Is there a demand for this --

[Anonymous]

I am a veteran special educator. I've worked in the field for more than 20 years, with experience with a wide range of ages and disabilities, although the largest part of my experience has been with 3 - 10 year olds. I formal training in ABA, floortime, and a number of research based reading interventions. I also have a lot of experience with sensory integration, and sensory strategies to support self regulation. I also have a child who, at one point, had significant medical needs. He has long since outgrown these needs, and I would definitely need to be trained on the most current equipment, but I'm comfortable with things like feeding tubes, apnea monitors, and machines for respiratory therapy.

For a variety of reasons, I would like to move out of working in a school setting. At this point in my career, the work that I enjoy the most is when I work 1:1 with children. I would love to really get to know a child, and help set up a home program that is nurturing and joyful, but also incorporates specific skill development.

I am wondering if there is a market for a special needs nanny, one whose skills go far beyond those of a regular nanny. The challenge, of course, is that I have financial commitments that I made when I was making a teacher salary. For example, it is very important to me that I be able to stay in my current home, so that my child can stay at his current school, until he graduates from high school in a few years. While I'd love to be able to take a nanny job, I am limited to those with higher salaries.

Do you think there are parents who would be interested in hiring someone like me? What kind of salary could I expect? How would I go about marketing my services?

[Anonymous]

Yes. Many families with special needs children would be very interested in hiring you - but probably not for the salary you are used to. May I suggest marketing your talents as a tutor or part-time facilitator (teaching the nanny to do what needs to be done, setting lesson plans, evaluating progress) to a number of different families?

One of my friends is an autism specialist and works with five different families - each for three hours a week. She makes really good money (140K a year) and only works weekday afternoons from 4 to 7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Many families with special needs children would be very interested in hiring you - but probably not for the salary you are used to. May I suggest marketing your talents as a tutor or part-time facilitator (teaching the nanny to do what needs to be done, setting lesson plans, evaluating progress) to a number of different families?

One of my friends is an autism specialist and works with five different families - each for three hours a week. She makes really good money (140K a year) and only works weekday afternoons from 4 to 7.

OP here, depending on the hours I wouldn't need to make what I make now. I have a small private tutoring business. It's small right now because of the amount of work I bring home every day. I assume that with a nanny job, even for someone as dedicated as I am, there would be much less take home work to do in the evenings. This would allow me to pick up a few more clients and supplement in that way.

However, the big downside to tutoring is that families generally want late afternoons and early evenings, or they want weekends. It's hard to build a full time schedule, and especially hard to build a schedule that accommodates my own child.

My dream job would be 8 - 2 or so, allowing me to charge a lower rate and supplement the income with afterschool work.

[Anonymous]

What hourly rate or range, would you like?

[Anonymous]

A regular nanny job would pay between 15 to 25 an hour depending on your area. You have great credentials and should apply for special needs jobs which do tend to pay higher on the scale. I doubt you'll get 8 to 2, but who knows?

[Anonymous]

OP here.

How much I would need to make would depend on the specific hours. I could afford to take a lower hourly wage if there were significant overtime, or conversely if the hours allowed me to do a lot of outside work. If other circumstances were perfect to support outside work, then I might be able to make $25 and hour work. In other circumstances, I'd probably need around $30.

I'm not answering this from the perspective of "what I deserve". Frankly, I deserve to make more than $30, and parents with special needs deserve to be able to have their kids well cared for and educated without paying more than the parents of NT kids. I'm just being honest about what it would take for me to be able to leave the school setting.

[Anonymous]

Sign up on care.com - make sure your profile, photograph, and references are in order - respond to postings and see what happens. Also register at various agencies in your area. If no one "bites" you are over-reaching on your pay scale.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Would never waste my time on scam care.com
OP should have no trouble earning 25-30/hr if she presents well. SN children take some serious skill and repair work. What's generally out there isn't helping them much, so their parents throw drugs at them. You'll need to provide lots of support and councelling for the parents to. It's a tough road, but desparately needed. Read the SN forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would never waste my time on scam care.com
OP should have no trouble earning 25-30/hr if she presents well. SN children take some serious skill and repair work. What's generally out there isn't helping them much, so their parents throw drugs at them. You'll need to provide lots of support and councelling for the parents to. It's a tough road, but desparately needed. Read the SN forum.

