Most parents do not look forward to sending their child to day care. They do it out of necessity. However, for the parents of special needs children, the opportunity to send your child to day care should be viewed as a blessing. It means that your child is developmentally ready to take on new physical and social challenges.
I highly recommend, though, that you resist sending your child to a traditional day care just to prove to the world and yourself how “normal” he or she is. If you live in a smaller city, you may not have a choice, but if you live in a larger city like we do, there are often day cares that specialize in caring for special needs kids. The one that my wife and I visited in Atlanta had the same basic set-up as other day cares. However, there were a few significant differences that were noteworthy.
Unfortunately, no day care that is affordable to the average family will be able to provide your child with extensive one-on-one care. However, the child to caregiver ratio at special needs day cares is usually significantly lower. The ratio at the one we visited was three to one; half that of any other day care we toured. Also, while the staff may not have any formal training caring for special needs children, they will, no doubt, have extensive on the job training, and parents know that this is the best type of training available.
Secondly, the day care we visited had a registered nurse on site. The nurse was not only there in case of emergency situations, but she was also the one in charge of administering medications and handling such medical devices as feeding pumps, apnea monitors, etc.
The most significant difference, though, and one that I do not think should be overlooked, was that the special needs daycare grouped children according to age, not ability. Seemingly, this contradicts my earlier statement about pushing your kid unnecessarily when he or she might not be developmentally ready. However, I can give you a perfect example why grouping kids according to ability is not always a good thing.
My wife’s best friend has a 19 month-old son who was born nearly two months premature. Cognitively, he is fine. However, he has severe gross motor delays. He is nowhere near walking and only recently gained the ability to go from crawling to a seated position on his own. She wants him to go to day care for socialization purposes. However, she knows they will put him with the infants and he will not receive the mental stimulation he needs.
Obviously, it is up to parents to make the best decisions for their child and family. I just thought I’d give you all some things to consider when making this all too important decision.
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