The Effectiveness of Speech Pathology Telepractice during COVID-19 Pandemic for Autistic Children in Indonesia

The education sector is one of the sectors which is most affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic which can interfere with the achievement of one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, such as quality education. Furthermore, with online learning not only regular education, but also special education faces many obstacles. One of the special education programs for children with autism is speech therapy. Therefore, several innovations have been created so that therapy process can continue. One of those innovations is that speech pathology telepractice program which is conducted at the Autis Center of Blitar City. This program involves the role of parents at home and therapists via teleconference. In this study, the effectiveness of speech pathology telepractice was measured through the Wilcoxon-signed rank test and the results obtained p-value = 0.011, which means that there are differences in the speaking ability of children with autism before and after the implementation of speech pathology telepractice. This ability was measured based on several activities and assessment components which had set by the therapist. Moreover, the results of interview with several therapists and parents can be the basis for recommendations regards to the speech pathology telepractice programs to be implemented outside of Autis Center Blitar City which has not yet implemented the speech pathology telepractice. Thus, children with autism do not experience reduction in the development of their speech skills during the COVID-19 pandemic.