By Gina Apicella, MS, BCBA, LBA, Vice President, Autism Services, Chapel Haven Schleifer Center and Carolyn Gorman, LPC, ATR, Supervisor, ASAT Program, Chapel Haven Schleifer Center

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, educational settings were faced with the unplanned, immediate need to create innovative ways to prevent regression and continue to provide ongoing instruction. In many ways, this need turned out to be more of an opportunity to reach students in ways that had not been anticipated. With the use of an online video conferencing service to link all of our students together, everyone has the ability to both see and hear each other and share screens as needed. As you can imagine, there are many disadvantages to online formats over having class in person; however, in a relatively short time, we have come to realize that there are also many unforeseen advantages.

This has proven especially true for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, nonverbal communication, and difficulty making and maintaining relationships are some of the barriers individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face in their daily lives (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In addition, there are high prevalence rates of psychiatric comorbidities such as ADHD, anxiety, and OCD in those with ASD (Romero, M., Aguilar, J. M., Del-Rey-Mejías, Á., Mayoral, F., Rapado, M., Peciña, M., Barbancho, M. Á., Ruiz-Veguilla, M., & Lara, J. P., 2016). All of these factors contribute to potential difficulties in a learning environment.

In many programs for adults with ASD, such as the ASAT program at Chapel Haven Schleifer Center, instruction is focused on social communication and independent living skills. Instruction is provided in small groups and individually, and is most effective when it happens in the natural setting. With stay-at-home orders in place, many are not doing their usual activities in natural settings, creating the need for new natural settings for everyday activities such as work, grocery shopping, and socializing with friends and family. This new setting is most often utilizing technology—the same technology many individuals with ASD have enjoyed using in their downtime, and that they have a great amount of expertise navigating.

Navigating the online world is observed to be a natural strength of many of our program participants. In taking this natural strength into consideration, a task that one is accustomed to and comfortable doing typically requires less effort than one that is not within one’s repertoire. As with anyone, when our students understand something at the level of being able to help someone else to understand it or explain it to someone else, a sense of confidence is evident. Building on a strength typically leads to a more reinforcing environment, assuming praise and attention from peers or an instructor are desirable for an individual.

As a participant of virtual learning, it has been noted that some individuals have benefited from being able to control their surroundings in a way that they know to be most conducive to their learning. For some, this may mean being in a room alone without any distractions and with lighting of their choice, seating that feels most comfortable, and the choice to disable audio or video. These options have allowed individuals to access information that they might have otherwise missed if they had only had the option of fully attending (in person or virtually).

Preliminary attendance outcomes maintained by Chapel Haven suggest that in some cases, the barriers that are removed with the shift to a virtual format have had a positive impact on attendance rates of individuals who have otherwise struggled with attendance. One participant had an average attendance rate of 50 percent from January through March 2020, but has a 100 percent attendance rate, with the exception of a few late arrivals, since shifting to virtual learning. The number of classes the individual is taking each semester has not changed, however, the barriers of in-person attendance are no longer relevant with virtual learning. The virtual learning format has quite possibly mitigated barriers that were impacting this individual’s ability to fully access programming.

Relatedly, it may be no surprise that accessibility has been advantageous in other ways as well. There is an ability to reach a much broader group of students, both in terms of socioeconomic status and physical location. The new virtual offerings of the ASAT program have been able to reach students in a range of other states for a reasonable cost, giving individuals who may not have a suitable social network while at home during the pandemic the ability to connect with others and to have access to a robust curriculum and recreational offerings (virtually).

Within our social communicative curriculum, difficulties with reciprocal conversations, or “turn taking,” and the ability to filter thoughts or know when to end a conversational topic are addressed. When used thoughtfully, features such as the ability for the facilitator to mute participants and for students to privately chat enable the facilitator and students to learn about and model these social nuances. For example, a student who is repeatedly upset with a peer could be able to quietly resolve the problem in real-time over private chat with the instructor without interruption to the class.

The online format means that most students are taking classes from their familial homes. The virtual teaching format creates a window into the students’ home environments. Through this window, teachers are better able to understand where each student is coming from and how to address those needs. Within some classes, participation or assistance from parents or family members may be helpful, such as in a virtual cooking class. Parent-student relationships can also be positively affected by virtual learning formats. In some cases, they have given parents the opportunity to better understand what each individual is learning and an ability to help reinforce those areas in the home environment. This has also given the students a chance to be able to generalize previous on-campus learning across settings with the guidance of an instructor.

The planning and preparation for classes such as virtual dinner prep have also given students executive functioning modeling and practice. While they are receiving assistance, they have been required to know what they are cooking week to week and to have ingredients ready for their class times. Virtual classes during a pandemic have also required students to do a bit of problem-solving. Sometimes the exact item they need for a class is not available. They have learned to be flexible, to substitute ingredients or art supplies, to adjust to new technology, and to complete tasks under less than ideal circumstances.

Given that the virtual format is new and will continue to be modified as outcomes are measured and data is analyzed, the expected challenges have surprisingly been rebutted with unexpected anecdotal and observed advantages. As a program committed to providing high-quality programming to increase the independence of adults with social and developmental disabilities, the virtual learning format has allowed the individuals we serve to continue to work toward reaching their goals and to stay connected with their peers and staff. There are more opportunities to begin the journey toward independence as part of our community than there have ever been, and it has come on the heels of a worldwide pandemic.

Gina Apicella can be reached at [email protected]

Carolyn Gorman can be reached at [email protected]

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA.

Romero, M., Aguilar, J. M., Del-Rey-Mejías, Á., Mayoral, F., Rapado, M., Peciña, M., Barbancho, M. Á., Ruiz-Veguilla, M., & Lara, J. P. (2016). “Psychiatric comorbidities in autism spectrum disorder: A comparative study between DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 diagnosis.” International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology: IJCHP, 16(3), 266–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2016.03.001