Dropped into a Foreign Land – Students with disabilities

I am paraphrasing here, one family said that it is like dropping students with special needs into a classroom in a foreign country, not speaking the language and expecting them to complete the work and to pass. This is the experience of students with special needs within the current structure of inclusive classrooms, which are mostly on-line, in COVID-19. Students who have individual education plans who rely upon routines and reinforcement are forced into configurations that just do not work for them. Now, I do understand that teachers and schools are trying to figure it all out. And I have tremendous respect and empathy for them (I use the word empathy because I am struggling with much the same issues in teaching my courses at the college level.)

But no matter the conditions that we have imposed upon ourselves as a society, students with disabilities have a right to and may need something different within those conditions. Section 504 and the IDEA require accommodations and specially designed instruction. And the stipulations within those two laws may be more important now than ever before. 

I am not a lawyer, and I am not giving advice.  However, in my role as an advocate and educator, I think there are some steps that could be helpful for any parent who finds their student with special needs floundering in this current crazy system.

Revisit the Individual Education Plan (IEP). Find out exactly what it says about classroom accommodations and services. Find out what specially designed instruction looks like for your student. You need to know what has been agreed to in the past. Look especially at statements about what the student needs and what is being done to meet those needs. 

Have a conversation with your student as to what they perceive the problem to be in working within the current environment. They may say something like, “It’s too hard.” Be not be deterred and ask what makes it hard and what could make it better. For example, they may say that they can’t get all the work in on time or the information is confusing. This is a start with things that can be fixed through accommodations. Additional time can be allocated just for that student, or some elements of the assignment can be scrapped. If the material is confusing, a handout by the teacher with the main points could be drafted to help prioritize concepts. Keep in mind that on-line systems are difficult for students with and without disabilities.

Re-imagine with the student what it might look like and how the current system might be adjusted to be helpful. Keep in mind that you are not trying to dictate to the teacher how they set up their class, especially when teachers themselves are working under extreme constraints, but you are investigating supports that would work just for your student in this new inclusive classroom structure. 

Contact the special education teacher AND the subject teacher if your student is in middle school or high school. Be very candid about the struggles your student is having and what is not working for them. Brainstorm with the special education teacher and the classroom/subject teacher. Come to some understanding as to what will be provided.

Request an IEP meeting. Your student may have had a perfectly good IEP that worked under normal circumstances, but now the situation has changed. If there is no provision for supports or accommodations within the IEP that meets the current school environment and the current needs of the student, ask for an IEP meeting right away to redraft the IEP for these special circumstances and make sure any new provisions are instituted immediately.

Take additional steps. Contact the principal if necessary. There are steps you can take if there are inadequate responses regarding your concerns. 

Keep in mind that we are all working in uncharted waters and are often stretched beyond our own capacities. Most of us want the best for your student and are willing to reimagine supports and services that might be helpful. Please, be as friendly as possible, but yet determined because your student needs the best that we can give. This is a matter of collaboration and problem solving in this very deep end of the pool. 

I invite comments, suggestions, ideas.


If you have questions that I might be able to answer generally, please email me. Please keep in mind that this blog is for suggestions that may or may not work. Here is the disclaimer, professional advice requires much more in-depth information and contact and is beyond the scope of this blog.  email: gail.coulter@outlook.com