COVID-19 & Special Child
“SOMETIMES EVEN THE GREATEST JOYS BRING CHALLENGE, AND CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS INSPIRE A VERY, VERY SPECIAL LOVE.” ~ SARAH PALIN
The pandemic caused by COVID-19 is creating catastrophe around the world. It is affecting every individual, field, every country’s economy and every single aspect of life. Special Children are no exception to this. Though everyone is affected equally but children with intellectual and developmental disability are more vulnerable to the virus. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, children with disability are more vulnerable to have severe illness from COVID-19 as they have compromised immune systems.
With the emergence of COVID-19 came various challenges for every one whether it be parents, children or employees. The lockdown to minimize the effects of this catastrophe brought a major change in everyone’s life. The effect of COVID-19 is obvious with schools and universities moving classes on the web and work from home turning into a lifestyle all through the globe. Regularly named as social separating or social segregation, has prompted an absence of day by day schedule and structure. Keeping up a routine instigates a feeling of order just as well-being in youngsters, which is significant for their mental and passionate turn of events. Making acclimation to schedules, such as, encountering conclusion of schools and day care focuses, social removing as well as repression to home can end up being a genuine battle for kids with physical and mental disabilities.
While online classes have worked as a boon for most of the students, it has a major negative psychological impact for children with disabilities. Since special children need a fixed schedule, the disruption of their routine due to COVID-19 has caused a serious impact on them physically as well as mentally. Due to lockdown children are confined to their houses which is more problematic for special children like children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder etc. as they do not have a proper routine or a source to drain out their energy or to keep themselves busy in various activities. This disruption is also resulting in severe meltdowns. The major challenge in case of Autistic child is social interaction. Think about the parents who have crossed this hurdle just before the lockdown, but now due to this confinement in the houses all their efforts are going down the drain. Also an absence of routine and the joined vulnerability can make kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) feel more on edge, cantankerous, eager, and create horrendous emotions.
Most of the parents who are working and have children with disabilities are also facing many challenges amidst COVID-19. Working from home is not as easy as it seems especially when you have special children as it becomes difficult to look after your children as well as finish your work before deadlines. Many a times when both mother and father are working, children are left with the caregivers but in these scenario no parent wants to leave their children with outsiders. Sometime the office work of parents might also suffer as looking after children and paying attention to them especially in case of special children requires much efforts, patience as well as time. Also special children needs special educators but moving classes online prompts a deficiency of giving special education assistance to kids as parents can’t supplant special educators and there exists an absence of assistive advancements. This also effects advancement of kids with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), Down syndrome, and so forth. One of the major challenge for parents is also to communicate about the current scenario and problems to their children which is almost next to impossible in case of special children especially if they are intellectually disabled.
The comorbid conditions usually seen along with intellectual and developmental disability are also increasing. The levels of stress and anxiety have been raised than expected. All things considered, ordinary day by day presences for individuals over the globe have been genuinely impacted due to COVID-19. Amidst this, it gets basic to keep children with physical and mental disabilities genuinely secured, yet likewise care for their psychological and energetic thriving. In particular, social eliminating and its assets are unfathomably novel and difficult to grasp for kids, especially those experiencing developmental and intellectual delays. This impacts their flourishing and spots them at a higher danger for clinically basic mental prosperity issues. COVID-19 has upset carries on with over the globe and will undoubtedly exorbitantly impact those children with earlier shortcomings. Ground-breaking measures should be taken to search for snappy similarly as long stretch responses for the battle to come this issue.
Written by Ragini Aggarwal
