KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The coronavirus pandemic has forced schools to shift to online learning, and parents of special education students have become teachers for their children.
Tracie Loux is a mother of seven and has two children with special needs. Her children attend Lee's Summit School District, where she is a substitute teacher. But now, she is now the teacher for all of her children.
"Even though I am an educator, teaching my own children is not my favorite thing," Loux said. "I want to be their mom, I want to do the mom things. This is not ideal."
She, like many parents, is trying to juggle online learning. But she also teaches two of her children who are in special education classes.
"My first concern was worry about their routine being upended," she said. "They love the social aspect of school."
She said, at first, she was unsure how online learning would work for her children who are in special education.
"When you have kids with special needs, especially Aiden, who has Down Syndrome. He has communication deficits and he relies on a communication device to communicate with his teachers," Loux said.
But, with her background in education and help of teachers, she said it has been an easy transition.
"The nice thing is that they are keeping them structured but within that an amount of flexibility," Loux said.
And her children still are learning despite not being able to go to school.
"This is the bottom line," Loux said. "We want to be reviewing math facts, we want to be keeping up with their morning routine of like what is the date, checking the weather."
Their days include drawing classes, cooking lessons and learning about mother nature.
"We are just trying to do our best to create some stability for our kids under really trying circumstances," Loux said. "This is not normal."
