WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
“MODULAR LEARNING APPROACH AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: ITS
EFFECTIVITY TO DISTANCE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
IN PUBLIC SCHOOL”
By: Ms. Recy Beth M. Escopel
I.
Paradigm
Most educational systems worldwide have temporarily closed due to Coronavirus disease
(COVID 19). The United Nations Human Rights (2020) has expressed concern that while the
crisis has threatened access of learners to education, persons with disabilities, including those
with autism, are disproportionately affected due to ecological constraints that are replicated in
the pandemic reaction. As such, efforts to improve home education modalities for children with
disabilities have been exerted. As for the Philippine setup, the Department of Education
(DepEd) has worked with the local government as to the educational modes of learning of
children given with the burden with technology, content, and major shift in enrollment patterns
(Briones, Manila Bulletin, 2020).
Home education, also known as homeschooling, is an educational reform around the world, in
which parents educate their children at home and various places. There are many reasons why
parents prefer home education. Some are not satisfied with the current educational
opportunities while others believe that children are not gaining an advantage with the
traditional school arrangement (Martin 2020). Ray (2015) observed home education as one of
the emerging modalities of instructional implementation today. It has also been adopted by
parents who have children with disabilities. The number of children with disabilities undergoing
alternative instruction at home has significantly increased since the emergence of home
education (Cook et al. 2013).
WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
In the Philippines, while there is a challenge to the provision of a structured home education
program for around five million children with disabilities, Calica (2020) reported efforts of
various organizations and individuals to highlight the condition of a vulnerable group of children
with disabilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been a call to curb the impacts of
school disruption through home school methods such as module-based, radio online learning.
However, such an approach would have serious implications for some parents whose skills in
home education need to be further improved. It should be noted that structured home
education programs for children with disabilities are just being developed in the country and
mostly by private institutions.
Thus, this paper describes how parents home educate their children with autism during the
COVID-19 period in the Philippines. Also, it aims to provide insights on the opportunities and
challenges for parents as they home educate their children with autism amid the global health
emergency.
II.
Statement of the Problem
This study aims to answer the following questions:
1. How do parents home educate their child with autism?
2. What particular challenges do parents of children with autism experience in helping them be
educated?
3. What choices or mode of learning have they decided for their children with autism?
III. Hypothesis
This study reveals the researchers’ hypothesis in response to the problems drawn:
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
1. Most parents follow instructions from their teachers and ask for some of their related health
service to do online video conferencing to see whether they are doing it right.
2. They have struggled with how to balance their work from home and transition of their
children’s schedule, tantrums and the trigger from exposure of technological equipment.
3. They have decided to use online video class and modular based education with assistance
over the phone.
IV. Definition of Terms
In this study, the following terms are conceptually and operationally defined for better
understanding:
Distance learning-- also referred to as “distance education” and sometimes simply as “online
learning” or “distributed learning,” is a term used to describe the practice of learning at a
distance. (Lowenthal, et. al, 2020)
In this study, distance learning is primarily the educational set-up of students during the
pandemic.
Home schooling-- is also known as “home education” and the process of educating schoolaged children at home rather than at a school. (Mendoza, 2019)
In this study, homeschooling has become the sole option of parents to protect their children
from the dangers of COVID19.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) -- is defined as illness caused by a novel
coronavirus now called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; formerly
called 2019-nCoV), which was first identified amid an outbreak of respiratory illness cases in
3
WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. It was initially reported to the WHO on December 31, 2019.
(Cennimo, et.al, 2021)
In this study, education was greatly affected by the dangers and risks of COVID19.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)-- is a complex developmental condition that involves
persistent challenges in social interaction, speech and nonverbal communication, and
restricted/repetitive behaviors. (Copeland, 2018)
In this study, parents of children with ASD experience different challenges with the current shift
brought about the pandemic.
Pandemic-- is a disease outbreak that spreads across countries or continents. It affects more
people and takes more lives than an epidemic. (Robinson, 2020)
In this study, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic when
it became clear that the illness was severe and that it was spreading quickly over a wide area.
