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How do I go about opening my own in home daycare?

Parents of autistic children, does your child go to daycare, school, or does s/he stay home with you?

  • Does your autistic child go to daycare? If so, is it a daycare center or a home daycare? How well does s/he get on in this environment? Thank you.

  • Answer:

    Seeing that no one has answered this yet, I'll go ahead and throw in what I've observed even though my child is not autistic. My daughter has a speech disorder (apraxia) and we've had an Individual Education Plan (IEP) with our school district for about 3 years now. Because of this, she and I interact with a wide variety of children. The past two years she has gone to pre-schools that are more specialized towards high needs students, there are quite a few autistic children there. They appear to do great. The pre-school she's in now is the public school district pre-school. There are about 15 students, 1 main teacher, 1 special education teacher, 1 speech therapist, 1 occupational therapist, 2 assistant teachers, and one student there has a 1-1 helper. The school is amazing and all the kids have a wonderful time. They focus on social skills and educational goals the children will need for kindergarten. I know my daughter comes home every day excited about what they did that day and is always excited to go to school and see her teacher and friends. The other children seem excited too. The children range in type and severity of needs - there are a few children with autism, there is one with Cerebral Palsy, a couple have behavioral disorders, there are also a handful of children who are not considered high needs at all. It's a great group of kids and the teachers are amazing. I think how well an autistic child would do in pre-school would have a whole lot to do with the teachers. My daughter has had a couple of bad pre-school experiences and it's always been the teachers. When she was first really trying to talk (she was about 3), she had a teacher who didn't want to be bothered trying to understand her so she just ignored her. I'll never forget my daughter crying in the backseat of my car telling me that "Miss Gabrielle pretends she can't her me." - really awful. So anyway, that's my experience. I'm sure everyone has their own. :)

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My child has Down syndrome, not autism. But because I have a teaching degree and years of experience teaching pre k, I feel qualified to answer. I have seen autistic children make great strides in preschool settings. Some of my favorite students were children with autism, actually. I recommend that you look into a program that has degreed teachers and places an emphasis on routine and structure while still allowing students the opportunity to play to learn, which is what is developmentally appropriate for kids that age. The most important factor, however, is the teacher. Find one that is patient and kind and who has an understanding of autism. You need one willing to work with you to make the experience good for your child and for you. Head Start has quality teachers and a good mix of children. Check with them. And of course take it slow and trust your instincts. You know your child better than anyone. Good luck to you. Sincerely.

Scarlet Cougar

My brother has Aspergers, a low form of autism. He did go to daycare. It was more of a home daycare. But for most of his life his older brother (me) just watched out for him. Granted aspergers is managable and usually just causes more nuisance kind of problems so I can not talk to the severity.

Brianiac

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