School Age Children With Special Needs - How Many Hours Do You Work?

[figuringoutmylife]

For those of you that have more than 1 dc with SEN/ASD etc., how many hours do you work outside the home? I work FT and have realised I'm burned out and this isn't sustainable. When I list all the extra things like therapies and support programmes, the fact schools finish at 3 pm, inset days, school holidays, sick days, etc I feel like I have the capacity to work 2/3 days a week school hours. Instead I work over 40 hrs a week and just can't continue as we are.

If you have more than one dc with added needs how many hours do you work and is it ideal/working for you/your family?

I have one dc diagnosed with asd and one not diagnosed. I had to give up work last year as it was just too much for both dh and I to be working full time. Today I have spent about 6.5 hours on SEN related issues. It isn’t that much Time every day, But there is something every day That I have to do that parents with NT dc don’t have to worry about. Financially, we struggle, but we just couldn’t cope without one of us being available for the dc all the time.

I only have one with SEN, and one NT. I worked 22 hours a week until my autistic child was in Y6. It was about a year too late, and by that time it had shredded all our mental health.

We can't really afford to have only 1 parent working so no, it's not ideal, but it's the least worst option at the moment.

None. Both kids have ASD; one also has ADHD. Both very anxious. Gave up working when second DC diagnosed; kids were 4 & 7 at the time, and couldn't cope with after school/holiday childcare. They're 14 & 10 now, and still need me there when they're not at school. Hoping once DS is at secondary school that I'll be able to work again. I miss working so much; my career was a huge part of me, but it's still one of the best decisions I ever made (other was kicking out their useless father).

I have 3 DS’s still at home, all have additional needs (medical needs, DS1 complex MH needs, DS3 ASD) I don’t work due to their needs. DS1&3 have EHCPs and DS1 isn’t in school, he has an EOTAS package.

I really appreciate your comments. I am realizing more and more the reality of having to work FT and parent a child with a very high level of need, and like a poster said, the impact on mental health.

Last week on top of working FT we had 3 appointments totaling 7/8 hours, and I had 4 hours of paperwork to do. To do this I had to work late after dc were asleep and ended up working until 2 am.

The other reality though is needing to cover the bills and extras.

Thank you again for sharing. Really gives me pause to think about how to make it all work for everyone.

I don't. One of my sons has high level, complex needs, the other has lower needs, and the child care we would require doesn't seem to exist. They do go to school and my whole day is busy. If I'm lucky I'll get an hour or so to nap as he doesn't really sleep so I'm up most of the night.
I have no family or friends to help out and their father is not involved in any way, shape or form.
I'd love to work because I'm sick of always being broke and I need so much more money than I would if I had neurotypical children.
We have a disability social worker who says I wouldn't be able to meet their needs adequately if I were to work full time.

Two with special needs (autism, adhd, complex learning disabilities, speech issue and coeliac). I work 32 hours a week (I was doing 18). But I can work from home and it’s term time only. Shit pay and it’s stressful but for now I’m plodding on as I suspect once they leave education they’ll need me again. I took 7 years out as I just couldn’t work. If I lost the job I have, finding something else will be neigh on impossible as I’d need to be at home as they can’t access any childcare.

I couldn't work FT because we have no after school care for DS to speak of (babysitter brings him home twice a week). He's got the more severe needs but DD would get exhausted and weepy in after school club 5 days a week.
I work 2 mornings and 2 full days and DH works 4 full days.(so there's only one day when we are both working all day).

I never find the appointments for DS are on my day off, either, so DH and I take it in turns. I'm planning to add a half day or a full day when DH retires (in about a year), I've trained him well not to take sh*t in meetings (nothing ever gets decided in meetings anyway).

I worked full time then four days. Ideally we wouldn't but needs must financially. It is very hard unless you have loads of support. I pay for after school care. When the oldest was younger we had a carer come to the house after school until we got home. I am a teacher
It wouldn't have worked if I hadn't been home in hols.