Where do you find employees/employers? In my area care.com is pretty much the only game in town.

[Anonymous]

I have found over the years the more special needs a child is the less you are going to be offered. I'm not sure where you are but I have a special needs background and find that those job don't normally pay anymore. Sadly it's less with waiver programs and parents want to toss in their other kids.

[Anonymous]

OP here,

Thank you for all the advice! I will take it under consideration as I make my decisions for the coming school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have found over the years the more special needs a child is the less you are going to be offered. I'm not sure where you are but I have a special needs background and find that those job don't normally pay anymore. Sadly it's less with waiver programs and parents want to toss in their other kids.

OP here,

Having been the working parent of a child with special needs, and having had the privilege of getting to know and work with many families of children with special needs over the years, I have to offer a different perspective on this.

The price of childcare depends on two different factors. One is what the service is "worth". There's no doubt that caring for a medically complex child, or working with a child with significant physical or developmental issues and doing the job well, requires more energy and expertise and creativity than providing care for a similarly aged child without special needs. From that perspective, it is reasonable to think that this position should pay more.

On the other hand, the price of childcare also depends on what parents are able to pay. Ordinarily, parents who seek out nannies have the resource to do so. Parents with fewer resources choose less expensive options such as daycare centers, or home daycares. When a family finds out that their child has special needs, their budget doesn't get bigger. In fact, in most cases, families find that there are extra costs associated with raising a child with special needs. I know I spent a lot of money in the first two years of my son's life on specialized formula, gas to travel to the Dr., copays, medical equipment etc . . . A family with a child who also needs therapy will spend even more. In addition there is often lost income when parents need to take time off work to stay in the hospital with a child, attend Dr.'s appointments, or provide care at home. The result of all of this is that even though a child with special needs may require the specialized care and individualized attention that comes with a nanny, the parents, through no fault of their own, may simply not be in a position to pay for it at market rate.

[Anonymous]

Smart parents will understand that early "front-loaded" effective care (with eventual obvious results), will lessen the long-range investment they will be required to make. They will absolutely pay for the best they can afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a veteran special educator. I've worked in the field for more than 20 years, with experience with a wide range of ages and disabilities, although the largest part of my experience has been with 3 - 10 year olds. I formal training in ABA, floortime, and a number of research based reading interventions. I also have a lot of experience with sensory integration, and sensory strategies to support self regulation. I also have a child who, at one point, had significant medical needs. He has long since outgrown these needs, and I would definitely need to be trained on the most current equipment, but I'm comfortable with things like feeding tubes, apnea monitors, and machines for respiratory therapy.

For a variety of reasons, I would like to move out of working in a school setting. At this point in my career, the work that I enjoy the most is when I work 1:1 with children. I would love to really get to know a child, and help set up a home program that is nurturing and joyful, but also incorporates specific skill development.

I am wondering if there is a market for a special needs nanny, one whose skills go far beyond those of a regular nanny. The challenge, of course, is that I have financial commitments that I made when I was making a teacher salary. For example, it is very important to me that I be able to stay in my current home, so that my child can stay at his current school, until he graduates from high school in a few years. While I'd love to be able to take a nanny job, I am limited to those with higher salaries.



Kekeke.......



Do you think there are parents who would be interested in hiring someone like me? What kind of salary could I expect? How would I go about marketing my services?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smart parents will understand that early "front-loaded" effective care (with eventual obvious results), will lessen the long-range investment they will be required to make. They will absolutely pay for the best they can afford.

I don't disagree. But I think we need to be careful about judging parents whose ability to afford $20+ an hour caregivers is limited by necessity.