LettersAs coronavirus keeps schools shut, Hong Kong’s special-needs students and families need more support than ever

Class suspension has lasted for two months now, with an extension looking likely in April. Although many schools have been providing online lessons, vulnerable students with special educational needs may require more (“Coronavirus causing suffering for families with special needs students”, March 15).

There are about 49,000 such students in the city’s mainstream schools. Online learning often requires strong self-discipline, and this is a hurdle for them, given their weaker self-management abilities.

Autistic children, in particular, are sensitive to subtle change. Class suspension and staying at home have brought a tremendous change to their routine, causing psychological pressure. On the other hand, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder like sensory experience and touching things. This behaviour might easily expose them to germs/viruses and render them more vulnerable amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

As schools and therapy services for students with special education needs have been suspended, and parents and caretakers lack the skills to tackle their behaviour, this has brought them and the children tension and stress. Schools should work more closely with social workers, counsellors, educational and clinical psychologists, as well as speech therapists, to provide remote services to these parents and children.