Experience of Children With Special Education Needs During COVID-19

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the unique academic, behavior, and parent mental health challenges for children who qualify for a school individualized education program (IEP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The authors recruited 302 parents of 5- to 10-year-old children in Michigan (February–March 2021), oversampling children with IEP supports through education-related organizations. Parents completed surveys about school format, child behavior, educational problems, IEP supports, parent stress, and depression symptoms. Results: Forty-seven children had an IEP, of whom 36% of parents stated their child was not receiving sufficient IEP services in 2020 to 2021. Reasons included unavailable services (41%), available services but parent unable to bring their child to school (12%), and only virtual services (47%). Compared with children without IEPs, children with IEPs had greater hyperactivity levels ( p < 0.0001), more peer problems ( p = 0.0003), and behavioral difficulties ( p = 0.0002) and their parents had higher depression symptoms (Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale score >21, 42.6% vs 27.3%, p = 0.03). Parents of children with IEPs reported lower rates of meeting grade level reading (51.1% vs 77.5%, p = 0.0002), math (54.6% vs 78.9%, p = 0.0006), writing expectations (35.6% vs 67.9%, p < 0.0001), and higher prevalence of medication adjustment for behavior or attention (19.5% vs 4.1%, p = 0.0007) compared with children without an IEP. Conclusion: Over one-third of parents of children with IEPs reported their child's learning needs were not met during COVID-19. Lack of access to services may partially explain greater behavioral difficulties and parent depression symptoms in this group. When planning supports during an interruption of in-person instruction, social-emotional needs, behavioral intervention, family support, and academic goals should be addressed.