Response to the COVID-19 Crisis in Schools: A Parent’s Guide

Response to the COVID-19 Crisis in Schools: A Parent’s Guide By Mo Buti

assessment & IEPs

IEP The IEP continues to be a very important document that is required by law and needs to be updated annually. Please make sure that it is up-to-date and accurately reflects your child’s present levels of functioning. If it does not, you need to call an IEP meeting right away to get this updated. Make this request in writing. When updating the present levels please make sure that any regression is noted in the IEP. Include both the past and present levels. Example: If a previous IEP stated that your child could attend to a task for 11 minutes and now can only attend for 2 minutes then you want the IEP to capture the previous data as well as current information. This will be important when school is back to brick and mortar in order to consider compensatory educa- tion. Parents must have meaningful participation in the IEP and therefore your input must be considered and captured within the IEP. If there are additional needs that your child now has due to the pandemic (ie: learning to wear a mask, learning to wash

During these uncertain times, many parents that have chil- dren with disabilities are struggling with navigating remote learning and worried about the implementation of their child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP). You are not alone! The be- low is an effort to provide parents support, information, strate- gies and encouragement. INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT (IDEA) The U.S. Department of Education is not allowing any waivers to IDEA. They are, however, asking that there be some flexibility. This should not mean that your child’s unique needs are no lon- ger going to be met. The federal guidance emphasizes that Free and appropriate education (FAPE) may include, as appropriate, special education and related services provided through dis- tance instruction implemented virtually, online, telephonically or with materials being sent to the home.

MO BUTI, With over 30 years of experience, Mo is a practiced professional in the field of special education providing services and support to those with disabilities and their families and school districts. She served as Director of Program Development for Neumann Family Services. Prior to Neumann, she managed autism programs and services for over 6,000 students as Director of Autism and Intellectual Disabilities at Chicago Public Schools. Mo’s additional experience also includes special education teacher, autism itinerant and special education administrator. Mo Buti offers affordable advice and advocacy to families of those with autism and all other disabilities and special needs. Providing guidance and support to navigate school district’s complex systems, she assists parents with every stage of the IEP process, ensuring that students receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Mo consults with families to determine specific educational solutions, services, and programs, as well as appropriate placements, to meet student’s individual needs to capitalize on their strengths. She works to further the individual’s educational, social-emotional and vocational goals to help realize maximum potential. Mo Buti possesses a M.Ed-BD, M.Ed-ADMIN, QIDP certification, Director of Special Education degree/certificate from Illinois and her Type 75 Administrator certification. Mo is a dynamic, international speaker and well-respected authority on autism, intellectual disabilities, adult services, behavioral strategies, educational supports, and more. An active member in the special education community, including the Illinois State Autism Task Force and the Vizzle Advisory Board, Mo was the recipient of the 2012 Bobby Reyes Tribute Award from Esperanza for outstanding commitment and dedication to children and adults with devel- opmental disabilities by an individual.

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hands, learning how to socially distance, need for social-emo- tional supports due to losses or lack of socially engaging with other children, etc) then these too should be added to the IEP. DISTANCE LEARNING PLANS/REMOTE LEARNING PLANS Your district might be creating additional plans to be utilized during the time of distance learning. This should not replace an IEP, but rather should be a detailed outline of HOW the IEP would be implemented remotely. There may need to be additional ac- commodations added, different ways to implement IEPs, addi- tional training required to parents, and more. If there are tangi- ble accommodations that are required in the IEP but you do not have at home the school is responsible to provide these to you to use at home. (ie; visual schedule, seating cushion, fist - then board, text to speech, timers, slant boards for writing, communi- cation boards/books, etc). The school may mail, drop off or have you pick them up. DATA Where does the data now come from? You and the staff. Your data is just as important. You are there with your child and have been there with them supporting the instruction since the be- ginning of the pandemic. Please make sure that you are shar- ing this information via email to the school staff. You also want to see this included in the upcoming IEP document. Your data should be documented within the IEP as part of the present lev- els of the IEP. If you do not know how to take data then request support from your school staff. DOCUMENTATION Document everything: What was provided to your child? What your child was able to access? How your child respond- ed to instruction or if they could even respond? What level of support did they need from you? Not only will this be used as data it will also be important to use when considering compen- satory education. Parents should keep detailed documentation of all educational opportunities provided to students during any suspension of in-person instruction. Input and information from parents concerning student performance during closure/dis- ruption is very important. Create a binder or notebook to keep this information together in one place. COMPENSATORY SERVICES The U.S. Department of Education (ED) describes compen- satory services to be services/supports that may be required as an equitable remedy designed to repair educational and func- tional deficits resulting from the denial of a FAPE. This denial of FAPE can be a result of extended school closures, disruptions to in-person instruction, delays and/or changes in how services were provided that caused the special education and related services outlined in the IEP to not be effectively implemented

