Respite for children with autism

[snowquartz21]

Hello,

Was just wondering if anyone could help me. Basically I am self-employed and am beginning to offer respite to families with children in the autistic spectrum. I have experience with autism (my sister is severely autistic and I have worked with autism in play schemes and social skills group for about two years) but I don't know how much I should charge.

Initially I was going to charge £12 and hour but decided that was too much so now I am thinking £10 an hour as that is about the price direct payments would pay anyway...

It would be great to get some opinions on how much you would pay an hour.

Thanks in advance :)

You might get more responses in special needs (but good luck sounds like a great service)

I think it depends where you are.

In London the going rate for nannies is about £11-£13ph gross. Essentially you are offering a nanny service, but you have the added skill of experience with autsim.

I'm not sure how much business you would get though, because the markets are very different. Nannies are employed by those working and earning a good wage (or not working and minted) and therefore can ask for £11-£13ph. Families with autistic children are going to come from a very wide spectrum, some will be in a position to pay that, but many, many more just won't be able to afford that sort of money.

Maybe have a look at SNAP's vacancies and see what salaries are being offered. They're a nanny agency specialising in helping families with children with additional needs.

Our local council offers this service and they pay £9ish gross for babysitters (in the child's home) and £6ish net for carers (in your own home).

I have one direct payment respite job where I am paid £9ph - which is the amount Mum gets funded per hour. Another direct payment respite job I do I get £10ph - which is higher than what the family get funded but they top up the money themselves.

I dont think £12 is unreasonable AT ALL but ultimately you may well find it comes down to what families are funded for and how willing/able they are to top up the amount in order to pay you more.

I am in the East Midlands.

DD cares for several children with autism and/or complex medical needs, she has experience and training and earns on average £9.50 an hour unless she does an overnighter.

Thank you so much for all your replies, I really appreciate it :) I am going to go with £10 an hour and see where it gets me!

as has already been said direct payments pay £9 an hr generally for respite care which is less than I charge per hr so I dont do it although would do for babies maybe but as I find it a more challenging role for older children (always did when worked as a childrens nurse) who have physical care needs then I do charge my normal rates as its quite a demanding role.

I think starting off at £10 an hr but willing to negoiate for direct payments may bring you in the work really.

Where are you based? That is a huge factor. I plan to similar once my jobs run their course, one of those jobs is respite care essentially and I'm paid £10 p/h for it in the SE (but am paid the same in my other nanny job too!). So do check your local agencies and how much they suggest for jobs (especially part time jobs as that's what you'd be doing really!)

Hi,
Why not contact the Autism Society for advice? Perhaps you could also contact local schools and offer to do a presentation on the subject to staff and/or children? Your local Family Information Service may be of help.

As a guidline, childminders (I am a childminder) can charge £3/£4 an hour and have 3 children all day equating to £9/£12 pounds an hour. We can

Hi again,
Struggling with this message service all evening. My email is [email protected]

Take care
Tam

I am enjoying this forum. It is just like the olden days when mums helped each other. My daughter has always looked forward to being mature and having lovely friends and I did worry that those days were gone.

"you could also contact local schools and offer to do a presentation on the subject to staff and/or children?"

Why would she do that? She's offering her services to adults with autistic children, not teachers and the kids. Genuine question.

Also, not-so-stealth advertising should include what area you live in, hth

OP, another thought: You may want to check that you can be self employed for this type of respite work. If you have a few families you do it for on a set basis you may be unable to do that as you'd essentially be a nanny (who specialises in autism) and HMRC are funny about who they allow to be SE or not. If you were just doing ad-hoc respite you'd likely be okay though.