Addresses COVID-19 impact on youth with special needs, caretakers
by Kay Ledbetter
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Family and Community Health unit’s Texas Military Program will host a webinar “Back to School: Special Needs and Social Distancing” at 10 a.m. Aug. 19.
The webinar is free and open to the public. Attendees must first RSVP in advance and then check email for instructions to join the session.
School children with special needs faced unusual disruption to the end of their school year in May/June 2020; and teachers, parents and caregivers scrambled to turn the living room into a classroom, said Rachel Brauner, AgriLife Extension program specialist in College Station.
School closures and social distancing did not just cause impromptu homeschooling, Brauner said. They also had the effect of causing a longer at-home summer and the need to prepare for a new normal in the upcoming school year.
“We aim to provide resources to service providers so they may help parents and caregivers work with teachers to address issues related to back to school, social distancing and individuals with special health care needs,” she said.
The presenters will be Lakshmi Mahadevan, Ph.D., associate professor and AgriLife Extension specialist, special populations. Mahadevan earned a doctorate in educational psychology with an emphasis in career development education from Texas A&M University. Her areas of expertise include career assessment, post-secondary options for individuals with special needs, special education and multicultural career counseling.
Free continuing education credit will be available in the areas of social work, licensed professional counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, case manager, board-certified patient advocate and certified family life educator.
