Outside Therapists And Educational Services

[NeedaVaca]

I am sad that so many providers accept that working parents can't fit parenting into their day as a reason.

As a parent, I'd do whatever I have to do for my child.

I quit my job (w/awesome benefits and excellent $) and dropped out of college (2.5 yrs in) to take care of my child.

He needed me.

I just couldn't imaging making my job (or anything) more important than my child.

This! I also quit my job to make sure my son had everything he needed. I LOVED my job but there was no question, it was the right thing to do. My son has special needs and he comes first. You do what you have to do when you have kids.

[NeedaVaca]

While I understand fully where you are coming from, I don't think it's fair for to say the family would be better served in another program....

Also, most parents DO work the same hours as clinics (Drs), dentists and eye doctors etc but that doesn't stop them from taking time off to take care of their family's needs kwim?

A huge benefit of therapy for a child is parent involvement. Parents really should be an active and open participant in their child's therapy. Taking the time off work to do this is simply a parental responsibility in my eyes (not including special circumstances) and it's not something I am generally inclined to accept as my responsibility when I am caring for a GROUP of children.
One child's needs shouldn't outweigh the needs of others.

But that doesn't automatically mean a child that needs therapy is better off finding a different program. It just means the parent needs to find a better way of managing their child's needs.

fwiw~ I am not referring to situations where it's a known and expected thing for a child. ie programs that take medically fragile or special needs children.

Exactly. The job I quit was actually at 1st Steps. In my state parental involvement was mandatory for a certain number of sessions per month or they lost services.

[sahm1225]

I have a (unasked for) reputation for being a special needs daycare. I have a child with cancer, one with cerebral palsy, several with trauma histories (neglect/abuse), others with developmental or social issues. 2 are tube fed, many receive nebs regularly, 2 need daily med administration. I am so involved in the care of 2 of them that I have full access to their medical teams (I have power of attorney to receive information and even make decisions on medical care in their mothers' absence).

I didn't ask for this, but it keeps my roster full and my days usually fly by (they're busy!). I can certainly understand why someone would NOT want this in their lives/businesses, but I am also a foster parent...no such thing as privacy with foster parenting, it seems! I have regular visits from social workers, licensing, food program, anyway, so what are a few more from therapists? LOL.

As a parent of a special needs child - thank YOU for what you do and offer those daycare kids. You truly are an angel for their parents

[sahm1225]

Several therapists do work evenings, but none of the FREE ones do (birth to three or school district).

That has to be dependent on where you live. Here the FREE ones only work evenings because being a therapist isn’t their main job. When my dd needed therapy, most only worked between 6-8pm or sundays

[sahm1225]

Here is a question for you that I have not seen come up before.

Do any of you have daycare children that receive outside services in your home during the day? Like occupational therapy, speech therapy ect?

I had one child that I allowed the speech & developmental therapist come to daycare. I loved the family and wanted to help. It quickly became too much of a disruption. The therapists were great, but taking 2 hours away a week from my day to make sure he had his therapy away from the group (he couldn’t handle the distraction) was tough.

I was the one that gave them the schedule of what times worked with daycare and they happily worked around our schedule. The therapists would offer amazing tips to help dcb and at times even general tips for other Dcks.

The therapists lasted a little bit over a month and then we had to stop.

[Annalee]

I am sad that so many providers accept that working parents can't fit parenting into their day as a reason.

As a parent, I'd do whatever I have to do for my child.

I quit my job (w/awesome benefits and excellent $) and dropped out of college (2.5 yrs in) to take care of my child.

He needed me.

I just couldn't imaging making my job (or anything) more important than my child.

Mom and I were talking about this today! There is no logic in it. Parenting should be a "natural" instinct....but