For most, the 2019/2020 school year has come to a close. Planning is still underway for the fall, but we can expect that remote learning will play some role in the education of students; whether it’s preventative measures for at risk students, in response to a second wave pandemic, or a back up plan for snow days. 

Students, teachers and families stepped up in the spring. We were all on a fast track to building skills in remote learning and remote work. Zoom is now a part of our vocabulary. 

For children with special needs, remote learning was particularly challenging. Twice as many parents of children with IEPs reported doing little or no remote learning (35% vs. 17%) and only one in five children received all the supports in the IEPs. (Source: NPR report ParentsTogether survey)

If your child struggled, know that you are not alone. 

Acquiring the skills to successfully access remote learning and stay socially connected to peers during a pandemic simply wasn’t written into students IEPs prior to COVID-19. Yet, periodic distance learning may be a reality for some students in the 2020/21 school year.  

Even before your child is back to school, there are things you can do to build skills. Summer is the ideal time to build your child’s comfort with remote learning and therapy experiences. Finding a trusted provider who has proven success in remote practice and is able to engage children and teens in a teletherapy experience will set a foundation of confidence and skills.  Pine Tree Society’s speech team has created engaging, individualized telepractice speech therapy sessions in which children and teens continue to make progress on their speech goals while they also gain confidence in using remote technologies. 

Call Pine Tree Society today at 207-386-5931 to schedule a telepractice speech therapy session and discover how this can create a foundation of success for the 20/21 school year.