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Healing and Learning: How Helperbird Can Support Homebound Learning for Recovering Students

Injuries are never something that any parent wants their child to have to suffer through. For severe injuries, kids have to stay at home to recover. This can be especially challenging for kids. Not only do they have to deal with the pain and hassle involved in recovery, but they are also likely dealing with temporary social isolation and missing a substantial amount of school.

Fortunately, there are several powerful tools out there today that can help alleviate some of these concerns for students. They can help students focus on getting better without falling behind in school — academically or socially. Assistive learning technology can be utilized to make learning feasible through most injuries and personalized learning tools can help to make the transition fun and especially productive. In addition, there are actions you can do as a parent to make recovery as painless as possible.

A Personalized Approach

Students stay home for their health for a variety of reasons. It’srelatively common for young athletesto obtain an injury on the field like broken bones or concussions, that require them to complete their studies at home. Others may have a contagious virus that requires them to stay home to avoid spreading it to other students.Some injuries may only result in a couple of days at home until everything is stable or recovered enough to endure leaving the house. While others may result in weeks or months away from a brick-and-mortar schooling environment.

Personalized tools likeHelperbirdwork to ensure that regardless of what the injury is, students are still able to get the most out of their online schooling and access their education information without accessibility issues. It is a powerful way to keep students engaged and the tech tools place particular emphasis on finding unique and creative ways to help students reach their full potential regardless of the situation.

One of the ways that this is done is through smart goal setting, which entailsdesigning personalized learningfor the student in a given situation. It also focuses on using technology mindfully so that students don’t get bored staring at a screen all day. The personalized learning features also build in breaks that are essential for body movement and retaining information long-term.

Adaptive Tools for Every Situation

A wide variety ofadaptive learning toolsare offered so that there is something that can be used in every situation. For instance, students who are recovering from a severe concussion may have a difficult time focusing on a screen for long periods. In this situation, it may be beneficial to incorporate a screen reader, alt text generators, or other readability tools that help reduce the amount of effort that must be put in to read and understand words on a screen.

Likewise, other tools can help if students are unable to type due to their injury. For example, speech recognition software, voice typing, or text-to-speech tools can help ensure that thoughts can be transcribed and communicated even if typing or writing isn’t an option. All of these tools can interface to help students meet their learning needs without much difficulty.

Often in recovery, students stuck at home will spend a lot of sedentary time not getting around as much as they really should. Depending on where and how they are sitting and how much time they are spending looking at a screen, they may be causing additionalstrain due to poor ergonomics. Small things can help avoid additional injuries such as looking away from the computer for a while periodically. If possible, getting up and moving around a bit can do wonders, but if not, even stretching can make a big positive difference.

Boosting Mental Health

Being stuck at home and unable to interact with friends can have a very real and significant impact on kids and young adults. Plenty of research from the COVID-19 stay-at-home era suggests that lockdowns and remote learning substantiallyincreased rates of anxiety, stress, and depressionin young adults. As a parent, you should be aware of the potential impacts of being homebound and take steps to mitigate them.

One way tohelp alleviate mental health concernsis to encourage your kid to participate in physical therapy exercises that will build strength and help them feel as though they are taking an active role in their slow but steady recovery. Slow movement exercises and mindfulness meditation exercises can also help maintain mental health and build strength. Encouraging kids to accept their emotions and find creative outlets can also be a great way to help them process some of the difficulties they are facing.

Of course, one of the other major things that can be done is helping your child engage socially. This can occur in a variety of ways. As soon as you’re able, invite their friends over. This is probably the best strategy and can help them feel as though they aren’t completely missing out on all of the social on-goings at school. If friends physically visiting isn’t an option, consider online hangouts or virtual support groups. This can help your child work through some of the difficulties associated with their current situation.

Injuries are never fun and can be particularly difficult for kids who are forced to miss school because of them. Fortunately, there is a wide variety of tools that can help students keep pace with their schooling online regardless of what their current limitations are. Fears of falling behind in school and missing out on social events can be huge stressors for young adults, but many new technologies can help.