UK (Commonwealth Union) – As nations across the world pick up the pieces of the damage caused by the pandemic lockdowns, primarily impacting the economy and health, a new UK study has seen the switch from school education to online learning during the pandemic cause many autistic students to drop out due unfulfilled requirements.
A survey of around 1,200 parents of children between 5-15 years old, with neurodevelopmental conditions, exploring absenteeism in May 2021 and its contributing factors were conducted for the study. The results showed that COVID-19 itself only had a small effect on school attendance, as physical health risks all in all were not a significant obstacle to school attendance. Instead, up to 31 percent of school attendance obstacles were connected to unmet needs.
Mental health was a significant obstacle as well, with anxiety significantly connected to increased absent days, where absence was continuous, together with increased days of school refusal.
Dr Vaso Totsika, who was the lead author of the research from the University College London Psychiatry, said: “In our survey, we found that blanket school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic likely exacerbated existing difficulties with school attendance for autistic children and children with an intellectual disability. Among such families who de-registered from school, we found that the primary reason was dissatisfaction with schools for not meeting the additional needs of their children.”
The study also indicated poor parent-teacher relationships also predicted elevated amounts of school absences.
A policy roundtable, with participants from across the UK, including researchers, parent advisers, and other academics, made recommendations that included a national policy to focus on avoiding the root causes of non-attendance by looking into issues like bullying and non-flexibility, trusting relationships involving children the families and schools, enhancing attendance supported by multiple organizations around school and family, tackling barriers to getting mental health support and flexible schooling options.
