Our recommendations
- Make funding and practical solutions available to ensure that persons with disabilities are not negatively affected by the temporary loss of people from their support networks such as personal assistants, family, and specific professional services through illness or indirect impact of COVID-19.
- Designate providers of support services such as care, support workers and personal assistants as ‘key workers’ who should continue to work and be provided with the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and instructions on minimising exposure and spread of infection, and be proactively tested for the virus. Workers should be allowed to travel to and from the workplace within organisations or clients’ homes.
- Support agencies providing disability support to develop continuity plans for situations in which the number of available caregivers may be reduced. This includes reducing bureaucratic recruitment barriers while maintaining protection measures such as background checks for caregivers.
Government measures
Some educational systems that remain open for children of key workers (healthcare workers, food shop workers, etc) accept children of parents with disabilities and children with disabilities.
Czechia
Pupils with disabilities should learn at home (with the help of their parents) according to the assignment made electronicaly by their teachers – like any other pupils.The government has adopted measures for the parents of students with disabilities to stay at home with them to help with their education: this is valid for students under 26 years old.
Denmark
Law of March 2020 makes it possible to remove, prioritize or reorganize social services temporarily if needed. However, this does not apply to functions such as residential institutions . There are reports of some municipalities or suppliers that have made general decisions, for example, to close relief programs or discharge children living in a residential institution who have been visiting their family at home. Children with disabilitiess still have the possibility of attending a day care center or school if it benefits the child. The municipalities are obliged to offer emergency care for children with disabilities below the age of 9 years old.
France
Special education units follow distance learning guidance given to all schools. Teachers and education assistants, including for specialized units, continue to work and should provide accessible formats. An exception is made for children with disabilities of healthcare workers: they continued attending school. If persons with disabilities attend day centers, they should remain at home unless their caregivers cannot support them (due to work, or other reasons) – in this case day centers should find a specific solution. If the student with disabilities live in a residential institution, they will stay in the institution and cannot leave (or be visited) until the end of confinement.
Greece
All schools and educational centres are closed. A long-distance educational program was designed for all students, both with and without disabilities. We received reports that doubt that this program will be well implemented by special schools and educational centres for children with disabilities, since they requirs additional educational tools and electronic methods, which, in turn, require more time in order to be able to respond effectively to the unique needs of each student.
Italy
There is extended leave for parents of children until 12. The age limit is waived in case of children with severe disabilities. The leave is recognised alternately to both parents, for a total of fifteen days per month, and is subject to the condition that there is no other parent in the household who is receiving income support due to a suspension or termination of employment or other unemployed or non-worker parent. No other special measures have been taken.
Lithuania
Leave granted to parents that care for persons with disabilities older than 18 years if these persons were in educational programs in vocational schools and/or day centres.
Portugal
Parents of children with disabilities received paid leave and continue receiving the subsidy for assistance (a measure that existed before the pandemic.)
Sweden
Schools and services are not required to close, but shortage of staff is causing problems. Organisations of persons with disabilities are extremely worried with recent demands from local authorities, who requested the central government the ability to prioritise services – there are concerns that this will lead to cuts in the provision of community-based services.
Norway
Customized training is still the teachers responsibility. The national “special education” support system isusually helping schools/pupils in individual cases and with guidance on how to help pupils with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, developmental language disorders (and others). They have now redeployed resources to staff and enhanced an online chat-service available to both parents directly and teachers.
Spain
The lockdown of the schools excluded educational support for children with disabilities in their first phase of the response (both special schools and extra support). This has been reversed as the country was especially hit by the pandemic and everything closed.
United Kingdom
The Alliance of Inclusive Education provides a complete summary and reaction to the UK’s government decision.
Actions of organisations of persons with disabilities and support services
France
Federation Nationale “Grandir Ensemble” started a platform to support families with children with disabilities.
UNAPEI (the French association of persons with intellectual disabilities) implemented several actions to support students with disabilities and their families: phone helpline, support at home, delivery of educational materials at home and support with education, close follow-up of young children with autism and children with disabilities and behavioural issues, in case of need for respite and in agreement with the Regional Agency for Health, a very partial reopening of an establishment may be considered.
The regional center for autism in the South of France provides support for children and youth with autism through phone calls, special video programmes and daily counseling. The organisation “Association la Bourguette” provides a 24h phone line for support to the families of their students. This support is given by psychologists and teachers from the organisation.
Italy
An association in Milan created an emergency protocol to continue support.