Trouble at the YMCA... Back in February I got an email basically saying that, since Wyatt is different that they think they might not be able to "continue to serve" our family in drop in child care. The YMCA advertises hotlines for people to call in if they need help with their special needs kids and for resource ideas. However, our YMCA does not itself seem to train it's staff to accommodate special needs kids. They refer to Wyatt as a "Special Rights" child rather than a "Special Needs" child.
When I shared our situation with my county case-worker she said she would call our Y and remind them that they can get free training from a group called KIT "Kids Included Together" and the National Training Center on Inclusion (NTCI)
We subsequently had a therapist accompany Wyatt to the YMCA to observe his behaviors. The questions that the Y had for the therapist were questions about what kind of activities would Wyatt enjoy where he would not need close supervision and about how Wyatt behaves when with other groups of children.
We just want to work out and exercise so we can stay healthy and live a long life so we will be there for our son as long as we possibly can. But lately we have not been able to work out. We've been taking Wyatt to the YMCA pool for a change of scenery (we have a pool here in our complex, so we really don't need the Y for that, but I have to say their pool is really awesome--activity splash pad, retractable sky dome ceiling, bath water temperatures). We will probably terminate our membership soon and save $63/mo--oh wait, it just went up to a whopping $70/mo-- and perhaps rejoin next year and see if things have improved with both the Y and Wyatt's behaviors.
I'm not sure how old Wyatt
I'm not sure how old Wyatt is since I just registered for this site, but an environment like the YMCA programs I've experienced were absolutely wrong for my son who has Aspergers. Too much noise, too many kids, too much activity -- sensory overload for him resulting in "melt-down" or "shut-down". Shut-down was the best situation, melt-down usually resulted in hitting, kicking, or shouting. We avoided those types of environments as much as possible. Now at 16, my son is well aware of how to recognize when he gets in an over-stimulating environment and understands he has to remove himself.
Wyatt is 4. He usually does
Wyatt is 4. He usually does well at the Y when he can play in their outdoor play yard. But the times when we are able to go are usually at night when they make the kids stay inside. Most of the time when he is there at night there are only one or two other kids, so I don't think the problem is sensory overload. I think the problem is that he has autism :) He'll just bug the paper towel dispenser and when they tell him no he gets upset. They have no idea what to do. Even if I give them suggestions on how to handle it, the staff gives me a "You have got to be kidding" look and I know what they are thinking. That's too much work.
P.S. Welcome to Autism Blogger!
I think the easiest thing is
I think the easiest thing is to distract the kid with something else to play with. If they cannot figure that out, they should not be watchign ANY child in my opinion.
That is horrid. Can you
That is horrid. Can you prove that your Y has had advertisements for Special Need's children for legal action? What the (bleep) is the difference between special needs and special rights? I had thought about getting Michael a membership to the Y here once I can start working, but I think I will look into their training and such first. I am appalled at them. Personally I would be hung-go (I know backwards :P) to threaten pressing charges and insisting they start training or reimburse you membership fees because they are basically saying you can pay to have him there but they will not take him... I would be so mad.
We have a "family
We have a "family membership" so Wyatt's fee out of that is only about $5. We prepaid for a bunch of ChildWatch cards, however, we have maybe $20 worth. It is only $2.30/hr for childcare, with a maximum of 2 hours a day that they will watch him. I'm sure they would give me a refund on our cards even though they are not supposed to be refundable :)
It does make me mad though that they advertise being so great about special needs kids and then they turn around and say they really can't watch my son because they don't have the training? Excuse me? And I don't see them making a huge effort to go out and get training. Rather they have the excuse that all most of their workers are 17 year olds. Can 17 year olds not be trained? Or perhaps, maybe they could, I don't know, look for experienced people? Wow, what a novel idea!
Sounds like it's time to
Sounds like it's time to call your local news =) They eat
up this kinda thing!!
I can understand maybeout
I can understand maybeout here not being ale to find qualified people, but the need is not as high compared to population out there. I think if they are going to advertise for those children, they need to keep their word or face discrimination charges.
I've heard from people all
I've heard from people all around the country that parents can't win against the Y, and really who has time or money to get nasty with them? They wear me down with the carefully worded emails dancing around the real issue, which is that they don't want to watch Wyatt. Even one of my case supervisors has said to me that I need to look at it from their point of view, if I was a mom of a typical child, would I feel comfortable having Wyatt in the same program? That kind of made me mad, too, because I think that it was horrible of her to even say that when she should sympathize with ME, the person who is being discriminated against and the person who is her client. And yet, if I were the parent of a typical child, maybe I would get pissy about some kid screaming in the childcare room.
Our YMCA just flat out told
Our YMCA just flat out told us they wouldn't take my son. Guess at least they were honest about it instead of giving me some BS about how helpful they are. I hear you Wyattsmom, it sucks, especially when they clain to help those with special needs. From what I can tell this means that they have a wheelchair ramp. I've hit alot of walls like that with many normal activities. People tell me that I make up the fact that he has autism, that he's just a bad child and I'm a bad parent. I've had one parent even tell me that autism was just a excuse for bad children, how ignorant.
Scyllas... the master runaway kid catcher.