Abstract
Students with special needs need special attention when learning during this pandemic because of the limitations they have, especially in learning mathematics. Therefore, the purpose of this ...study is to describe how mathematics learning for children with special needs during the Covid-19 pandemic is implemented. Therefore, the method in this research is the descriptive qualitative method. The data collection technique used in this research is the study of documentation and interviews with respect to their respective guidelines. Qualitative data were obtained through interviews with teachers accompanying inclusive students as key informants. Documentation is done to see an overview of the teaching materials used by the teacher. The subjects in this study were special guidance teachers for special needs students as many as 2 people from 2 different inclusive schools in the city of Bandung. The results of this study are that. At the beginning of the pandemic, Alam Bandung School implemented online learning, but the rules applied at the school became chaotic, students could not focus during video conferencing, and students’ cognitive abilities decreased, especially in mathematics. Therefore, learning is carried out offline even though it is only 3 days filled with therapy, deepening material and assignments for home. At Mutiara Bunda School, at the beginning of the pandemic, online learning was carried out using Google Meetings and task collection through Google Classroom. Teachers design their own learning tools such as home learning guides for each special needs students so that learning objectives can still be achieved even though they are studying from home.
Parents and teachers of children with special needs face unique social-emotional challenges in carrying out their caregiving roles. Stress associated with these roles impacts parents' and special ...educators' health and well-being, as well as the quality of their parenting and teaching. No rigorous studies have assessed whether mindfulness training (MT) might be an effective strategy to reduce stress and cultivate well-being and positive caregiving in these adults. This randomized controlled study assessed the efficacy of a 5-week MT program for parents and educators of children with special needs. Participants receiving MT showed significant reductions in stress and anxiety and increased mindfulness, self-compassion, and personal growth at program completion and at 2 months follow-up in contrast to waiting-list controls. Relational competence also showed significant positive changes, with medium-to-large effect sizes noted on measures of empathic concern and forgiveness. MT significantly influenced caregiving competence specific to teaching. Mindfulness changes at program completion mediated outcomes at follow-up, suggesting its importance in maintaining emotional balance and facilitating well-being in parents and teachers of children with developmental challenges.
Parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in the UK (
n
= 241) were asked to describe the impact of COVID-19 on their own mental health and that of their child. An ...inductive content analysis of the data was undertaken. Both parents and children appear to be experiencing loss, worry and changes in mood and behaviour as a result of the rapid social changes that have occurred. Some parents reported feeling overwhelmed and described the impact of child understanding and awareness. Finally, a minority of parents reported that COVID-19 has had little impact on mental health in their family, or has even led to improvements. Implications for how to support these families in the immediate future are discussed.
Over the past decade, fluent reading has come to be seen as a central component of skilled reading and a driving force in the literacy curriculum. However, much of this focus has centered on a ...relatively narrow definition of reading fluency, one that emphasizes automatic word recognition. This article attempts to expand this understanding by synthesizing several key aspects of research on reading fluency, including theoretical perspectives surrounding automaticity and prosody. It examines four major definitions of reading fluency and their relationship to accuracy, automaticity, and prosody. A proposed definition is presented. Finally, the implications of these definitions for current assessment and instruction are considered along with suggestions for reenvisioning fluency's role within literacy curriculum. Adapted from the source document
Inclusive education often refers to a school model wherein students with special needs (SEN) spend most of their school time with students without special needs. According to literature, for the ...implementation of inclusion, the attitudes towards inclusive education as well as the perception of inclusive teaching practices and resources are important factors. Within this paper, these three aspects are examined from the parents' view. Data from a representative nationwide German survey (JAKO-O) in which 2000 parents participated was investigated. The data was collected using digitally recorded semi-structured telephone interviews. Descriptive results showed that parents' attitudes towards the inclusion of a student with a physical disability or learning disability were rather positive, while the attitudes towards students with behavioural disorders or mental disabilities were rather neutral. According to the teaching practices, parents, whose children attend an inclusive class (with at least one student with SEN in the class) perceive more inclusive practices (e.g. teachers recognise the students' strengths and support them) compared to parents whose children attend a regular class (where not a single student with SEN is included). However, no differences concerning resources are perceived by parents with children attending either inclusive or regular classes. Further, results of regression analysis indicate that the predictors for parents' attitudes towards inclusive education depend on the specific type of disability.
Background
The COVID‐19 pandemic has significantly changed the lives of children and adolescents, forcing them into periods of prolonged social isolation and time away from school. Understanding the ...psychological consequences of the UK’s lockdown for children and adolescents, the associated risk factors, and how trajectories may vary for children and adolescents in different circumstances is essential so that the most vulnerable children and adolescents can be identified, and appropriate support can be implemented.
Methods
Participants were a convenience sample of parents and carers (n = 2,988) in the UK with children and adolescents aged between 4 and 16 years who completed an online survey about their child’s mental health. Growth curve analysis was used to examine the changes in conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, and emotional symptoms between the end of March/beginning of April and July using data from monthly assessments over four months. Additionally, growth mixture modelling identified mental health trajectories for conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, and emotional symptoms separately, and subsequent regression models were used to estimate predictors of mental health trajectory membership.
