How do you do it with 2 working parents?
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Anonymous
| Our toddler has recently diagnosed with ASD and we are a two income household. It has been so challenging these past few months with all these assessments and evaluations to get everything set up. Then once everything is set up it will be in home ABA therapy, out of home speech and OT and many other parent required meetings and appointments. How do households where both parents are working handle all of this? We can not afford for one parent to stay home so that is not an option for us. |
Anonymous
| Do you have a nanny? Do you have any telework options? |
Anonymous
| Who takes care of your child now while you work, OP? |
Anonymous
| Can you vary your hours at all so one parent goes in late and the other comes home early and use those times for therapy? Can either of you get a 4 day a week schedule? |
Anonymous
I am the OP and the answer is yes to both but it is still very challenging trying to manage it all. Does it get easier once evaluations are done and services start? I am hoping there once there is an established schedule things will be easier. |
Anonymous
We have a live in nanny. |
Anonymous
|
A combination of leave, telework, and relying on our caregivers to be there for in-home appointments for our child.
Once you get used to your "new normal," this will be a lot easier to handle. You will know that you will be teleworking on Monday and the ABA team will be coming. The babysitter will be there on Tuesday to handle the speech therapy. Your husband will take a half day of leave on Wednesday for OT. You take two hours of leave on Thursday for PT. ETc. |
Anonymous
Then this should be a piece of cake. |
Anonymous
|
We have the same diagnosis, except our son is now 4 and in a half day prek program. He was in daycare for two years where the therapists came to him, and we had a late afternoon slot for one specific type of therapy (it was at 4 pm). After a while we realized this wasn't working, so I hunted around and found a PT flexible job. My industry supports this type of work, and I know I'm lucky in that regard as many people are not. Now my DS is in a PT prek program that's half day, and I work while he is in school and at night. We do not need my income though, so it is mostly to keep me in my field and to use for vacations etc. I also realize I am very lucky in this regard. My company is west coast based, so that helps since he is in the school in the afternoon.
Many families we met at therapies had nannies, grandmas or au pairs that were with the kids, however, the parents made a point to get to as many appts as they could. It is important to get the basis for what is going on at therapy so you can help your child at home. Are either of your employers flexible? Now is the time to explore those options. If not, it may be time to start exploring other more flexible companies. Therapies can be done in the early morning and late afternoon, but those appts are hard to come by because everyone wants them. Even though my sons is in PreK now, there's still therapy and IEP meetings, teacher conferences at school that take up a lot of work time. IT is good that you are thinking about this now. Best wishes to you. |
Anonymous
| If you have a live in nanny that you trust, your nanny should be a full fledged team member. |
Anonymous
| To make it work, we had one parent go part time. It was a huge financial sacrifice, but it was the only way we could make it work. It is much more doable now. |
Anonymous
And I don't mean that in the sense that you are somehow privileged. I mean that your nanny should be a team member. |
Anonymous
It has not been a piece of cake because all the evaluations and assessment have required a parent to be the one there with her not the nanny. |
Anonymous
But going forward for therapy, you will develop a rhythm. Evaluations and assessments are time of war. The evaluators of course want to know your family history. Weekly therapy is different. You will want to be available for some sessions, but you don't need to be there for every session. My child goes to PT, OT, and Speech. Plenty of nannies, au pairs, and caregivers at all. |
Anonymous
| And frankly, if your child is going to benefit from therapies, you need every member of the household reinforcing them. Nanny can't be excluded. |