CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND QUARANTINE DAYS
School education was suspended with the measures to protect against the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation can create difficult situations for children with special needs and their families. Long-term changes in daily routine, loss of skills they may have acquired during school life, may lead to increased anxiety and behavioral problems. In this article, we will provide guidance for parents of children with special needs on planning for life at home, without school.
First, to help your family cope with these significant disruptions and alleviate the difficulties involved, the typical school ritual has been modified, in which you adapt to your child's home environment. We recommend that you develop a version of it. This daily living plan should also include any other personal care needs you have as a parent, including caregivers/parents, siblings, or other family members.
Start with your child's typical school schedule. Start the day with the first subject of the first period and structure a “school day” routine that follows the subjects and activities your child usually does at school and in his classes. For example, if their day usually starts with writing and ends with science, sports, lunch, recess, math, snacks, and music, you can structure their home learning activities in some way in that order.
Build in extra time for physical activity. Include gross motor activities to support both physical and mental balance. You can also use this time to strengthen family bonds by doing outdoor activities together, like walking or biking around the neighborhood or exercising at home (search YouTube for family-friendly workouts and yoga classes) while practicing social distancing.
Daily living skills Involve your child in household chores to support progress. This may be an opportunity to benefit from spending time together at home, where you can demonstrate and teach more life skills and offer plenty of praise and reinforcement for successes.
Use visual supports to help your child grasp the new routine. Get support from your child's teachers or special education institutions to recreate it at home.
Start Initially, contact your child's teachers and private education institution to establish a daily routine, practice techniques and work towards goals at home, and develop a long-term plan. You can attend online-based training sessions.
Once your school day routine is ready, create a weekly schedule for the family. This should include a visual schedule that your child can follow. When everyone is home indefinitely, having a more concrete understanding of which days are “learning” days rather than “family” days can help reduce anxiety and give kids a sense of order. Having a regular schedule during quarantine will also make it easier for your child to return to school when it reopens.
Include self-care as part of your day. Balancing the demands of remote work or distance learning, child care, and managing a household can quickly impact your mental and physical health and your family's social dynamics. Schedule time each day to do something that will recharge you: meditation, reading a book for pleasure, participating in a favorite hobby, or another activity that helps you feel better. Also try to get regular and sufficient sleep. Fatigue can increase stress and pose a risk for other negative outcomes.
Try to be patient and realistic when implementing a new program. Being consistent with a new routine means not everything will be perfect, especially when things change rapidly each day. If it feels less stifling, start small with a looser structure. Involve your children in planning their learning and the family's work. This can help them cope better if things change over time. And don't forget to plan breaks throughout the day – for everyone.
I wish you a healthy day.
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