Special Needs for Special Kids - By Molly Krebel

As the mom of 3 children, 2 with different disabilities, it has been a struggle finding child care. My oldest daughter who is now 8 was in a child care facility for about 2 years. Over those 2 years, she remained in the infant room due to her developmental delays. At the time, I was just grateful to have child care for her, but I now know she is best served with her peers. We then began paying a babysitter to come to our home. Fast forward 5 years. I now have 3 children, my youngest also has a disability. At that time, my oldest daughter was in our public school special education full time, my middle child went to a child care facility in a neighboring town, and my youngest was being watched in our home by family members due to not being able to find a child care facility that was willing to care for her and her special needs. I was only able to work 2 days per week due to the lack of child care; this also placed a hardship on our income. My youngest child is now 3 and is in the Early Childhood program through our local public school where my middle child also attends pre-k. However, their school day is only from 8:00am to 10:45am. So, while I am paying for preschool, I still am having to pay for child care the rest of the day.

We need more inclusive child care facilities and extended day preschool. Parents should not feel excluded for having children with special needs.