Remote psychological and pedagogical help for students with intellectual disabilities in the opinion of specialists

Abstract

The time of school and educational facility closures during the COVID-19 pandemic diversified children’s and adolescents’ access to educational and therapeutic services. Students with special development and educational needs found themselves in a particularly difficult situation. The aim of this article is to present the results of the diagnosis of remote psychological and pedagogical help for students with intellectual disabilities in a special school. The study was carried out using the diagnostic survey method and the questionnaire technique in a group of specialists (school counselors, revalidation teachers, psychologists and speech therapists) employed in special primary schools in selected cities of the Silesian Voivodeship. The results were collected in the period from March 2020 to March 2021. Summarizing the outcome, it should be stated that remote assistance was a challenge for specialists due to the lack of preparation of the schools, curricula as well as students and parents for this form of work. A major limitation was the loss of direct contact with the child, which so far has been the basis for diagnostic, support, revalidation and educational activities. Limited access to specialist support slowed down the development of students with intellectual disabilities, and the responsibilities related to conducting education and therapy fell, to a large extent, on parents or guardians.