Children with disabilities in the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Children with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the containment response. Their caregivers must now adapt to increased stressors such as lack of access to needed therapies, medical supplies, and nursing care. Prior to COVID-19 these families were already marginalized, and this has only worsened during the pandemic. As a vulnerable population, children with disabilities have not been the focus of much discussion during the pandemic, likely because the disease disproportionately impacts older individuals. Nonetheless, children with disabilities should be a focus of evaluation and intervention to mitigate the negative consequences of COVID-19 and the resulting containment strategies. Their needs should be included in future crisis planning, as well. In order to raise awareness of pediatric rehabilitation professionals, health care administrators, policy makers, and advocates, this manuscript provides a discussion of the following topics: the immediate and ongoing impacts on children with disabilities and their families, the ethical concerns and implications of triage protocols for scarce resources that consider disability in their scoring systems, and optimizing medical care and educational needs in the time of COVID.

Parent and Adolescent Perspectives on the Impact of COVID on the Care of Seriously Ill Children

“…In comparison, the majority of children receiving in-home or school-based services such as physical, speech, and occupational therapies had these services cancelled or shifted to telehealth. 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 …”

Children and Adolescents with Disabilities and Exposure to Disasters, Terrorism, and the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Scoping Review

“…The pandemic has widened long-established structural inequities that have been affecting some groups more than others, including persons of color, from low-income households, and with disabilities [ 48 •]. Children in the poorest areas and with underlying vulnerabilities have experienced the worst effects of the COVID-19 pandemic due to food scarcity, housing insecurity, and lack of access to healthcare [ 49 , 50 ].…”

Lessons Learned during a Naturalistic Study of Online Treatment for Pediatric Rehabilitation

“…Conventional healthcare services were unable to adequately cope with therapeutic interventions such as medication monitoring and dietary supervision, nor to provide cognitive and motor therapy as well as psychological support [ 4 ]. Children with disabilities who did not have acute, life-threatening medical needs were recommended to avoid hospital visits and in-person contact with clinicians; the ability to access therapy remotely became the option of choice, indeed the only available alternative [ 19 ].…”