Rapid Transitions: Experiences with Accessibility and Special Education during the COVID-19 Crisis
Rapid Transitions: Experiences with Accessibility and Special Education during the COVID-19 Crisis
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DOI：
10.3389/fcomp.2020.617006
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发表时间：
2021-02-17
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Hamidi, Foad
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Long, Emily;Vijaykumar, Sruti;Hamidi, Foad
2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 的持续爆发以及随之而来的世界各地颁布的预防性封锁和就地避难政策，对向残疾儿童、青少年和成人提供教育内容和无障碍服务造成了意想不到的干扰。在线和远程学习、社交和治疗活动的快速发展暴露了现有系统和基础设施的一些不足之处，以及创建新颖且易于使用的解决方案的机会。我们对九名特殊教育教师、治疗师、社区倡导者和残疾人进行了半结构化远程访谈，以了解他们在大流行期间提供服务和支持残疾儿童和成人及其家人的观点。参与者分享了对他们在 COVID-19 危机初期阶段的经历和服务对象的反思，以及这段经历所带来的挑战和见解。调查结果包括需要更好地支持家庭为孩子提供远程学习体验，开发触觉参与模式以补充在线互动，以及缺乏专门在危机期间支持残疾人及其家人的应急计划的影响。与会者还将未来缺乏明确性描述为这一流行病最困难的方面之一。最后我们讨论了这些发现和未来研究的方向。
The ongoing outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the ensuing preventative lock-down and shelter-in-place policies enacted around the world have caused unanticipated disruptions in the delivery of educational content and accessibility services to children, youth and adults with disabilities. The rapid move to online and remote learning, socialization, and therapeutic activities have surfaced some of the inadequacies of existing systems and infrastructures as well as opportunities for creating novel and accessible solutions. We conducted semi-structured remote interviews with nine special education teachers, therapists, community advocates, and individuals with disabilities to capture their perspectives on delivering services and supporting children and adults with disabilities and their families during the pandemic. Participants shared reflections on their experience and those who they serve during the initial phases of the COVID-19 crisis and the challenges and insights that this experience surfaced. Findings include a need to better support families in facilitating remote learning experiences for their children, developing tactile modes of engagement to complement online interactions, and the impact of a lack of contingency plans specifically to support people with disabilities and their families during crizes. The participants also described the lack of clarity about the future as one of the most difficult aspects of the pandemic. We conclude with a discussion of these findings and directions for future research.