Online school can be a struggle for students with autism

By Meredith Matz & Jordan Smith
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers

Gaydos is autistic, and he thrives on structure. Prior to last spring, he had only experienced in-person schooling. He had a well-defined routine. He took classes along with everyone else. If Gaydos became overstimulated and needed a sensory break, he could walk laps in the hall or go to a sensory room to let his brain relax. And he had an aide with him during class to help facilitate his learning and to work with him on emotional regulation.

When his school — like schools across the country — went all virtual in spring after the coronavirus pandemic hit, Gaydos struggled. His routine was disrupted. His dining room became his classroom. And his mother, Tracy Gaydos, became his de facto aide. She sat with him at the computer and helped him through his classes — even though she isn’t trained to do so.

Then Anthony switched schools for sixth grade, and the routine was again disrupted. Tracy Gaydos reported back to her son’s new teachers and aide on how school from home was going. And it was often quite rocky.

“[People on the autism spectrum] need a plan,” Tracy Gaydos said. “They need a routine. And they love routines. However, you disrupt their routine, and the Earth is shaking. It is like an earthquake for them… so for [Anthony], it’s on multiple levels right now. He’s in a new school. He has new faces on Zoom calls, because now they’ve merged all the elementary schools into a middle school. So, 80 percent of these kids he’s never seen before, and he is trying to establish friendships.”   

Anthony Gaydos is one of many students on the autism spectrum who are struggling to adjust to online school during the pandemic. The lack of structure and change of routine are negatively affecting students across the country. Many are not receiving the assistance they need to thrive. And parents are stressed out having to manage everything from home.

The impact of this change is immense. According to reports, more than half of U.S. K-12 public school students were set to attend school virtually in the fall, and only a small share planned to attend school every day. This means schools were scrambling to put in place plans to help students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who would largely be learning and studying at home.

Why students with autism struggle online

There are several reasons why students with ASD struggle with online learning. The acquisition of social skills is more challenging online. It can be difficult for anyone to read social cues on a computer, and especially so for people who struggle to do in everyday settings. Emotional regulation becomes more challenging at home because students are in a different setting and can’t rely on their usual ways of managing at school.

Connie Anderson, an associate professor at Towson University and program director of the autism studies post-baccalaureate certificate program, said some people with ASD at a very young age aren’t aware that they’re supposed to look at a human face with excitement.   

Tracy Gaydos said her son has a difficult time reading body language and struggles to listen to other people talk about topics that they are interested in when he is not. He tends to get excited about what he wants to talk about and dominates the conversation. He is working on listening to others, acknowledging their interests and keeping the conversation going. Being online, he isn’t able to practice his social skills with others and he barely has a visual of people so he cannot read their body language.  

Robyn McCray,  associate director of accessibility and disability services at Towson University,  highlighted some issues for students with ASD when it comes to socialization.  

Students with ASD are faced with constant challenges when learning from home, one of which is meltdowns. Triggers can include emotional, sensory and information overload. This can learn to tantrums and other emotional outbursts.

His mom had to calm him down and focus on getting him through the quiz. She did that by giving him a deep-pressure massage on his shoulders and back. She had him do breathing exercises and meditation.  

Helping students through a difficult time

Anderson said it’s important to understand that students with ASD have their own way of being. People need to meet them where they are and accept them for who they are. Continue to challenge them or help them gain more skills. Don’t assume that they are never going to be able to be productive in society. It’s a balancing act between admiring who they are accepting who they are, and also having appropriate expectations. 

McCray said it’s helpful if students with ASD have many different opportunities to learn and to practice their social skills.

Being understanding is critical when helping students. If they have a meltdown, avoid anger and punishment. Set a routine and create structure, and find methods that helps the student .

It’s also helpful if students take ownership. Gaydos said students with ASD should find coping techniques when overwhelmed because when COVID-19 is over they will have to know or learn how to use them in a school setting.  When children go back into the classroom, these students will have to learn how to cope – whether it is going to their aide, leaving the room, or going to the sensory room for a sensory break.   

