Absolutely no childcare

[collann]

Hi all
My DD is 10 and has asd.
She has 3 older siblings but they have moved away uni work etc.
I now find myself with no childcare whatsoever.
I get 1 hour a week when she's at gymnastics that's it.
I work when she's at school.
Neither one of us have close friends or any family. I don't want to offload her every week but now and again a bit of time to myself would be heaven.
Are there any groups that could help.

Have you spoke to the school to see if they allow the Teaching Assistants to do any babysitting on weekends? That way it's someone she knows, and they could go to the cinema or bowling or something for a few hours.

I didn't know that was a possibility thank you

Have you looked into support groups for families affected by asd? You may find good ideas or even another local parent who could swap childcare sometimes.

I was in this situation and just waited it out until she was old enough to go on little outings to the cinema etc with a group of friends.

If you have the means for it you could look into any sort of activity after school. Would scouts be an option?

Is there a befriending scheme in your area? I was a befriender for a while. I picked up a child and we'd go to the cinema, or for a Starbucks, or shopping for a few hours. The idea was that it would give the child another adult in their life but also gives parents and carers a bit of respite. I also worked for a charity a few years ago that ran a play group for children with ASD at the weekend . The staff ratio was one to one and we were highly trained. Check out your local ASD support groups for any info on youth groups or befriending schemes.

You could also go down the traditional babysitting route. There is a local girl who is 16 that lots of my friends families use. If your daughter has trouble adapting to new people you could introduce the babysitter slowly with you still there. Have them round for a cuppa, then to hang out for an hour (you'd need to pay them obviously but it would be a long term investment).

Think that’s the case for a lot of single parents, I have 4 kids and no childcare. Options are pay for it or make friends and swap babysitting (obviously the latter isn’t possible for me) I wouldn’t ask the school that wouldn’t be a thing in my area