Autistic children left behind during pandemic school closures

Many children with autism or intellectual disability had poor attendance or even deregistered from school, often due to unmet needs, after their schools switched to online learning, reports a study and associated policy briefing led by a UCL researcher. The researchers surveyed roughly 1,200 parents of children aged 5-15 with neurodevelopmental conditions, exploring absenteeism in May 2021 and its contributing factors. The findings of the study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of UK Research and Innovation's rapid response to Covid-19, have fed into a round table hosted by the National Children's Bureau. The researchers found that Covid-19 itself only had a limited impact on school attendance, as physical health risks overall were not a major barrier to school attendance. Instead, up to 31% of school attendance barriers were linked to unmet need. Mental health was also an important barrier, as anxiety was significantly linked to more days absent, more likely persistent absence, and more days of school refusal. Satisfaction with school support for learning from home averaged only 5.5 on a scale of 1-10.