Apr 1, 2020
A Special Needs Elementary School Teacher Gets Ready to Go Online due to COVID-19
Yuri Aoki reports on the challenges facing a teacher having to teach young students with autism remotely.
What Will Teachers Do?
Kris Cullinan who teaches special education classes at Valley Springs Elementary School in California said there are still many unknowns as she prepares to go online on April 6th.
Her elementary school closed on March 16th a few days before Spring Break was to begin anyway. Since then, some of her teacher friends have already started remote teaching, giving her some needed insights, but also trepidation.
“I have a friend who works in a different school district, and they are already back from spring break. Hearing what is working and what is not working makes me anxious. What will happen when we go back?” asked Cullinan.
Cullinan’s class is small. She says it will still be extremely challenging as they all have elevated needs with different forms of autism.
“Just because of their needs for continuity and routines,” she explained. “They need such a long time to maintain information, so having this long break is really going to be hard to get back into the routine.”
Potential Pitfalls
Cullinan fears this will create setbacks.
“I think they will lose many skills they already have. It is really going to be hard when we come back to school to catch up and make up [those skills and routines,]” said Cullinan.
Students and their families have expressed gratitude for school restarting even if online, but are hoping for more.
“I communicated with two families through emails, and they are both excited to have the packages. They are looking forward to coming back. Their kids are waiting to go back to school. They do not want to be home anymore,” she said.
Cullinan said she will enjoy spending more time with her dogs at home, but also can’t wait to see her students in person again.
