Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Summer Learning Loss and Kids with Special Needs

For many parents of children with special needs, summer can bring unexpected setbacks. During the school year, children with disabilities often make great progress in reading and math. But when school is out, the story changes. Research shows that over the summer, children with disabilities may fall behind by 3x more on fundamental skills and concepts when compared to their peers. In simple terms, while typical students might miss out on a few key ideas during the break, kids with special needs risk losing a significantly larger portion of the progress they've made, which can widen the achievement gap and impact long-term success.

Common Solutions Families Can Turn To:

To help prevent these losses, many families turn to a mix of approaches, including:

• Summer Camps: Enriching environments where children engage in fun, structured learning activities while interacting with peers.

• Learning Packets: Take-home materials that focus on reinforcing key skills in reading and math.

• Library Programs: Community-based events offering story times, hands-on activities, and workshops designed for young learners.

• At-Home Activities: Exercises, games, and projects that parents or educators prepare to help maintain learning during the break.

Managing these traditional approaches can be overwhelming, especially when you, as a parent, are responsible for delivering and organizing them.

How We’re Helping: Ama AI Summer Activities

Recognizing these challenges, we’re excited to introduce Ama AI’s summer learning activities designed specifically for your special needs child. In collaboration with educators, camps, libraries, and program providers, we’ve built new Ama capabilities to engage your child with interactions in areas such as:

• Literacy and Math: Engaging activities that keep reading & math skills sharp.

• Summer Exploration and STEM: Hands-on projects that spark curiosity and creative thinking.

• Arts and Communication: Creative exercises that boost self-expression and social skills.

• Behavioral Goals: Strategies to support and encourage positive behavior.

What Makes Our Approach Unique?

• Fully Customized: Every activity is tailored to your child’s unique needs, interests, and abilities.

• Connected and Collaborative: Our program works hand-in-hand with local educators and program providers to ensure that our digital lessons complement established in-person events and activities.

• Adaptive Learning: Ama AI adapts to your child’s progress. It follows through on reinforcing goals set during school and therapy sessions, helping mitigate any loss of learning.

• Enhanced Engagement: Our interactive content boosts the impact of traditional summer activities, providing extra support to keep your child on track.

• Accessible at Home: Enjoy all these benefits from the comfort and safety of your home, simplifying your role as a busy parent.

By combining proven educational strategies with innovative technology, Ama AI is here to support your child throughout the summer. We’re dedicated to making learning engaging, personalized, and effective—so every child has the opportunity to succeed, even when school is out.

Join Us this Summer!

We invite parents, teachers, and therapists to reach out to contribute to Ama's summer activities or to try it out with their families this summer. Your insights and involvement are vital as we refine these activities to best support special needs kids this summer. Together, we can keep our kids moving forward turn summer into a season of growth, exploration, and success.