key: cord-323859-rkxgtyoq
authors: Patel, Khushboo
title: Mental health implications of COVID-19 on children with disabilities
date: 2020-07-02
journal: Asian J Psychiatr
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102273
sha: 
doc_id: 323859
cord_uid: rkxgtyoq

nan

teaching children with visual impairments or those who are hard-of-hearing (Hills, 2020) .

Challenges of online learning coupled with a lack of recreational activities that can be done at home can prove to be frustrating for children with such physical disabilities. Furthermore, developing social skills and social interaction has been one of the hardest issues for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The current situation of social distancing and having no access to outdoor activities deteriorates their development. A lack of routine and the attached uncertainty can make children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) feel more anxious, grumpy, restless, and develop unpleasant feelings.

Tandon (2020), in their work has rightly pointed out the relation between COVID-19 and psychiatry, and vice versa. Experiencing negative emotions, changes in moods, and changes in the sleeping and eating patterns of children put them at a greater risk of experiencing relapse of mental illness as well as exacerbating existing mental health issues. With medical care being prioritized for those affected by the pandemic along with closure of mental health clinics serves as a source of stress, anxiety, and fear. For instance, in India, 7.8 million children between 0-19 years of age have a physical or mental disability, and one fourth of them do not attend any educational institute (UNESCO, 2019). This becomes a cause of concern as there is already a lack of physical infrastructure, inclusive education, and assistive technologies in countries like India. Coupled with this, being confined to home during the pandemic leads to an elevated level of frustration and helplessness in such children. On the other hand, United States has seven million children between 3-21 years of age who have been receiving special education classes at school (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). Shifting classes online leads to a dearth of providing special education assistance to children as parents cannot replace special education teachers and there exists a lack of assistive technologies. This impacts development of children as effective communication about sensitive information has long-term effects of psychological wellbeing for a child (Dalton, Rapa, & Stein, 2020) . Fear along with insufficient knowledge about the pandemic also leads to a lack of understanding leading to incorrect decision making (Tandon, 2020) . Thus, caregivers should aim to spend quality time with their children.

A system of online clinics and volunteer based psychological interventions should be set up as immediate priority to mitigate effects of COVID-19 on children with mental health issues (Holmes et al., 2020) . Conducting international research on mental health consequences on children with physical and mental disability is of utmost importance to seek long-term solutions to combat this issue. As an immediate remedy, guidelines by UNICEF providing resources on children with disability during COVID-19 can be effectively followed (UNICEF, 2020).

In conclusion, everyday lives for individuals across the globe have been severely affected due to COVID-19. Amidst this, it becomes important to keep children with physical and mental disability not only physically safe, but also look after their psychological and emotional wellbeing. In particular, social distancing and its effects are extremely novel and difficult to understand for children, especially those experiencing developmental and intellectual delays.

This affects their wellbeing and places them at a higher risk for clinically significant mental J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f

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The pandemic is a crisis for students with special needs. The Atlantic

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State of the education report for India 2019; Children with disabilities

Leaving no child behind during the pandemic: Children with disabilities and COVID-19