and caused a loss of skills and/or regression. If your child could not access and make gains through remote learning or if the services outlined in the IEP were actually not provided, then compensatory education needs to be considered. You will want to determine if your state is a Quantitative or Qualitative. Qual- itative looks at what is needed to place a student in the same position they would have been in if FAPE had been provided. Quantitative calculates the exact amount of service minutes identified on the IEP that were not implemented. The IEP team must make an individualized determination whether and to what extent compensatory education services may be needed to make up for any skills that may have been lost or lack of gains as a result of COVID-related disruptions to the provision of FAPE. Consider the below when determining if compensatory education is needed:

What was the rate of progress on IEP goals prior to closure/ disruption vs during the closure/disruption;

Is there a difference between IEP progress monitoring data immediately preceding closure/disruption and IEP progress monitoring data collected a reasonable time after the return to in-person instruction; Was there a difference between services identified on the IEP and services offered during closure/ disruption, including amount, frequency, duration, type and delivery model; Was your child able to access services offered to your child during closure/disruption When determining a remedy the IEP team will look at com- pensatory educational services that are sufficient to allow the student to recoup lost skills and continue to make progress on IEP goals. Parents and schools are encouraged to consider col- laborative, creative and innovative ways to address regression or loss of skills that carefully consider a student’s individual needs, including strengths, impact of disability on learning and stami- na. HOME IS NOW SCHOOL For many of you your home is now functioning as the school. Create a space in your house where school/learning will take place. If at all possible try not to use the kitchen table for this table has a different function typically and can be confusing to children. Look for a way to block off the space with a divider, a sheet hung up, large cardboard, etc. Label the area with the words and/or symbols including“Work”or“School”. Create a rou- tine/schedule that works for your household. Your school might be giving you a schedule as well. Communicate and collaborate with the school to figure out what works best for all parties. If you have to work as well, let them know. Post the schedule visu- ally for your child to see (on a poster, white board, piece of paper,

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etc). Provide breaks throughout the day for your child. Utilize hands-on activities when possible. Can your child work on math while learning to cook? Can your child work on motor skills with household items? Can your child work on life skills learning to do laundry? Be flexible and creative. BRICK AND MORTAR This will happen again. (Some may already be back in school buildings). And when it does we all need to be ready. A mask might be something that your children might need to be wear- ing (not only in school but in the community as well). There will always need to be the understanding that some students will have a difficult time with this. Start now. Start slow. You may start having your child wear a mask for a few minutes during remote learning and increase the time slowly. Introduce the importance of wearing a mask. Model wearing a mask. Utilize visuals, social stories, and videos for this. ENCOURAGEMENT This time has been difficult for everyone. We are all learning together. It is important to find support for you as well. There are many groups created on Facebook for parents and educators. I highly encourage joining one. Share with others about what is working and what is not. Someone else is probably going through the same thing and may have come up with a solution

that might work for you as well. Don’t get discouraged. Know that you are trying your best! Be patient, flexible, understanding and communicate often with school staff for support. If you believe you might need support to get your child’s IEP implemented or to get compensatory education you may need to consult an advocate. Please contact me if you need this lev- el of support at https://www.aiepautism.com/ or https://www. facebook.com/Butiautismhelper.

Stay healthy!

Mo Buti Email: mobuti@hotmail.com

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