New normal-- a previously unfamiliar or atypical situation that has become standard, usual, or
expected. (Tumapon, 2020)
In this study, the shift from the classes in the classroom to online learning has been called the
new normal education.
LMS-- is an online education hub that provides a large and indispensable set of features to
support educational activities such as classroom learning, distance education and continuing
education. (Merriam Webster, 2019)
In this study, the students learn through the LMS without physically reporting to school.
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
V. Review of Related Literature
Regardless of differences in approach and confidence when it comes to face-to-face classes,
online learning has become a critical part of the education system everywhere, and it has in fact
suddenly become a pillar to all plans. It is safe to say that education as empowered, unleashed,
and improved by digital platforms has long been part of most countries’ Vision, but COVID-19
accelerated the disruption, to different degrees of success and pain.
Indeed COVID-19 and the education sector’s pivot to distance and remote learning at first
merely underscored already existing divides within and among different societies.
Distance Education Support for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Complex Needs
during COVID-19 and School Closures
For individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schools can serve a range of essential
functions from the delivery of academic instruction to the development of effective
communication and social skill repertoires. Furthermore, schools may be the only available
source of access to specialized and evidence-based programming, especially in rural settings.
Researchers have emphasized the importance of this specialized programming for students with
ASD and repeatedly have demonstrated its relation to positive outcomes across numerous skill
domains (National Autism Center, 2015; Wong et al., 2015). These specialized programs for
students with ASD often involve explicit instruction across a range of skills areas, repeated
practice across environments, environmental arrangements and supports to facilitate
interactions and independent performance of daily routines, and function-based assessment
and treatment of problem behavior (Pennington et al., 2016; Simpson, 2005). When
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
implementing these high-quality and individualized programs, schools are poised to maximize
positive outcomes for individuals with ASD.
Unfortunately, recent events have illuminated the complexity of providing a free, appropriate
public education (FAPE) for students with ASD in the face of local and national crises (e.g.,
COVID-19, natural disasters, school shootings). During these events and for a period afterward,
students often are precluded from access to brick and mortar facilities. Students and their
families are faced with potential trauma related both to the crisis event and the resulting abrupt
change in daily routines. For many students with ASD, especially those with extensive support
needs (i.e., comorbid intellectual disability, complex communication needs, intensive behavior
support needs), these events may produce a more difficult transition from school to home
routines than for their peers without ASD. For example, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,
the United States Department of Education (2020) advised school districts that they must
continue to provide FAPE to students with disabilities through “. . . distance instruction provided
virtually, online, or telephonically” (p. 2). As a result, many school districts shifted educational
programming to online formats that may not be accessible by students with ASD, especially
those with limited skill repertoires. These formats require students with ASD to attend to online
instructional content, apply a range of traditional and digital literacy skills, and remain engaged
in the presence of a limited set of reinforcers, which may be even more difficult if a student’s
home computer or tablet is typically used for other purposes (e.g., playing games, watching
videos). Furthermore, online instructional delivery may limit students’ opportunities to respond
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
as teachers may be unable to effectively deliver some types of prompts from a distance (e.g.,
physical, positional).
Barriers to accessing education extend into the home as many caregivers may have little
knowledge of and experience in the delivery of educational programs. Furthermore, some
caregivers’ work schedules, child care responsibilities, or efforts in caring for an ill family
member, may prohibit a consistent routine of educational programming. While some families
are able to access instruction from other entities that can be delivered at home (e.g., applied
behavior analysis, speech-language pathology), many of these therapies require an assessment
and waiting period prior to the onset of intervention and may only be provided a few hours a
week. In addition, in-home service providers may be restricted in their capacity to deliver
intervention due to the nature of the crisis event (e.g., state-mandated social distancing).
Finally, these therapies do not circumnavigate the students’ need to access FAPE from their
teacher.
