The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children With Special Needs: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, children with special needs may have challenges. To determine emotional and behavioral challenges, 116 children aged 4 to 6 years, who received special education, were evaluated. COVID-19 negatively affected the families at a rate of 94.6%; 76.5% of the children’s daily routines were worsened. Although the one-on-one time duration with the mother and father increased (73.5% and 66.7%), reading books (40.6%), play (17.2%), and overall activity durations (25.7%) decreased. The median screen time increased from 1 to 3 hours. According to the families, there was a regression in development in 18.8% of children. Special education practices at home were ceased by 17.2% of families, and a significant difference was found between the groups with and without regression in development in terms of the frequency of continuing special education at home. The development of children with special needs is an ongoing urgent situation; thus, besides protecting and promoting physical health during the pandemic, families and children should also be supported for developmental needs.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Autism Spectrum Disorder, Consequences to Children and Adolescents — a Systematic Review

“…Concerning the period of the COVID-19 pandemic studied, 10 articles (38%) compared before with during the pandemic (Bhat, 2021 ; Cardy et al, 2021 ; Colizzi et al, 2020 ; Garcia et al, 2021 ; Hosokawa et al, 2021 ; Jacques et al, 2022 ; Kawabe et al, 2020 ; Mete Yesil et al, 2022 ; Mutluer et al, 2020 ; Vasa et al, 2021 ), 12 (47%) defined specific pandemic periods (e.g., before versus during quarantine, confinement, or lockdown) (Amorim et al, 2020 ; Berard et al, 2021 ; Bruni et al, 2021 , 2022 ; Levante et al, 2021 ; Lugo-Marín et al, 2021 ; Mumbardó-Adam et al, 2021 ; Tokatly Latzer et al, 2021 ; Türkoğlu et al, 2020 ), while the final four (15%) compared different pandemic moments.…”

“…Of the 26 papers added in this work, 10 addressed the routines of children/adolescents with ASD during the pandemic (Amorim et al, 2020 ; Colizzi et al, 2020 ; Garcia et al, 2021 ; Hosokawa et al, 2021 ; Jacques et al, 2022 ; Mete Yesil et al, 2022 ; Morris et al, 2021 ; Mumbardó-Adam et al, 2021 ; Tokatly Latzer et al, 2021 ; Türkoğlu et al, 2020 ). A medium level of evidence was reached in two papers, Colizzi et al, 2020 and Hosokawa et al, 2021 .…”

“…A medium level of evidence was reached in two papers, Colizzi et al, 2020 and Hosokawa et al, 2021 . A change in routine was described in eight articles (Amorim et al, 2020 ; Colizzi et al, 2020 ; Garcia et al, 2021 ; Hosokawa et al, 2021 ; Jacques et al, 2022 ; Mete Yesil et al, 2022 ; Morris et al, 2021 ; Mumbardó-Adam et al, 2021 ), and was considered positive in two, since families had more time to spend together (Jacques et al, 2022 ; Mumbardó-Adam et al, 2021 ), but also negative, due to a general worsening in routine according to 77.4% of respondents (Jacques et al, 2022 ) and, as indicated by 55% of respondents, being isolated from loved ones (Mumbardó-Adam et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Two papers observed that patients significantly used to exercise more frequently prior to the pandemic (Garcia et al, 2021 ; Morris et al, 2021 ), while another 40% of respondents did not observe changes (Mete Yesil et al, 2022 ). Considering overall activities, one article found a significantly higher engagement in activities prior to the pandemic (Garcia et al, 2021 ), which is in contrast with two papers that observed an increase in overall activity duration (43.3%) (Mete Yesil et al, 2022 ), and more involvement in activities during the pandemic (Mumbardó-Adam et al, 2021 ). Free time also increased for 47.71 to 78.1% of respondents (Colizzi et al, 2020 ; Jacques et al, 2022 ).…”

Psychometric properties and clinical utility of COVID-19-related distress scale among children and adolescents with Disabilities

“…The greater burden faced by children living with disabilities means that additional efforts will be required to ensure their needs are being met when transitioning to the different pandemic phases( Unicef, 2021 ). According to the results of Mete Yesil et al (2022) COVID-19 negatively affected the families at a rate of 94.6 %; 76.5 % of the children's daily routines were worsened. Overall activity durations (25.7 %) decreased.…”