Among the many things I wished for when Max was little: a daycare that specialized in kids with special needs. We had a regular sitter, but when she was on vacation or called in sick, leaving Max at a regular daycare was stressful. Sometimes, my husband and I ended up taking off days from work.
I was so thrilled to read about A Place For Grace in Saginaw, Michigan, a daycare center for kids with special needs that opens September 2. Its founder: a mother of a child with special needs. As Jenny Dumont recalls of her struggles finding daycare for her daughter Emma Grace, now 9, who has intellectual disability, “She was having meltdowns four times in one week and I got called in to pick her up and when I got in the caregiver was doing the best she knew how. I got really frustrated and thought, Why isn’t there a place for children like Emma?”
Jenny Dumont and daughter Emma Grace
A Place For Grace has teachers trained in special education, along with a sensory room and toys for kids with special needs. It will ofter preschool for children ages 3, 4 and 5 (who missed the school cut-off) and aftercare for kids ages 5 to 16. The goal is to offer full-day childcare for school breaks and special days by Summer 2015, including therapies in accordance with children’s IEPs.
If you Google “special needs daycare center” in your area or state, some might crop up—key word being “might.” This country is sadly lacking in daycare options for children with special needs. It’s astounding, though not surprising, that this one was started by a parent of a kid with special needs. Parents like us often have more than our hands full and yet, we best know just how needed services like this are.
Also see Parent.com’s Day Care and Babies With Special Needs
From my other blog:
On letting your child with special needs do things for himself
My kid with special needs understands you so don’t ask me, ask him
That sad you feel when you think about your pregnancy
Image source: Screen grab of center, WNEM video; Emma Grace and Jenny via GoFundMe