How many hours does your autistic child/child stay in childcare?
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I work in childcare, and many families with children who are diagnosed stay long hours as the parents need to work. Childcare needs to support the child if they are overwhelmed. A quite space to relax, doing some group activities and not sure if they play songs all day, but that can overwhelm any child. Which city are you in? I know cities, countries, and childcare centre's do things differently.
Thank you, ladies. I live in Philadelphia. My issues I'm kind of stuck between the two. The guilt comes from having her there for long period of time if I choose to pick up the extra hours, which isn't much. I currently do 35 hours with one job and about 12 hours at my other job. So I work 6 days a week and only have one full day with her which is Sunday.. I work 9 to 4 Monday through Friday and Tuesday/Saturday 10 to 4. So if I had the and the extra 5 hours I'll be doing 8 to 4. So she will be in daycare now from 7 to 5. And I know that's an hour longer, but I feel horrible. She likes school, but she isn't really socializing with the others still. She is a sweet 3 years old. She really really loves books, animals and numbers. The way the world is now I try to spent all the time I can with her. She's learning lots of words but still considered nonverbal, so when we are home, I'm teaching her lots of things when we get home from school. I'm a first time mom and I overthink alot on top of that.
My eldest has special needs - dyslexia, slow processing, dyspraxia and some sensory needs. He’s not autistic but does have some autistic tendencies. When he was a baby (from 1 yr old) he was in childcare full time 8-5.30; sometimes 7.30-5.45pm if work was very busy. I also travelled abroad for work and he used to get quite upset but I had to work to pay the bills. At the time I found it very very hard and felt a lot of guilt. He’s 12 now and a very confident happy child and being in nursery full time probably helped his social skills as he has always found that side of school etc easier than the academic side. Hope this gives you a little reassurance. If your child is struggling and you are in the UK I think the setting can apply for financial support to give her additional support?