info on being a daily nanny

[fabi1jazi2]

Hi i am new to the blog. I am recently qualified early years level 3 have 14 years experience of being a creche worker and helped my son recover from showing traits of autism. I want to work independantly one to one (not a childminder) within a family home helping kids with autism. Thinking of being a daily nanny - possible do 10 -15 hours work. Do you know the right way i should go about this. Have registered on some childcare sites but no luck so far. Does anyone have any advice?

Might be worth posting in www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childminders_nannies_au_pairs_etc there are lots of nannies on there :)

I'm not sure what you mean by helping your son recover from showing traits of autism?

I fell into nannying for children with autism. I got a live-in job with a family who had a child with ASD and when I moved into live-out nannying I got taken on by a family who wanted somebody with a bit of experience of children on the spectrum. But I consider myself very lucky to have been looking at the same time that they were, I don't know if I would have found another job in SEN Nannying if it weren't for that coincidence!

Nannying is not an easy job, it's also not one to be taken lightly, especially not when it involves children who may have complex needs. It's extremely rewarding, I saw an old charge last week and nearly cried when he started writing, totally made my day! But I also remember days from working with him where he was frustrated, I was tired and his siblings were tired and grouchy and going home mentally and physically exhausted. It's very different to working in a creche or other childcare setting.

Hi Thanks for replying to me. I will try that post.
I probably sounds weird when i make that statement but thats what happened.
My son developed normally until 18 months old and then he started to lose speech, went into his own world and became aggressive to other children, stimming, lots of sensory issues, melt downs etc.
He was under speech and language and considered on the spectrum and needed 1 to 1 in nursery school because of his behaviour. He never understood what the word no meant i remember drawing symbols to encourage kind hands, his sister who was three years older than him was always in his firing line of scratching and pulling hair. When i look back on his pictures i can see he did not look right through his facial epressions (never smiling - looking troubled) I understand completely how mentally draining it is i worked very hard with him for 4 years and especially when it is your own child - you never escape the worry.
I attended a course in london over a three year period for strategies and it made sense. looking at working on a one to one basis of few distractions including toys, having a huge imagination to try and connect and then engage.
I remember my son holding a pen like it was a lead weight and yes when they break through it is the most fantastic thing in the world. (Saying mummy, looking at you when they talk, giving a hug, answering you)
I could go on and on about his journey but i wont bore you with it.
We did use alternative therapies homeopathy, B.I.R.D. and diet.
The only trace of autism is he occasionally toe walks but he is in year 5 now no support, no IEP not statemented. He is clever, funny, loving and a wonderful person and has friends and the world at his feet now. That is all i ever wanted for him to be able to connect with the world.
I am very passionate about helping children with autism and i know until i get some other experience i wont be able to work in schools.

I really want to work in the home environment because
i believe a lot of these children are not ready for school, its too much of an overload they need to be at a level of sociability before academics, that can wait it will come later.
I know its a huge spectrum and maybe some children will not recover but i would love to be part of trying to help.
I have advertised on some childcare sites but dont seem to be getting any replies not sure if they are just a scam and after the subscription, have read some bad reviews on care.com.
When you work as a live out nanny am i right in thinking that the families have to pay your tax and national insurance. That you dont have to be registered as long as you dont look after more than 2 families.
I was thinking of putting myself on the voluntary register and paying for DBS. Also was not sure what hourly rate of pay you should charge.
Thanks for listening and helping me.

Was the course you did specific? It sounds like Son Rise to me? If so, you may find it difficult to find paid work as Son Rise seems to operate more on volunteers rather than paid (I was briefly trained in Son Rise for my long term charge, but his main time in the room was with parents and volunteers). If it was ABA you're more likely to find work as there is a demand for that (though it's still limited), along with Growing Minds, which seems to be becoming more known about in my area at least. They're the three I know somethig about and have seen advertised down here, the work is generally part time so it would suit your hours need. It's definitely worth checking out any forums related to the course you did and advertising on them too. I know that the ABA forums usually have sections for tutors, though it's been a while since I went onto them. Check facebook as well, as there are groups for people looking for work in particular specialities.

It may be worth listing the treatments/diets your child was on as well, there will be people following the same thing.

A lot of the childcare sites are a bit crap in that respect. The prices keep increasing. I found my initial live-out jobs through Childcare.co.uk and paid the subscription, but the families who contacted me were subscribed themselves and the price was much lower then, in my last job searches my local agency has found me work, but they refused before as I didn't have the 2 years nannying experience they wanted.

You would most likely be employed, it depends on the circumstances but it's difficult to fit the self employed criteria, which is difficult as on those sites there seem to be a lot of people who want "Self employed nannies". I asked families about their intentions regarding that before interview and didn't interview with anybody who wanted somebody self employed. Self employment is less to do with how many jobs and more about the criteria. I'm both employed and self employed. My employed work is regular, set hours for one family. My self employed work is ad hoc, I am free to turn it down and whilst occasionally I'll have a regular day of the week, it's only temporary, like this summer I've worked for three families, my employed job three days a week as usual and two days for other families for 5 weeks. If that makes sense? (I'm rambling).

What part of the country are you in? Nanny wages differ according to area. It may be worth calling your local agencies, they may not be able to find you work (or they might be happy to take you on! Criteria is different everywhere!) But they'll be able to advise you on what is going on in your area at the very least. Browse job ads as well for a rough guide :)

Hi
I am from the midlands, where are you based?
Thanks for all the info, its like a minefield out there. Do you happen to know where would the best place i could get a DBS check on self employed basis. Would if be ofsted?

I'm in the SE, so wages are quite different I think.

Ofsted will do one and they'll require you to sign up to the yearly service, which is handy actually, £13 a year after the first year, I'm not sure how they're charging at the moment though as I joined ofsted a few years back and it was one charge for registration and the DBSCRB

If you aren't going with Ofsted then I don't know I'm afraid! Agencies do them too. I can't remember if my yearly DBS was done with Tinies or with Ofsted, but it covers both.

Why would you be self employed? If you did very ad-hoc work then that might be the case but you would be an employee as a nanny working set hours/set days. Maybe stop with the idea of being a nanny, maybe call it respite care provider.

Have you talked to your local social services? I care for a child on the spectrum on an ad-hoc basis and social services were involved in doing background checking. Children on the spectrum may be able to get Direct Payments towards some things (often not for care at their home, it is often more for respite care which can include taking the child out on 1:1 basis).

More about Direct Payments

As you have your own school aged child, when would you be doing this care? Children on the spectrum often attend nursery/school, so any 1:1 care time is likely to be weekends.

Have you contacted your local NAS group? That would be a good starting point I suspect to get to know what sort of thing local families with children on the spectrum are looking for, plus if you get to talk to parents you can find out what sort of budget they have for paying for services.