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QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 3, 2020
Teletherapy and autism: How a Forest Hills mother is
helping her daughter cope during COVID-19 pandemic
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
As the weeks of stayat
home 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 non-verbal
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
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
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 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 — 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 inhome
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.
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