What do students lose when they don’t go back to classrooms?

Deseret News included Dr. Diane Myers, SESI SVP of Special Education – Behavior Management, in an article about the loss students face when they do not attend physical schools.

Students with disabilities often require more structure, which is something schools can provide. It’s a struggle for online schools, according to Diane Myers, senior vice president of special education-behavior management practices at Specialized Education Services Inc.
The company provides services for students with special needs who have challenges that prevent them from succeeding in a traditional classroom.


The past few months have presented learning challenges for everyone, she said, including both parents and teachers adapting to online learning when they’ve relied on schools for direct services in the past. She believes the school closures have given parents a better view of their children’s educational needs and that many parents have forged bonds with educators, exploring what works in ways that will allow parents to be strong partners when school resumes.


What can’t be taught — and something teachers are more apt than parents to have — is “the gift of objectivity,” she said. Students with special needs benefit from that.


More than any other aspect of education, schooling for students with disabilities is specialized, focused on the individual’s needs, she said. The uniqueness of the pandemic has called for everyone involved to be patient and gracious with themselves and with each other.

The story was published by Deseret News.

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