Written by: Amanda Angulo
At the school district of Duarte Unified, east of Los Angeles, the school year began nearly a month ago, and yet, Brady, Ellie, and Jack Fitzgibbons have not received any instruction from their teachers.
The mother of the 13-year-old triplets, Julie Fitzgibbons, who are all on the autism spectrum, did not feel safe sending her children back to school due to the mask requirements in schools. “They struggle with masks. They won’t be able to be in a class with 36 kids wearing masks,” Fitzgibbons stated.
She also continued by claiming that “communication is important for autistic kids. They can’t talk with masks.” However, the district’s accommodations have been delayed for their disabilities through independent study. This results in the triplets losing a month of instruction.
She is not alone. Throughout the state of California, students with disabilities are falling behind. Even the legislators who recently passed a law regarding the independent study claim that this form of remote learning may not accommodate all students’ needs.
In Northern California, Connie Nakano’s three children attend a school in the Elk Grove Unified School District, southeast of Sacramento. Her oldest and youngest, aged 10 and 7, are both on the autism spectrum.
Nakano decided that all her children be in independent study due to concerns over the new Delta variant. She claims that her middle child, who does not have a disability, has an easier time than her siblings in independent study.
“There are some inequalities here. Parents are allowed to choose between in-person and online,” Connie mentioned. “However, those two options don’t translate to students who have disabilities.”
Despite online learning having such an adverse reaction and experience in the last school year, it worked for the children of both Nakano and Fitzgibbons. Nakano’s children received extra help from teacher aids through Zoom and got more real-time learning compared to this year. In Fitzgibbon’s case, the school provided therapists who worked remotely with the triplets.
The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act states that public schools must offer all students a free appropriate public education by accommodating their needs and disabilities. However, independent study is not a free proper public education for many children with disabilities throughout the state. In fact, Nakano mentioned that her children’s teacher pops into Zoom for 30 minutes every day. “It’s not exactly instruction.”
Photo from: New York Times
