Just a quick question, can a single mum or indeed a couple be forced to put thier children into childcare inorder for them to go out to work?

[whoingodsnameami]

Or can jobs be turned down on the fact they dont fit within school holidays?

That's awful whoingodsnameami. Just goes to show how different each school can be.

What do you do if your teenage child has a formal diagnosis of ASD from the NHS but no LEA statement?

You cannot get paid childcare (via tax credits etc) for a secondary school aged kid. So what do you do if your 13 year old child cannot/MUST NOT be left unsupervised after school, but you are told you MUST take a job?

if you claim carers allowance for your child then you do not have to go to work when the yougest is seven. you can claim up untill child with sen leaves home or residential placement. income support office will tell you this. i do wonder if people actually read excactly what you are saying here!

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to qualify for carer's allowance? Especially f you don't get a diagnosis until your child is 13? Can you imagine how tolerant most employers will be when:

You get called in to school every week (from work) to take your child home because they are having meltdowns after being tormented/being chased all the way home from school having rocks chucked at them/ beaten up in the bogs because they loked at someone "odd" and are therefore Gay?

mumblechum, I must point out that an autistic 2 year old is a completely different kettle of fish to an autistic 7 yeatr old, or 9 year old.

Simply because - 2 year olds are expected to have tantrums, be non verbal, and have screaming tantrums. They are small enough so that this doesn't matter.

none of the above is true of a nine year old, and most child care places will not take them at nine years old if they aren't continent and can control their behavior.

Or they will take them, but deal with them appallingly, making your life hell.

MrsFlittersnoop, sorry, that sounds like a difficult situation ;( . That was exactly my worry, how could I work when I am constantly running backwards and forwards to the school, being an unreliable member of staff does not sit comfortable with me.

Thanks kittycat68, I wonder why I have not been told this? I do however want to do something with my time and pay a little back to society for allowing me to stay at home for the past 2 years, I have decided in the meantime I am going to offer my voluntary services to the school

hey op - you are exempt from the 7 rule if you are dla and ca recipient so you wont be changed over from is to jsa. dont worry

re becoming a social worker - i trained with lots of people who were already carers - its a good transition.

i presume you are talking about OU courses if you have to go away from home?

what about an access course? its one year and would help you apply for full time study at a local uni.

best of luck

have you considered doing anything like lunch time supervision at schools? It may only be part-time but it fits in with school terms and will give you a little extra money. TAs are often recruited from their ranks, because they have (hopefully) already demonstrated reliability.

tatt, yes have thought about that too, I could that and voluntary work together

sungirltan, yes, was referring to op, the job centre looked into it for me and told me that was the only way will look into access course.

i wonder why? is it maybe how many hurs you could commit? if not then def look into access courses - they are really good but also if you do the sw degree at a regular uni they will sort out all your placements and support you - aim pretty sure ou make you do it all yourself

HI I don't think the social work degree is residential, may be worth checking at several colleges/unis. There are placements but hopefully they would be flexible.

I don't think lone parents (and especially parents of SN kids) should be forced to work non school hours. I thought they could only work 16 hours and get it topped up with TCs? I don't think they should be forced to work 8-5 every day 5 days a week. 16 hours sounds fair as long as there are plenty of jobs and the child is at school.

I am not a lone parent but am a SAHM/part time student. I want to be the one to pick them up etc and see your point especially with your child's issues.

Yes even with chilren you can be 'forced' to work, years ago if children were under 18 the Govt didn't force people to work, now they do.

But not when they have SN kids mycounty.