It can be a challenge for parents who have a child with autism to hire a babysitter. For many of these parents, a simple trip to the grocery store, post office, or dinner at a restaurant can be overwhelming. With a little research and planning, you might find yourself out and about with fewer worries.

Choosing a babysitter for your special needs child goes beyond a typical babysitter search.  Parents need to develop their own list of questions that pertain to the child, on top of checking resumes and references (Katherine, 2011). In doing so, babysitters will not be surprised by any behaviors that may occur and you will feel more comfortable that they are capable of handling various situations (Katherine, 2011). During an interview, give potential babysitters real scenarios and ask them what their response would be. Also, be sure to explain your family’s current procedures for particular behaviors, for example: tantrums, aggression, or elopement (Katherine, 2011).

It is important that you give potential babysitters a rundown of your child’s preferences, for instance, if your child does not like to be touched or guided physically, show them how to successfully guide them (“10 Tips for Babysitters”, n.d.). Another example may be that certain words or tones tend to offset your child, so explain to the potential sitter what this looks like (“10 Tips for Babysitters”, n.d.).

After you have narrowed your search, make sure your child meets their potential babysitter. This will give you insight into how your child responds to the sitter and vice versa.

Before you leave…

Have the sitter come early to spend time with you and your child, so you can help if any problems arise as your child adjusts to the babysitter (“10 Tips for Babysitters”, n.d.).  Be sure to break the evening/day down, so the routine remains the same as much as possible (“10 Tips for Babysitters”, n.d.).  Also, have the sitter “pair” (lots of free reinforcement to help increase your child’s compliance) with your child.  Leave contact information for your sitter, including: cell phone number, restaurant name/number, secondary emergency contact, and pediatrician’s number (“10 Tips for Babysitters”, n.d.).

Checking in?

Encourage the babysitter to call/text you throughout the evening, this will reassure both of you that everything is running smoothly (“10 Tips for Babysitters”, n.d.).  If a problem does arise, you will be able to give suggestions to deescalate problem situations (“10 Tips for Babysitters”, n.d.).  Remember, you know your child best, so give the babysitter any tips that you know will work in order to help the evening run smoothly (“10 Tips for Babysitters”, n.d.).

Katherine, 2012 suggests using the following interview questions:

-Does the babysitter have any formal education that pertains to autism? If she does not have any, what does she know about it? What are her expectations? It is important that the babysitter you hire has some knowledge about autism, so that she will know how to take care of your child.

-What is her experience with autistic children? Has she worked with them before, or is this going to be her first time? If she has worked with autistic children before, what was her scope of work and what can she say about her experience? Did she like it? Did she have any difficulty? You may also ask if she is able to provide references.

-How is she going to address certain situations? Provide some real or hypothetical situations and see how she would handle the issue. What would she do to prevent issues from coming up? In the event that your child wishes to do something which is against the households or something which will hurt your child, how would she handle it? Are you comfortable with the way she answered?

References

Katherine. (2011, June 1). Finding a Babysitter for your autistic child. Retrieved from http://www.autismunited.org/blog/finding-a-babysitter-for-your-autistic-child-80323.html

Katherine. (2012, February 17). What to look for when interviewing a babysitter for your autistic child. Retrieved from http://www.autismunited.org/blog/what-to-look-for-when-interviewing-a-babysitter-for-your-autistic-child-80792.html

10 tips for babysitters caring for autistic children. Retrieved from http://www.babysitters.net/babysitting-for-autistic-children/

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Parents of children with autism often face the decision of whether to seek home- or center- based treatment.  At Reaching Milestones with Behavioral Consultation Services, one of our most important principles is that our clients are able to make educated and informed decisions.  With that in mind, we would like to share what recent, scientific research has to say about home- and center-based treatment, as well as our experiences in the matter when treating children with our Autism program.

A well-controlled study conducted by behavioral researchers (Roberts et al., 2011), examined the treatment outcomes for children diagnosed with autism who participated in Center-Based programs or Home-Based programs.  Treatment outcome measures included: social and communication skill development in the children, quality of life and stress for parents.  Results from the study showed that children in the Center-Based program improved the most in social & communication skill development.  Furthermore, parents of the children in the Center-Based program reported the most gains in “perception of competence & quality of life.”  Researchers concluded that, if possible, Center-Based treatment was the preferred option for children with autism (Roberts et al., 2011).

While there may be multiple factors affecting the results in the aforementioned study, our experiences at Reaching Milestones with BCS have led us to draw a few conclusions:

Center-based treatment (also known as clinic-based treatment) allows the behavior analyst to minimize or alleviate many variables that may prove very difficult to control in a home environment.  Such things as toys, entertainment devices, pets, and even siblings can cause unnecessary distractions that hamper a child’s development.  In a center, a behavior analyst is able to control events that would otherwise be distracting in a home setting, and in some cases use those events to bring about effective changes in your child’s behavior.

Center-based treatments generally allow the analyst to spend more time working with your child.  Let’s face it: Life happens.  Aside from working or meeting family obligations, sometimes we are caught off-guard by emergencies and other events.  You may have aging parents to care for or other, typically functioning children whose demands need to be met.  Now, imagine having to work around these events and maintain your child’s home-based treatment schedule.  Our experience as behavior analysts tells us that center-based treatment allows for your child to get more of the attention that will lead to positive, beneficial changes and allow you to focus on the other aspects of your life while still benefitting your child.

Center-based treatment, while giving analysts more time with your child, also gives them the ability to gather more information about your child’s development.  This information is used to better formulate your child’s program of instruction and allows you to better communicate with the analyst about progress and concerns.  At Reaching Milestones with BCS, we believe that keeping you informed and up-to-date on your child’s progress will also give you the confidence to handle the day-to-day challenges that you may face in meeting your child’s needs inside the home.

You don’t have to take our word for it, however. In the study previously mentioned (Roberts et al., 2011), researchers also found that parents involved in center-based treatment scored significantly higher in the following areas, overall:

Family interaction

Parenting skills

Emotional wellbeing

Physical wellbeing

Confidence

Coping skills

Knowledge

Understanding

Planning

Knowing your options is a vital aspect of selecting treatment for your child.  At Reaching Milestones with BCS, your child’s progress comes first.  We want to make sure that you have all the information you need in order to make an informed decision regarding your child’s care.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the nearest Reaching Milestones location.

Roberts, J., Williams, K., Carter, M., Evans, D., Parmenter, T., Silove, N., Clark, T., Warren, A.

(2011). A randomised controlled trial of two early intervention programs for young children

with autism: Centre-based with parent program and home-based. Research in Autism

Spectrum Disorders, 5,

1553-1566.

The post Home Based or Center Based Services – Which is right for my child? appeared first on Reaching Milestones.