A study in Singapore by (Lai et al., 2015) reported parents of children with ASD to have more symptoms of parenting stress as well as depression compared to parents of TD children. This includes higher levels of anxiety, depression and also health problems, especially among DD like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Hayes & Watson, 2013). This was replaced by Home-based learning (HBL), which was conducted virtually with the children staying at home.Īt baseline and prior to the pandemic, caregivers of children with developmental disabilities (DD) are already known to have higher levels of stress compared to typically developing (TD) children and children with chronic medical illnesses (Rivard et al., 2014). This included cessation of all “non-essential services”, including suspension of therapy services and closure of early intervention centres. Singapore, as well, had a period of school closure, lasting nearly 2 months during a period termed as the ‘Circuit Breaker’ (CB). Children and youth, and those with disabilities have been identified by the United Nations as at risk of experiencing the highest degree of socioeconomic marginalization and requiring specific attention during this pandemic (Sanders, 2020).While infection and mortality rates in children are low (Idele et al., 2020), children have been affected in numerous ways, through school closures, social isolation, disrupted health delivery, negative impacts on their mental health and well-being and increased exposure to home disputes (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2020).įor most children globally, the traditional school-based learning was temporarily halted when countries went into lockdown. It has revealed gaps in societies and countries, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable. The ongoing Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been unprecedented in its scale and duration of impact thus far.