"Together in a pressure cooker": Parenting children with disabilities during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Yael Hochman, Carmit-Noa Shpigelman, Roni Holler and 1 others
PMID 35181270WHAT IT FOUND
Parents described losing school-based therapy and support as forcing them to become their child's teacher and therapist overnight.
They reported stress, guilt, and job strain from juggling these roles alone, though some found closer family bonds in the downtime.
Key findings
01Closure of schools and therapy services left parents without professional support, forcing them to take on clinical roles for their children without training.
02Parents experienced significant stress, guilt, and work-life imbalance while managing their child's needs, household tasks, and employment simultaneously.
03Some parents reported positive outcomes, including deeper understanding of their child's abilities and strengthened family relationships, despite the challenges.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a convenience sample recruited via social media, which likely underrepresented families without internet access, those in ultra-Orthodox or Palestinian-Arab communities, and parents facing extreme distress who could not complete the survey. The data was collected only during the first lockdown in Israel, so it does not reflect the long-term impact of the pandemic or changes in service delivery over time. The open-ended questions were worded to elicit challenges, which may have skewed responses toward negative experiences, although positive themes still emerged. The study did not collect data on the specific educational settings of the children, so it could not analyze how different school environments influenced the parents' experience.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the positive aspects reported by some parents as evidence that lockdowns were beneficial for families of children with disabilities. These positive findings emerged alongside widespread reports of stress, service loss, and regression, and the study design (convenience sample, specific questions) limits generalizability.