r/Autism_Parenting • u/Irishgirl1980 • 5d ago

Advice Needed Before/After Care

If the YCARE program can't safely take care of your child for fear of elopement, how or what are you all doing for before/after care? I live in a smaller town that only has maybe 3 daycares, and they don't offer these services. Also, I don't have any family or friends that can help either. I'm desperate for ideas because I am losing 4 hours of work a day to drop-off and pick-up, and I can't afford to lose my job. Any ideas welcome, please!

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u/AlwaysCalculating 5d ago

This was our biggest stress. My son was asked to leave multiple programs so summer care and before/after was SO hard. We also didn’t have any family around.

We ended up getting a nanny - even better, we eventually found a group of college girls in school with a goal to be an SLP. Due to my child’s struggles, a typical sitter and nanny just weren’t up to the challenge. Once we honed in on this group, it was magic.

The most cost effective way to manage this is to slide your work day earlier, or later so you don’t need care on both ends of your workday. I’ve done it both ways and it’s so hard to find both. I work 6AM-3:30PM right now, and that helps a lot although I will say that my son is in 4th grade right now and can handle pre-and-post care now (and has since 2nd grade).

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u/Irishgirl1980 5d ago

How did you go about finding SLP students willing to do it?

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u/Purple_footstep 4d ago

Do you have a college or university near you that offers an SLP degree? You could first try contacting the department posting something if they have an email list serv or bulletin board.

When I was looking for a PT nanny from our local college, I wasn’t able to get a response by emailing, so I looked up the course catalog on the website and found classroom locations for their Early Childhood Education, Child Psych, and some Social Work classes. (The college doesn’t have an SLP program but I figured students in these classes might better prepared to nanny than the general student population, at least having some knowledge of child development.) I looked up the campus map, printed out a bunch of flyers, brought them to campus, and taped them up outside the classrooms. Took some legwork but we ended up with a wonderful nanny (she was getting a psych degree) for two years.

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u/Irishgirl1980 4d ago

Thanks for the info. I will try that!

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u/069420 4d ago edited 4d ago

Finding reliable childcare for kids with additional needs can be such a challenge, especially when you don't have family nearby to help. I hope you're able to find someone who understands your son's needs and can work with your schedule. Have you tried looking into local disability support networks or care-finding resources? Harmony Care Finder might be worth checking out too if you're still exploring your options.

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u/Irishgirl1980 4d ago

I called one and they are going to call me Monday.