As COVID-19 spread wildly, it forced schools in the US to change their routines and eventually close, thus creating the dilemma of in-person learning vs. virtual learning. In this respect, new research showed that children with autism suffered greatly. 

Researchers from the Kessler Foundation surveyed parents of children, aged 4-15, from May to August 2020 to understand what negative consequences children suffered from pandemic-related school closures. They specifically looked at children with autism and those without, referred to as neurotypical children. 

Overall, parents of children with autism were three times more likely to report negative changes in their children compared to parents of neurotypical children. 

Among the concerns cited by parents of autistic children were hygiene, behavioral regression, therapy disruption, meltdowns, and returning to school. This finding led researchers to assert that autistic children are at a greater risk for negative outcomes due to emergency-related school disruptions. 

Children with autism can carry a broad range of conditions, characterized mainly by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, and speech and nonverbal communication. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates about 1 in 44 children have been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and it occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.  

The CDC lists many examples of what a child with ASD might do, from avoiding eye contact and wanting to be alone to repeating or echoing words or phrases in place of normal language, not to mention demonstrating obsessive-compulsive behavior. They may also have trouble adapting when their routine changes and can have unusual reactions to the way things smell, taste, look, feel, or sound. 

As more and more schools closed due to COVID-19, that resulted in shutting down many facilities of special education services, speech and language therapy, physical and occupational therapy, and applied behavior analysis, especially for younger children. This marked a huge change to autistic children’s affinity to routines. 

As a result of pandemic-related closures, researchers from Kessler found that nearly 26% of parents in their study reported their autistic children experienced toileting issues, about 61% reported “meltdowns”, and about 79% reported their child’s therapies were disrupted. 

About 65% of parents also reported an increase in repetitive or unusual movements or noises by their autistic child, while 46% said their child became aggressive with family members. 

Notably, almost 63% of parents were concerned their autistic children’s behavior was regressing and 57% felt their children were less prepared to return to school. About 53% said their child experienced being left out of virtual social situations. 

Researchers explained that many of the aforementioned behaviors observed in autistic children could have been developed as coping mechanisms to deal with the anxiety triggered by the disruption to school routines. 

That’s important, as Helen Genova, one of the authors of the study from Kessler, told Changing America in an emailed statement that, “children on the spectrum will likely need very specific or additional treatment and consideration to get them to the same level as their peers.” 

That’s consistent with guidance issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which has said the impact of the loss of instructional time and related services is significant for students with disabilities.  

“These students may have more difficulty with the social and emotional aspects of transitioning out of and back into the school setting because of the pandemic,” said AAP. 

Kessler researchers recommended that schools directly address ways that autistic children can “catch up” to their peers following pandemic-related school closures, arguing that it’s unacceptable for an entire generation of autistic children to continue to struggle with education goals compared to their peers.