Has anyone considered engaging 'nanny' for their children with special needs?

J

JinJin

New Member
I am not sure of anyone has experience engaging such 'nanny' who is experienced with children with special needs?

I am considering looking for one that can come to my place after my child's lesson in school/ during weekends for a few hours a day, a few days a week, to just play, bring the child out so that the child can have more exposure outside school hours. My child has Down Syndrome and is 7 years old.

I see the importance in someone who is special needs trained than a domestic helper. At the same time, I am hoping that this 'nanny' can help with simple academic skills for my child.

Does anyone have such experience before and how much do they usually charge? Hope someone can help.
 
Angelmum

Angelmum

Moderator
Hi!
When I was still a homemaker, I had the exact same idea ... or get a playmate means nanny has a child to take care and at the same time can be my girl's playmate.

Then I was told her focus could be on her own child and may overlook my precious so dropped the idea. To get a nanny with special needs experience and not too old, I think not easy... can try. Maybe place an ad here or on Gumtree, etc.
 
ping26

ping26

Member
JinJin said:
I am not sure of anyone has experience engaging such 'nanny' who is experienced with children with special needs?

I am considering looking for one that can come to my place after my child's lesson in school/ during weekends for a few hours a day, a few days a week, to just play, bring the child out so that the child can have more exposure outside school hours. My child has Down Syndrome and is 7 years old.

I see the importance in someone who is special needs trained than a domestic helper. At the same time, I am hoping that this 'nanny' can help with simple academic skills for my child.

Does anyone have such experience before and how much do they usually charge? Hope someone can help.
Click to expand...
A person who is trained in special-needs, will charge a fair bit more than a regular nanny.

I used to work as a therapist in special needs. I see parents & maids who take care of kids with different disabilities. A verbal child with Down syndrome is usually considered "high-functioning".

Personally, I think a good nanny (no-nonsense but kind) is good enough. It will be good if there are one or two (not more than that) children who are aged btw 5-9 years old. They will be playmates & studymates.

Younger kids require more attention, so your child will get less attention.

If you don't trust the nanny to be fair to your child, then dont hire her. Not all nannies are like this.

I've seen maids who grow up with my students with special needs. Their parents spoil the kids. But the maids patiently train the kids to do things properly. They are not special-needs trained. All that is required is compassion and common-sense. Maybe a bit of patience.

If a nanny has all kinds of irrational fears, it's best to avoid hiring her cos your child can sense her fears and will feel rejected/act up.

I used to hire only pre-school teachers as they are less likely to balk at some of the cleaning duties such as wipe mucus or saliva. My best staff is an experienced preschool teacher. She can train any child with special needs in life-skills & basic literacy skill. She's better than most of the special-needs teachers that I've hired & interviewed.

If you pay a good fee, you may be able to find a preschool-trained teacher who's willing to take care of your child. I find that some sped teachers tend to pigeon-hole a child by his/her experience. So they tend to be negative if they have had limited success at teaching a child.

You may wish to borrow/buy this book :
Helping Children with Down Syndrome Communicate Better Speech and Language Skills for Ages 6-14: Libby Kumin,
There are also similar books available in the National Library.

Children with Down syndrome are sweet & loving. They are a joy to teach. There has to be a nanny out there who loves all kids. You just got to sniff her out. Good luck!:Dancing_tongue:
 
Y

yllainehudges

New Member
In my opinion, there's nothing wrong in getting someone's service most especially if your child has special needs. Just make sure that the person you will be hiring is equipped with enough knowledge and has a great heart to handle it because it's no picnic in any way.

We had a nanny in our house before and she worked well and very loving with the kids but after 1 year she decided to try another job in Europe.



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"I Love Kids"
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