom because of social distancing.

“This brought up a lot of concerns as we return to normalcy. When these kids miss a year of interaction and [social skills] were already their main problem, I’m concerned to know what will happen,” Hurwitz said.

Ultimately, the outcome of the study was the resiliency of teachers in the face of such unprecedented challenges.

“These teachers had to figure it out on the fly,” Hurwitz added. “They really stepped up and worked really hard to figure out the best way to deliver services given the situation. They were asked to do a lot. These teachers did amazing stuff.”