Hiring nanny without qualifications....opinions?

I have never hired a Nanny, but have had several APs (yes much different I know)

The ones that were best with my DS - who has SN, not ASD, genetic condition more like mild DS - were the ones with less experience and more enthusiasm.

They had few preconceived notions of what a child 'should' be like or be able to do. They seemed to have boundless energy and more positive attitude.

I think it is all down to individual personality and adaptability.

Good luck.

Silverfrog hope all ok? Would be interested if your Nanny was looking for a few extra hours per week for DS.

Also, I think it shows a desire to learn+commitment to her role as a nanny to go for a position that she might find challenging to begin with. We all have to begin somewhere+where better to start than in a hands on role?

I think that you have to go on your gut feeling+above all, if your child takes to the candidate. Last year I went for a position with an adorable little girl with who was blind, couldn't talk, had cerebal palsy+had no real use of her limbs. I was shortlisted with 3 others, 2 had worked in special ed schools+1 was a nurse. I got the job because the little girl started giggling when I spoke+kept trying to turn her head towards me. I had 7 years of exp but no quals@ that point.

i wuld take them on for the trial. good child care isn't all about quals although i'm not knocking quals either. for your special child you need to go on gut and this is obviously saying go for it
good luck

with respect moomin what i was suggesting was that i or my fellow students would have investigated and learnt as much about the 'individuals' needs of that child not neccesarily the autistic child as i dont think the autism is the child iyswim the child has the autism and whatever needs that child has wether related to his condition or not would need to be met.

I do think its a specialised field that not every childcarer would choose such a challenging position but what i wanted to say in my post was that if your nanny had had the extensive training she would perhaps have had greater experience of meeting individual needs would already have links within the health sector ( being able to describe ill health or child development to relevant healthcare officials etc etc for example when my sons were at primary school I was often asked to help assess a childs needs (usually speech therapy occasionally with an ed psych and write up a short report to support applications for funding)because i knew the 'lingo' and understood a childs needs in the classroom be it physically emotionlly or socially i was able to do this with a lot of success.

What the general point of my post was - if you have found your ideal nanny thats fab and very fortunate -good nannies are hard to find BUT dont expect trained qualities from someone untrained.

chapstickchick - I'm not sure whether your comments were in reply to my post.

If you re-read, i said she had little experience, not no experience. I should elaborate, i suppose, and say she had less experience than i was hoping for.

I was in no way underestimating the amount of work that goes into childcare - I do know from personal experience.

however, moomin is right - when you say "working with a family with an autistic child wouldnt have phased me or my fellow students in any way" I think you are vastly undeestimating the skills required. just as not everybody is suited to a career in childcare, not everybody in childcare is suited to a SN placement.

The biggest issue we had to overcome was that of dd1 accepting our nanny, whoever we hired. We could have had the most qualified, experienced nanny going, but if dd1 will not play with her, then it is money wasted.

Gut feeling is something that has to be listened to - in an ideal world I would not have wanted an inexperienced (well, less expereienced) nanny, but I was pointing out to the OP that sometimes, instinct can work.

With respect, chapstick, I don't think you can safely state "working with a family with an autistic child wouldnt have phased me or my fellow students in any way", due to the complex nature of each individual autistic child's specific needs. As you know, the autistic spectrum is vast and the needs of each child with autism would vary enormously. Practical experience of some aspects of autism can be worth much more than however many books or even observations or shadowing.

I think it's much more important in this case for the OP to gain confidence and trust with someone who can cope with the specific needs of her dc - as long as she at least comes with some references, is CRB checked and fits in with the family.

Good childcare imo is based on many factors. Experience, knowledge, patience, sense of fun/humour, common sense organisational skills and so on....

People have a lot of these skills naturally and gain more skills as time goes on.

I believe there are two types of learning - formal education in a college/school and life education by experience. Both of these are great ways to become learned and experienced.

In an ideal world when looking for a nanny they would perhaps have gone to college and have years of practical experience and be naturally patient and loving etc

However if it was to be between a nanny with a formal qualification or a nanny with experience who is to say which is the better one? It also narrows down to personality and common sense.

What I'm trying to say is not that qualifications aren't important because they are but that they are not the only reason someone is a good nanny. Go with your gut feeling. If you feel this nanny would be good for you and your children and she has some experience then give her a chance. She may turn out to be the best decision you ever made! But I would do it on a trial 3 months first to eadse your mind. Good luck

Im not disputing that in this lady you may have found your ideal nanny.

But please consider how much work an NNEB trained nursery nurse has undergone throughout my 2 year full time course i studied intensively all aspects of child health, education and psychology,we had extensive experience of working with varying disabilities and able bodied children we had equal amounts of time with new babies and with primary age children.

In my placements i experienced nannying with a new baby,shadowed a health visitor,spent time at booth hall childrens hospital,private nursery,school nursery ,primary school,special need schools and social service nurseries.

working with a family with an autistic child wouldnt have phased me or my fellow students in any way.

If you feel you have found your nanny then thats very fortunate but plese dont underestimate the work that goes behind the qualification,contrary to a lot of peoples belief true childcare isnt easy and not everyone can do it.

I was in exactly the position you describe a few months ago.

I have a part time nany who comes to do ABA for my autistic dd1 (and also covers times when i need to go out without either dd)

My nanny is great, but did not have a great deal of experience. she did, however, get on with dd1 right from the start - in fact, we knew she would before she even met dd1, and that, we felt, was more important.

Obviously a lot of other things were considered - confidence with children/babies, common sense, etc.

Although her experience is, imo, limited, she had had more exposure to babies/children than I had before I had my two.

What i was looking for was experience of special needs, and willingness to deal with bodily functions - both of which we got.

Anyting else, i thought would come in time, given that dd1 and her get on so well, and it has.

I don't know your situation, but i do not work - we wanted our nanny to help with ABA - and i think that made me be a bit more relaxed about experience to start off with, as I could be around generally, and not have to leave her with sole charge if I wasn't comfortable initially. (having said that, she was left with both girls for the whole day the weekend after she started - longest i'd been away from either of them at that point, so she really was capable!)

I hope it works out for you

I would def consider her/him. Meet them see if you both get on and take it from there.

My childcare training didn't really cover much on special needs and we only spent 2 days in a special school. Never did any training on specific special needs like autism. So a qualifed person could be quite unprepared anyway.

Even those with formal childacare qualifications will probably not have any solecharge experience or worked in a domestic setting. They may also have limited hands on training with under 3's.

I would have a sort interveiw first when you can chat and ask questions then have a longer interview with the kids present to see how they interact.

I would probably want them to have some sort of first aid training, but if they didn't have this already you could offer to pay for it and make it part of the contract to be completed during the initial trial period.

Having care experience is useful. They will have dealt with bodily functions for instance.
Having common sense I feel is important.
What are you expecting someone to know about childcare? They may learn sufficent from reading some parenting books.
Meet them, see how they interact with your children.