It would be an understatement to say that COVID-19 has turned this country upside down. Yes, we’ve been locked down, businesses closed, schools in flux and more. But there is no more compelling evidence of our disrupted world than through the lens of the everyday life of a family with special needs.
Let me paint the picture for you: Mom and dad are working from home, siblings are home too, trying to learn from online school, and then there is a toddler with more challenging needs – let’s say a heart condition stemming from premature birth. The anxiety is palpable and it’s a far more commonplace situation than you would imagine.
Now add in the reality that, because the toddler’s compromised immune system, the therapist no longer can come to the home and outpatient therapy clinics are closed – and you have a powder keg just waiting to blow, right?
Not so fast. I have seen the opposite effect in 99 percent of the Early Intervention families I treat. In fact, the data is clear – there is no better environment for any child between ages 0 – 3 to learn than the home.
In the typical day of a patient-family, mom and/or dad drive around, toddler in car-seat, dropping the siblings at activities or school and the little one at daycare, all on the way to work. Later that day, it’s pick up the kids and drop siblings at soccer, dance, hockey or baseball practices – and then jet over to the daycare to grab the toddler. Into the car seat again to the home so mom and dad can cook dinner.
But one day that week, mom or dad pivots and brings the toddler into a clinic and hands over the child to a therapist who brings them back in 30 – 60 minutes depending on the child’s mood that day. Afterward, the therapist gives mom or dad a brief rundown of what happened with brief directions for what to do the rest of the week. Parents typically nod their heads and walk out thinking, “I have no clue what she said, but no worries, we will be back next week” – leaving the responsibility of your child’s success in the hands of a therapist who only sees them once every seven days.
The reliance on tele-health driven by COVID has changed the game, creating an environment that is proving more successful for patients as their parents have been forced, to a degree, to take a greater ownership stake in their child’s therapy. That’s right, because it’s no longer feasible for expert coming to fix their child with the parent not being engaged. It’s not an option in the COVID world.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I do not believe parents go into therapy sessions consciously thinking they are not vested in the success for their children. However, we are conditioned to believe medical professionals are the only ones able to really create success for our children. Yet research shows us that is absolutely not the case. Infants and toddlers are most motivated to react and engage with parents and siblings. They strive in their own environment with the ones they trust most to guide and teach them. Medical professionals should be your coach and cheerleader, giving you the tools for parents to confidently engage and enlighten their child’s cognitive, communicative, physical and social emotional wellbeing.
Telehealth is breaking the old, perhaps outdated perspective. It’s driving parents to hone skills they never knew they had, eliciting child engagement, active participation, and creating opportunity for neuroplasticity – the most important facet of Early Intervention.
I hope it is here to stay.
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