Brief Report: Covid Restrictions had Positive and Negative Impacts on Schooling for Students on the Autism Spectrum.
Kate Simpson, Dawn Adams
PMID 35113328WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of children with autism reported mixed impacts of school closures.
While 48% described only negative effects on education, 26% reported positive impacts, including improved mental health and engagement. Remote learning helped some children avoid sensory overload but hindered others due to lack of structure.
Key findings
01Almost half of parents described COVID restrictions as having a negative impact on their child’s education, while 26% reported a positive impact and 12% reported both.
02For children transitioning to remote learning, 42.2% of parents reported negative impacts such as reduced engagement and learning, while 27.4% reported positive impacts including improved grades and engagement.
03Children who continued attending school physically experienced mixed well-being outcomes, with 28% of parents reporting difficulty coping and increased aggression, while 20% reported positive adaptation and no increase in anxiety.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study relies entirely on parent report without independent verification of the child's clinical status or educational progress. Participants were recruited from a longitudinal study, which may introduce selection bias toward families already engaged with support services. The data comes from a single country (Australia) with varying lockdown severity across states, limiting generalizability to other regions. Only 20% of responses were double-coded for reliability, and the analysis was based on a single open-ended question rather than standardized outcome measures.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the 26% positive impact rate as evidence that remote learning is generally beneficial for children with autism. The majority of parents (48%) reported only negative impacts, and the positive outcomes were highly variable, depending on individual factors like sensory tolerance and home support availability.