Daughter missing school due to long covid
After a mild bout of covid 5 months ago, my daughter developed symptoms of long covid (exhaustion, pains, brain fog, insomnia, etc). Among other things, we are struggling to keep her in school as she's often too exhausted. Are there any families out there who are dealing with long covid in their kids or conditions like ME/CFS? We are trying to figure out what accommodations she needs at her current school as well as exploring options like independent study, remote learning and homeschooling. We'd also like to connect with other families in similar situations to share resources and knowledge. My daughter is currently enrolled in an independent school and we live in Berkeley Unified. Any advice, tips or guidance would be deeply appreciated.
Oct 29, 2023
Parent Replies
BUSD has a program called Home Hospital where your child meets one on one with a teacher 3-5 hours weekly and then does what they can in terms of homework. The teacher has full ability to award credits and grades as they see fit. In our case our child got several classes completed in a few months with excellent grades which saved her from falling far behind. You just have to register her at BUSD and request this with a doctors statement I believe
Hi there. I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter. We have been struggling with the same thing and the challenges are multitude. Navigating schooling is so difficult. Our daughter was at BHS and we kept getting truancy warnings because schools don't know how to handle this situation. It's a nightmare. Our daughter was able to attend fall of freshman year then the post-exertional malaise set in and she had to be in Home and Hospital Education in the spring. Repeat situation in Sophomore year. Schooling and moving forward is very important for their mental health but few schools know how to handle this situation. You do need to get a 504, but even with that, making up for school gets overwhelming and the stress of missing school doesn't help, in our experience. I am happy to talk and would love to find more parents with children going through this. It's not school refusal, anxiety or depression. I'll email you separately to connect. If anyone else wants to discuss this, please reach out to me.
I don't know about private school accommodations, but in public school you can ask for a 504 plan. Depending on the level of her disability you could also ask for a home teacher. Contact DREDF and speak to a parent advocate to get help with the process, and with figuring out what to ask for.
Hi there. I'm sorry your family is going through this, it's a bumpy road. My daughter has a condition that looks the same, just from a different infection. We chose to get a 504 so they can flex the work as needed. There are no enforcers of a 504 (unlike an IEP) however it was easier to change course as her health improved or declined. With a 504 she was able to go on home/hospital status and the teacher came to our house and if she was feeling better, the workload increased, when her symptoms flared, there was less work. No making up to keep up with traditional classes - bound for failure. The teacher created the work that that was appropriate. When it came to science, there were online labs and home projects. We had an advocate at our 504 meetings to ensure the district took her accommodations seriously. She was determined to get a HS diploma, not a GED and her graduation was one of the proudest days ever. Let me know if you want to talk more about this.