Objective Pediatric cancer survivors have historically struggled to receive adequate educational supports. In Spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced an emergency switch from traditional in-person education models to distance education, but little information is available regarding experiences of pediatric survivors’ coping with schooling since that time. Methods This article presents exploratory mixed methods findings from a quality improvement project including qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey conducted with parents of pediatric oncology survivors identified through neuropsychological assessment, and the use of school-based services as having educationally relevant neurocognitive impacts of disease or treatment. The interviews explored experiences of education and instructional delivery during the COVID-19 school closures in spring of 2020 and the beginning of the 2020–2021 school year and served as the foundation for a quantitative survey to determine the generalizability of findings. Results Qualitative interviews highlighted 3 emergent themes regarding the shared experiences of distance schooling for children with cancer during the COVID-19 school closures: (a) attention, (b) mental health, and (c) access to instruction. A follow-up quantitative survey supported the qualitative findings and their generalizability to the schooling experiences of other children with cancer during the pandemic. Conclusion This article describes and explores each theme and offers suggestions for pediatric supports and changes to provider service delivery (including weblinks to access project-developed resources) as a result of ongoing pandemic-related schooling needs.

In the current study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to compare prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity in adults as they performed two conditions of the Tower of Hanoi (ToH) disk-transfer task that have equivalent executive function (EF) but different motor requirements. This study explored cognitive workload, here defined as the cognitive effort utilized while problem-solving by performance output. The first condition included a two-dimensional (2D) computerized ToH where participants completed trials using a computer mouse. In contrast, our second condition used a traditional, three-dimensional (3D) ToH that must be manually manipulated. Our aim was to better understand the role of the PFC in these two conditions to detect if PFC activity increases as a function of motor planning. Twenty right-handed, neurotypical adults (10M/10F, = 24.6, SD ± 2.8 years old) participated in two blocks (one per condition) of three 1-min trials where they were asked to solve as many puzzles as possible. These data were analyzed using a mixed effects ANOVA with participants nested within blocks for 2D vs. 3D conditions, presentation order (leading block), individual participants, and regions and additional follow-up statistics. Results showed that changes in oxygenated hemoglobin, ΔHbO, were significantly higher for 3D compared to 2D condition ( p = 0.0211). Presentation order and condition interacted significantly ( p = 0.0015). Notably, a strong correlation between performance and ΔHbO existed between blocks 1 and 2 ( r = −0.69, r 2 = 0.473, p < 0.01) when the 3D condition was initially performed, in contrast to the 2D condition where no significant correlation was seen. Findings also showed a significant decrease in ΔHbO between the first and second block ( p = 0.0015) while performance increased significantly for both 3D and 2D conditions ( p < 0.005). We plan to use this information in the future to narrow the potential points of impairment on the perception-cognition-action continuum in certain developmental disabilities.

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Background: Pediatric cancer patients and survivors have historically struggled to receive adequate educational supports. In the Spring of 2020, the COVID19 pandemic forced an emergency switch from traditional in-person education models to distance education. Methods: The current study presents initial data from a quality improvement project which included a round of qualitative interviews conducted with parents of pediatric oncology patients at risk for educationally-relevant neurocognitive impacts of disease or treatment. The focus of the interviews was patient experiences of education and instructional delivery during the COVID19 school closures in Spring of 2020 and the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year; interviews were conducted via videoconference and transcripts were analyzed using a phenomenological approach. Results: Three emergent themes were found regarding the shared experiences of distance schooling for children with cancer during the COVID19 school closures: 1) attention, 2) mental health, and 3) access to instruction. This study describes and explores each theme and offers suggestions for changes to provider service delivery as a result of new pandemic-related schooling needs.

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