Distance education has been used for over a century and can be defined as education directed
by an institution (e.g., K–12 schools), where the teacher and students are geographically
separated, and interactive telecommunication systems (e.g., synchronous, asynchronous, postal
service) are used to share information between the teacher and students (Schlosser &
Simonson, 2010; Simonson et al., 2008). One of the earliest accounts of distance education was
in 1898 when Hermods of Sweden offered a correspondence course to teach English (Simonson
et al., 2008, 2019). Subsequently, correspondence courses proliferated as a way to provide
instructional content to learners at a distance. Following the development of fiber-optic
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
technology in the 1980s and 1990s, educational institutions began using two-way audio and
video communication (Simonson et al., 2008, 2019). Most recently, technology and distance
delivery has continued to evolve generating a multitude of learning management systems
(LMSs) for instructional delivery (e.g., Canvas, Google Classroom, Schoology, Webex, Zoom).
Unfortunately, teachers in rural and remote areas might face unique challenges when shifting to
distance delivery. In the classroom, teachers have access to curricula and materials that are
used across multiple students with “in the moment” adaptations, whereas in a distance format,
they may need to commit additional time to prepare materials that are modified for each
student. In addition, they must plan for at least a partial transfer of responsibility for
instructional delivery to caregivers (e.g., parents, siblings, grandparents). Again, this might be
difficult due to caregiver responsibilities, such as, work, child care, or other duties. This requires
careful consideration of caregivers’ knowledge and experience in working with their child.
Teachers might need to train caregivers to use specific instructional strategies in addition to
preparing curricular materials and sharing those with family members. Although teachers and
caregivers might not be face-to-face, observations and trainings of caregivers can be
successfully conducted at a distance with opportunities for feedback (Wainer & Ingersoll, 2015).
Furthermore, teachers also must prepare to help caregivers engage in problem-solving
strategies related to students’ challenging behavior or a lack of response to instructional
procedures. Challenges in the delivery of distance education are often exacerbated when
teachers are faced with the increased responsibility of caring for their own families at home,
including teaching responsibilities for their own children, and tending to those with emotional
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
and medical needs. Thus, the need of instructional delivery collaboration between teachers and
caregivers becomes more acute.
Finally, the best laid plans for distance education delivery can be disrupted by a lack of access
to online distance education. Some rural districts may not be adequately prepared to shift to a
virtual format resulting in unexpected and extensive transition periods without access to online
LMS. Furthermore, rural districts may have difficulty delivering online instruction due to
insufficient bandwidth to carry teleconferencing signals or nonexistent cellular service (Croft &
Moore, 2019), and some families may be restricted access to instruction due to their inability to
afford internet services (Moore et al., 2018). While rural students have somewhat less access to
laptops or desktops at home, almost twice as many rural students compared with nonrural
students indicate that their home internet access is unpredictable (Croft & Moore, 2019).
Students’ limited access to quality internet combined with teachers’ attempt to teach in a new
format presents barriers to distance instruction in rural areas.
Back to School for Filipinos: Old Inequities, New Challenges
Inequities, between those who have computers and Internet access and those who could not
afford either or both, simply became more glaring. But it also gave starting point and center to
what has become the biggest challenge to the education sector and their constituent students
and households - from those completely shifting to online classes, to those still left with the
dilemmas of face-to-face learning and any other form of distance education that is not
necessarily delivered digitally.
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
Even teachers are challenged. In Philippine public schools, many faculty members either do not
have, or are not comfortable with, computers and online platforms.
On top of these, from South to Southeast Asia, especially in rural areas, very little of existing
school curricula and materials were actually designed to be delivered and implemented over
online platforms and digital gadgets. Teaching over Internet- and social media-based programs
was imagined to signal a new and more powerful connection between schools and students, but
in the first rollouts of these programs, they have also made more pronounced the distance
between students and their formal schooling, and for that matter, the gulf between privileged
students and the actual majority of their fellow learners.
