In recent years, the growth of learning options and the availability of distance educational experiences have presented new opportunities for students, particularly those with disabilities. The exponential growth in distance educational opportunities has brought new expectations for stakeholders - particularly parents, educators, and policymakers--to accommodate this new digital reality. A plethora of research has occurred on the proliferation of student social-emotional needs in schools, and its substantial influence on teaching and learning. Absent from the current literature on student mental health is the parent voice. As coach-teachers during distance education, parents are called upon to offer instruction, be mentors, and monitor routines during this often human-less learning. A gap in the research exists relating to parents and their firsthand observations of the impact of student social and emotional health during distance education. The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to analyze the perceptions of parents of special needs students in Western Maryland in a distance education environment and the impact on the children's social-emotional health. The case study utilized a three-tiered approach to reach triangulation of the data: questionnaire, focus group discussion, and individual interview. The data revealed that parents of students with special needs value their students' social-emotional well-being in the academic classroom. They also expressed concerns about the human-less interactions students experience in distance education. The results were determined after reviewing the transcripts for commonalities of language and themes. They showed that parents of special needs students feel that their social-emotional needs still need to be fully met in the distance education setting. These results suggest that there was a need for special education professionals and educators to be more familiar with social and emotional curricula that can meet the parent's perceived needs for their students, including implementing Social Emotional Learning into the classroom. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]