Parents of special-education students say home-schooling their children during the COVID-19 crisis has been a challenge.

Experts and parents say one key problem with teaching kids with special needs who are stuck home during this pandemic is that it can be ineffective and cause academic regression.

Jamie Zionic from Darien has four elementary school children with special needs.

"Right now most of our education is being delivered through Google Slides," says Zionic. "The majority is not interactive and my children are not receiving the same level of services that they did in a physical classroom."

Jeffrey Forte in Shelton is a parent special-education attorney and says learning at home for many of these kids is just not working.

"Paraprofessional support, behavioral support, speech and languange services, physical therapy, cannot be delivered remotely through a computer screen," says Forte.

For now parents are just trying to get by. Forte says school districts can be proactively adding on parent training as a related service. He says there is some guidance that's coming out soon from the U.S. Department of Education to provide some more actions for districts to follow.

Zionic says she reached out to her school district for a direct answer but hasn't received one.