Eight-year-old Lyra Christensen loves to play the harmonica after a long day at school.
Foluke Omosun / WKSU
Eight-year-old Lyra Christensen rides in the back of the car with her dog. Lyra loves playing the harmonica after school, which often makes her dog howl.
When the pandemic struck last spring, some Ohio schools continued to offer in-person classes for students with disabilities. Akron did not, which meant that Lyra had to learn remotely. Her mother, Holly Christensen, says, it felt like the IEP went out the window.
“It was impossible to try to teach her through a computer. How are you going to do occupational therapy with manipulatives, unless one of us sat there all day long, and we both work.”