“Oh! It’s Fine, We’re Not Even Counting This Anyways”: Remote Educational Experiences of Rural Families With a Child With a Disability During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic

Disparities in rural areas regarding technology, internet access, and higher teacher turnover were amplified as a plurality of schools across the US moved to remote instruction in early 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While rural communities often show a greater resiliency and resourcefulness in the face of tragedy than their (typically) more affluent suburban or urban neighbors, regardless of location, the needs of children receiving educational accommodations are often not met effectively or are ignored altogether. To understand if those educational needs were met for rural families early in the COVID-19 pandemic, an exploratory descriptive qualitative approach was used to analyze interview data from 19 rural families with at least one child with a disability who participated in remote instruction during spring 2021. Two themes were identified regarding parental experiences during remote instruction: (a) fear and frustration and (b) mental health limits. Including parents in their child’s education, improved communication, and working collaboratively with parents during in-person learning may help improve remote instruction in the future and may encourage better hybrid instruction.