Anderson said the No. 1 thing that helps students with autism, whether they’re at home or at school, is people around them who celebrate who they are, get who they are and aren’t trying to fix them. 

Online teaching from an educator’s perspective

The unexpected transition from in-person classes to online learning has proved challenging for teachers. Connecting with and assisting students with ASD has been one of the bigger challenges.

Anna Melton, a special education teacher at Ridge Ruxton School in Baltimore County, was greatly challenged with ways to support her students when the COVID –19 outbreak happened. Melton teaches six students, all of whom have disabilities. Students at the school have individualized education plans that help with their learning needs.

When Melton realized the pandemic would stretch on in the spring, she contacted families to understand their students’ experiences with virtual learning and to ask how she could help. Melton discovered that the change of routine was very difficult for students and was triggering negative behaviors.

Melton collaborated with her co-workers and found how difficult distanced teaching can be. The workload for Melton has increased since the change.  Not only do Melton and her staff  have to be concerned with how they will meet the needs of their students, but they need to make sure the parents understand the lessons they plan.  

“We were literally building the plane as we were flying,” Melton said. 

Parents talked with Melton about the conflict between balancing their jobs and assisting their child in school.  Melton, after taking time to recognize the factors that impacted the home lives of her students and families, began to create individual plans for her students to make sure they are still receiving a proper education.  

Melton understood it would be impossible to meet with her students in their virtual classroom every day, because their parents are also still trying to provide for their children. Melton scheduled all her students’ academic routines based on their parents’ work schedules.  

“I went ahead and said, ‘let me know what you can do, what time works for you, you know, how can we do these goals virtually? What are your thoughts? What are your suggestions?’”  

Creating a personal class time for her students allowed her to focus on the goals of her students. Due to the work schedule of parents, Melton may only meet with her students twice a week for fewer than 30 minutes. Melton uses the time that she does have with her students to plan out the routine of class and the related lesson plan.    

Allowing for class time that centers around the personal schedules of her students’ families created a great learning environment, she said. In their individual groups, she focuses on her students’ needs. Whether she’s answering questions, working on teaching bills and coins, or working on vocational skills, Melton tries her hardest to  translate those lessons to a virtual setting.   

Melton’s students have been doing as well as can be expected in the new learning environment, she said.  Melton sees five out of her six students weekly, and sometimes daily. When she meets with her students, the parents are energized and ready to support their child.  The parents understand how frustrating a virtual setting is for both teacher and student.   

Teaching through a computer screen still presents Melton with many obstacles. When her students experience a meltdown, she can’t assist them as she would in person. Melton focuses on walking them through breathing exercises, but those exercises are not guaranteed to resolve the crisis. Melton informs parents when occurrences like meltdowns happen and the triggers that caused them.  

Communication is necessary for the success of her students’ education. Melton consistently checks in with families to see if there is anything they need of her or any resources she can provide for families, whether that be creating schedules or dropping off materials at the mailboxes of her students’ homes.   

Melton is concerned for her students as her school transitions back to in-person teaching. She’s concerned about whether she’ll be able to be in close contact with students and whether they can ride the bus to school. Melton is concerned about how readily her students will be able to learn in a world that is still impacted by a pandemic, because if her students don’t feel safe their acquisition of skills and information will be very limited.  

“I would love all my kids to return. And I can go back to, you know, providing that really direct hands-on instruction, but it’s not going to be the same as it was,” Melton said. “If we have to go through a day where we are just practicing safety routines, and making sure we are all good, I’d rather do that than to struggle trying to provide, you know, instruction.”  

Melton said for now, trying to stay positive at home is important. But it can be difficult.

“I truly feel for my parents, I feel for you, I understand that it is really stressful,” Melton said. “Teachers are often overloaded in their stress, but they also feel you and so, we are doing everything in our power to support you.”  

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