respite or DP

[twokids]

Thought I should start my own thread rather than butting in on someone else's.
I am curious about direct payments. am I right in thinking you use these to pay someone to come and help you in your home? Does this give you a Break? My dd has cp and we have respite where she stays overnight (24hrS) and am curious(call me nosy if you like:O) as to why people choose DP not respite.

I also usethem for ds1 to go and stay for a few hours at someone's house. I don't want overnight respite yet as I think ds1 (severely autistic) would find it a bit frightening (he;s 6 and non-verbal). Also he sleeps quite well (touch wook- it varies), but with 2 other young children we can't get out at all when I have all 3 of them alone. With dp's I can pay someone to come in and be an extrra pair of hands, and we can do stuff with ds1 or they can help with the other 2, and the kids can get to go out.

Hi, i am choosing dp because we dont want to leave ds with anyone else. He has so many complex needs that i want to be there if anything goes wrong. With dp, i can have a night out with hubby (which is what we need), and if i ever want someone to stay with ds whilst i get some sleep, then someone can come into my home where i can be easily contacted if anything goes wrong.
I think its just personal choice and how much you need a break. i have fantastic support off my mum cos i work full time as a social worker, so my weekends with ds are precious and as he has a limited life expectancy, i dont want to miss a minite.

I chose DPs because I was already paying people to help us out, with DS and DD. So it means that I don't have to pay for all of it myself and I've got people I know and trust. I use my DPs to have someone look after DD (who is NT) while I take DS (who has ASD) swimming and trampolining. The reality is that I spend more but pay them only the proportion of their hours out of DPs that I can. I also get respite now where DS goes to a centre overnight. That wasn't available when we first got into the system and I expected them to say it was either/or but they didn't I'm hoping to be able to use my DPs to buy more overnight respite as it isn't accesible except through Soc Svs whereas my "workers" are available anyway iyswim.

can i ask where do i look for respite is there any special places to look ie yellow pages

twokids love the name
My dd has cp and we have respite. It is at her school so yesterday she went to school and I will pick her up at 5 on a school day she just comes home on the bus.
I find I get a break she is happy whith people and children she knows and no hassle.
Not what you asked I know