What is your experience of nursery care for disabled children?

Sam_Alumni

Warren got in touch and shared his family's experience of nursery care for disabled children.

My son was born with a life limiting heart condition, he celebrated his second birthday in June, which meant he was eligible for 15 hours of free nursery care a week and we began researching nurseries that could accommodate him.

We visited one nursery who told us they could accommodate him, but when we obtained a price list, it was clear they had made it impossible to use his full quota of free hours without paying for large amounts of additional care. 

As our son tires very easily and we only wanted to send him for two mornings a week, this meant we would only be able to use 5.5 hours from his free allowance and would have to pay £139.47 per week for the other 5.5 hours. My wife was quite upset, as she felt the nursery was treating my son as a commodity to exploit for financial gain, rather than his needs being their primary focus.

What experiences have you had with nurseries? Do you feel they are responding to the needs of disabled children or being used to make money? Let us know what you think!

carolinehn232323

Hi, 
My child has a severe brain disorder, tube fed and no voluntary movements. Our nursery have been pretty good in the sense they accommodated her from 12 months old. But they used to irritate me when they suggested that she costs them money as they got the inclusion funding.

 Since January she has been attending 30 hours at the local special school even though she's not yet 4. It's been a massive help. She still goes to the same nursery for breakfast club so I can get to work on time. They charge me for one to one though - so nearly double the hourly rate.
So I think we still have a long way to go. Even just making nurseries wheelchair accessible would be a start!
I hope you find something you're happy with.
Xx