Let’s face it. Social distancing is disruptive. It requires families to multi-task in ways that they have not had to before. The best-case scenario is that mom and dad can work from home with limited interruptions from their children who are sitting in front of the computer with on line learning. But let’s face it, this is likely going to be the exception and not the norm as many children will require more hands on attention and learning throughout the day (simply just redirecting and keeping kids on task). But for children with attention deficits, speech delays and learning disabilities, this hiatus from school could and may slow down progress achieved this year. So what should you do? Our advice is to openly communicate with your child’s teachers to clarify what exactly is being taught in the classroom and what are the short-term goals in therapy. In addition to lesson plans (what work sheets need to be completed), ask speech, occupation and physical therapists for written instructions and or videos of exercises to work on with your child. If possible, set up weekly times to check in with teachers and therapists. You might be able to video your child performing a task and then have it critiqued by the teacher or therapist. And also get creative! See this as a time to learn through life. Have an older sibling work with a younger sibling on sight words while the younger sibling then quizzes the older sibling on spelling (they know their letters right…?). Also pick a daily topic to learn about and at dinner discuss that topic together. And finally, work in breaks to stay active. Here are some helpful resources for coping: https://schoolchoiceweek.com/as-new-coronavirus-spreads-know-your-homeschool-and-online-learning-options/.