Results
Overall levels of hyperactivity and conduct problems increased over time, whereas emotional symptoms remained relatively stable, though declined somewhat between June and July. Change over time varied according to child age, the presence of siblings, and with Special Educational Needs (SEN)/Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ND). Subsequent growth mixture modelling identified three, four, and five trajectories for hyperactivity/inattention, conduct problems, and emotional symptoms, respectively. Though many children maintained ‘stable low’ symptoms, others experienced elevated symptoms by July. These children were more likely to have a parent/carer with higher levels of psychological distress, to have SEN/ND, or to be younger in age.
Conclusions
The findings support previous literature and highlight that certain risk factors were associated with poorer mental health trajectories for children and adolescents during the pandemic.
The lockdown that was imposed by governments as part of the attempt to contain the COVID-19 pandemic included extreme measures, such as home confinement and the shutting down of special education ...systems. Our aim was to learn about the core experiences of parents of children with autism during this significant life disturbance. Thirty-one parents of 25 children with autism participated in semi-structured telephone interviews which were transcribed verbatim and underwent a qualitative, immersion/crystallization analysis. The analysis was conducted in an iterative consensus-building process to identify parents’ experiences, concerns, challenges, coping strategies, and perceived needs during the lockdown. The main themes that emerged related to the various parental concerns; the major difficulties encountered during this unique time, the functional, social, and behavioral implications the lockdown had on these children; and the manner in which the parents coped as an indication of their resourcefulness and outlook. Our findings broaden the insight into the underlying elements of the hardships and gains experienced by children with autism and their parents in times of significant life adversity. Programs in such times should be directed at supporting and guiding parents on how to better accommodate to the situation, thereby optimizing their coping strategies and resilience.
Lay abstract
The lockdown and home isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant transformation in lifestyles. Being a parent in this situation was not easy for anyone, much less for parents of children with special needs. The shutting down of special education systems meant that parents lost a vital support network and had to be the sole full-time caregivers despite often lacking the skills to cope with this new and daunting situation. We interviewed parents and learned that the main difficulties faced by homebound autistic children stemmed from the change in routine, lack of special education services, limited physical space, and food- and sleep-related issues. Some children experienced worsening in behavioral, social, and developmental domains, yet others seemed to not only overcome the challenges of changing conditions but even benefit from them. The children’s success or failure was directly related to how their parents coped. The key factors that enabled successful coping were the parents’ ability to accommodate to the child’s needs, their own creativeness and resourcefulness, and a generally positive outlook. The results of this analysis revealed that the best way to benefit autistic children caught up in drastic changes in their routine lifestyle is to invest in a strong support system for their parents.
This short article aims to provide an understanding that there are several points of view about individuals with special needs. Some of these points of view may differ in defining individuals with ...special needs. So that the optimization of a felicitous life for individuals with special needs may not match what they actually need.
When children are born with disabilities or become disabled in childhood, parents often experience bewilderment: they find themselves unexpectedly in another world, without a roadmap, without ...community, and without narratives to make sense of their experiences. The Disabled Child: Memoirs of a Normal Future tracks the narratives that have emerged from the community of parent-memoirists who, since the 1980s, have written in resistance of their children’s exclusion from culture. Though the disabilities represented in the genre are diverse, the memoirs share a number of remarkable similarities; they are generally written by white, heterosexual, middle or upper-middle class, ablebodied parents, and they depict narratives in which the disabled child overcomes barriers to a normal childhood and adulthood. Apgar demonstrates that in the process of telling these stories, which recuperate their children as productive members of society, parental memoirists write their children into dominant cultural narratives about gender, race, and class. By reinforcing and buying into these norms, Apgar argues, “special needs” parental memoirs reinforce ableism at the same time that they’re writing against it.
The study was conducted in order to determine the effect of mandala therapy applied to mothers who have children with special needs on the mothers' comfort and resilience levels.
The study was ...conducted as a randomized controlled study at a special education school in Turkey. The study sample consisted of 51 mothers (24 mothers in the experimental group and 27 mothers in the control group) who had children with special needs. A 16-h mandala therapy was applied to the mothers in the experimental group. Identifying Information Form, General Comfort Questionnaire and Adult Resilience Scale were used as data collection tools.
According to the regression analysis performed in order to explain the difference between the first and third measurements of General Comfort Questionnaire, mandala art therapy was found to be effective, and the model established was determined to be statistically significant. It was also determined that the change that occurred between the third and first measurements performed in order to identify the change in the general comfort levels of the individuals was higher in the experimental group in comparison to the control group (P < 0.05). It was seen that the mothers' mean scores obtained from the Adult Resilience Scale total scale and its subscales significantly increased in the second and third measurements (P < 0.05) but that the increase in the mean scores of the control group was not significant (P > 0.05).
Mandala Art Therapy is a method that improves the comfort levels and resilience of mothers who have children with special needs. It might be beneficial for mothers to perform these applications at special education schools in collaboration with nurses.
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