Mental health has also been of particular and rising concern throughout the pandemic, and the
education sector again highlights specific challenges in this regard. A study by Nicholas Grubic
et al, looked into the impact of COVID-19 on student mental health and well-being. Around
25% of their respondents reported symptoms of anxiety related to concerns about academic
delays, economic effects of the pandemic, and impacts on daily life. Another survey by
YoungMinds reported that 83% of young individuals say the pandemic worsened mental health
conditions that already existed, the malaise aggravated by school closures, restricted social
connections, and disrupted routines.
This blend of online, broadcast, and modular learning is designed to ensure the safety of both
the students and the teachers. But with the rushed adaptation and/or development of curricula
and materials for the blended modalities, gaps and even risks (especially for the physical
materials to be passed on) are unavoidable realities.
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Equity And Inclusion: Supporting Vulnerable Students
During School Closures And School Re-Openings
School closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic triggered significant challenges for
education systems to respond to the needs vulnerable student groups whose learning and wellbeing tend to be the most impacted. Although substantial gaps remain, policy initiatives have
been taken across OECD countries to support the educational, social and emotional needs of
these students and their families. Most common practices to foster equity and inclusion have
been the distribution of electronic devices with an internet connection in poor or remote areas,
the distribution of free meals for eligible students, financial (emergency or in continuity with
existing aid schemes) support for students and their families, and to a lesser extent, the
availability of multi-language educational resources. Several countries also allowed some
schools and other educational facilities to remain open for students with particular needs, such
as students with SEN and students in VET. Regarding the emotional well-being of students,
international organisations and NGOs have been dynamic actors, publishing guidelines, videos
and organising webinars. Most often, countries shared these resources on official websites and
created hotlines for counselling and psychological support. Finally, school leaders and teachers
have been very active in supporting vulnerable students, often physically distributing material to
families, creating online resources and organising WhatsApp groups to reach all families.
However, data show that a significant percentage of students have been “lost” in the process of
school closures and that learning losses might be severe. Specifically, educational gaps between
vulnerable groups and others are likely to be exacerbated, generating higher dropouts and
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
absenteeism. Furthermore, the long-term social and emotional impacts on students may be the
most lasting legacy of the COVID-19 crisis. As such, countries’ strategies to support these
groups need to be clarified and strengthened during school re-openings in order to avoid lasting
negative effects likely to generate both social exclusion and economic loss.
VI. Research Methodology
The researcher gained insight into how parents home educate their child with autism through
interview procedures. Because of the restrictions of the current COVID-19 situation, personal
interviews were not possible, thus an augmented form called online interview was individually
conducted with the participants. An online interview is a research method conducted using
communication mediated by computers. Just like the personal interview, online interview
typically asks participants to describe what they think or feel about an aspect (Salmons 2014).
Two stages of online interviews were performed for this study. The first stage involved an
interview guide containing questions sent to the participants either through online chat or
email. The questions were answered offline for a week, providing the participants enough time
amid their busy schedule. The second stage involved the researcher arranging a time with each
participant to be interviewed live through online chat to illuminate some responses gathered in
the first stage.
The data obtained from the interviews were subjected to thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is
a systematic process of coding, examining meaning, and provision of a description of the social
reality through the creation of theme (Berg and Latin 2008). The researcher in this study
examined the codes and interpreted them into concepts. The similar concepts were then
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
grouped into themes, structuring the results to answer the stated purpose of this research. The
theme is the main product of this data analysis (Green et al. 2007).
VII. Research Design
This work entailed a qualitative research design. Creswell (1994) defined qualitative research as
‘an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex,
holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a
natural setting’ (p.15). This research design is found appropriate to attain the purpose of the
current paper which is to describe the home education of children with autism.
Furthermore, this research will include Filipino parents as participants. They will be selected
through a combination of purposeful and convenient sampling techniques. The main criterion
considered for the selection is that parents must have at least a child diagnosed with autism
spectrum disorder (ASD).
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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Graduate School
Iloilo City
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Graduate School
Iloilo City
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