Teletherapy and autism: How a Forest Hills mother is
helping her daughter cope during COVID-19 pandemic
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
As the weeks of stay-athome
orders and school closures
continue amid the coronavirus
pandemic, many
families who have children
with special needs are enduring
the suspension of both
school and essential services
that their children are used
to receiving.
For Forest Hills resident
Rachel Sokol, it’s been quite
challenging as a mother taking
on the role of a therapist
to help her 2-year-old daughter,
Aimee, who is diagnosed
with autism spectrum disorder
(ASD) and is non-verbal.
Autism, or ASD, refers to
a broad range of conditions
characterized by challenges
with social skills, repetitive
behaviors, speech and nonverbal
communication.
In Aimee’s case, she struggles
with communication,
articulation, attention and
things that should come to
her with ease — such as making
eye contact, pointing,
drinking from a straw and
shaking her head yes or no.
She also makes loud grunting
noises instead of baby
babble, according to Sokol.
“Aimee doesn’t remember
how to use a spoon correctly,
and it’s only been a month
because she hasn’t had her
therapies,” Sokol said. “I’ve
been doing puzzles with her
and speech, trying to control
her. Without her therapists,
I’ve seen a regression in my
daughter.”
Following the shutdown of
New York City public schools
on March 15 due to the coronavirus
outbreak, Aimee’s
therapists were considered
non-essential services, according
to Sokol.
“I can’t even imagine
kids in wheelchairs, kids
with MS, or even kids with
severe social issues, who
don’t have therapists working
with them,” Sokol said.
“Now their parents are homeschooling
them and they
have to become therapists
overnight. I don’t know how
to be a therapist.”
Diagnosed with ASD in
August 2019, Aimee began
receiving therapy services
through the city’s program
called Early Intervention,
where eligible children —
infants and toddlers — with
developmental delays and
disabilities learn many key
Rachel Sokol’s 2-year-old daughter, Aimee, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, learns how to draw lines and works on her grip as
guided by her occupational therapist via Zoom. Photo courtesy of Rachel Sokol
skills and catch up in their
development.
Aimee works with six
therapists for ABA, speech,
physical therapy and occupational
therapy. Her time
is split between two sensory
gyms in Queens and four
therapists visiting her at
home, according to Sokol.
“She learned how to wave,
brush her own teeth, nod
and shake her head. Her
tantrums decreased, her eye
contact was better, and she
was able to point,” Sokol said.
“I saw such a change in her
and said, ‘Oh my god, there’s
hope for her at the end of the
tunnel,’ and then COVID-19
struck followed by the city
shutdown.’”
Since then, Sokol has been
sitting-in with Aimee and
her therapists on daily teletherapy
zoom sessions.
Although she is grateful
for the service, it’s been a
completely different experience
TIMESLEDGER | 10 QNS.COM | MAY 1-MAY 7, 2020
— one that she says isn’t
quite effective as an in-person
therapy session.
“Some parents are loving
it, but I’m not loving it. I
think they’re better for older
kids, but for kids like mine,
it’s not helping and my daughter
is hitting me a lot — this
is different,” Sokol said. “It
could be months of this or a
year, and I’ve considered opting
out, but I’m not going to
do that to my daughter with
no feedback from her therapist
of what not to do.”
According to Dr. Karen
Dela Santa-Pura, an occupational
therapist who began
working with Aimee last
summer, the teletherapy sessions
are effective, depending
on the child.
“For other kids, I see that
in another light, now that the
parents are becoming their
therapist, it’s good in that
sense because they’re on the
same page as I am, and know
what we’re working on and
can carry it over at home,”
Santa-Pura said.
However, for Aimee, the
transition from in-home
therapy sessions with Santa-
Pura to viewing her through
a computer screen for 30
minutes twice a week has
become difficult. Aimee’s
attention span and willingness
to perform sensory
activities has decreased,
Santa-Pura said.
“She doesn’t want to sit in
front of the computer and she
doesn’t want to do therapy,”
Santa-Pura said. “It’s a different
dynamic when mom is
trying to do it, it might be a
little harder for them to understand
it’s not normal.”
To help Sokol prepare for
a teletherapy session, Santa-
Pura sends background information
and other things
for her to read.
“I admire them so much
and am so blessed and grateful
they have entered our
lives,” Sokol said. “I cannot
stress this enough because
it’s NOT their fault in any
capacity that we had to move
to tele.”
Like all mother’s, Sokol
wants society to stop judging
other parents, and other
kids, showing a little more
kindness to special needs
kids who are lost and scared
during this time.
“I hope one day, quite
soon, Aimee and the other
city EI and SPSE kids can
safely reunite with the therapists
they love so much—in
person— because, at least,
in Aimee’s case, they were —
and still are — her bridge to
leading a life with a bit more
ease. Let’s see what happens,”
Sokol said.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–4526.