External support

Options for organizing everyday family life with external support

Everyday life in families with one or more children where one child has a disability is often challenging and requires a high degree of flexibility and support. External help can make a decisive difference in relieving the burden on the family and promoting the well-being of all family members. There are various ways in which families can receive support to help them cope with everyday life.

1. au pair as support in the household and with childcare

An au pair can be a valuable help in everyday family life. This young person lives with the family for a certain period of time and supports them primarily with childcare and household chores. Especially in families with children with special needs, an au pair can relieve the burden by taking on simple tasks so that the parents have more time for the child's individual needs. The ability to arrange childcare flexibly is particularly helpful for parents who sometimes need extra time or peace and quiet to devote to other tasks.

2. support from friends and family

Sometimes the network of friends and family can make a decisive contribution to relieving the burden on parents. Visits, regular support in everyday life or overnight stays for the children can help parents to take a deep breath. Especially in difficult times, it is helpful to be able to fall back on trusted people. This form of support is often particularly valuable as it is based on trust and strengthens the family bond.

3. intensive care services for children

For families who require more intensive care, there are specialized intensive care services for children. These care services provide highly qualified caregivers to assist in the daily care of the child with special needs. They take on tasks such as medical care, mobility support, assistance with personal hygiene and much more. This professional support can relieve families enormously and allow parents to concentrate on their own needs.

4. short breaks in short-term care

Parents who are caring for a child with special needs around the clock are often emotionally and physically exhausted. In such cases, a short break in respite care can be a valuable way to relax. Respite care facilities offer parents the opportunity to take time out while their child is cared for in a safe and specialized facility. This can be particularly helpful for parents who want to replenish their own resources without having to worry about the child's care.

5. day care facilities and specialized care services

In addition to short-term care, there is also the option of using specialized day care facilities or care services for everyday care. These often also offer care for children with special needs so that parents can receive support during working hours or in other areas of life. Day care facilities create a structured environment in which the child is supported in a meaningful way while the parents can manage their own commitments and tasks.

6. household help or cleaning staff

In addition to childcare, support in the household can also provide a great deal of relief. A domestic help or cleaner can take on simple but time-consuming tasks such as cleaning, shopping or cooking. This gives parents more freedom to concentrate on the important needs of their children. Especially in families with special needs, such help can make a considerable difference.

Experiences from the community

Cleaner, care service, volunteer, babysitter

We have a cleaner through the reallocation of care allowance, a care service for the night, a volunteer from the outpatient children's and youth hospice service and a babysitter. Unfortunately, there is little to no support from the family.

Grandparents

So far, we have "only" received support from the grandparents, not professionally from a curative education worker. But they relieve us enormously by taking our son after daycare once a week. This gives us two afternoons (plus often the weekend) to ourselves to recharge our batteries. A grandma even accompanies him to therapy once a week. We really are incredibly lucky!

Educational power

We live in Denmark. Here, if I want, a teacher comes twice a week (can be more often) to spend 2-3 hours with our daughter. Almost all therapies take place at school - Logo, Ergo etc., which is a huge relief for us. I only accompany her to therapeutic riding once a week in the afternoon.
Best wishes from Ærø!

The family

We get great support from our grandparents and our little mouse's godmother and uncle. Sometimes they do the housework, sometimes they take her for a 2-hour walk or cook the meals. This support is really priceless. Grandma can now even put the little one to bed, which recently enabled us to have our first evening as a couple since she was born (19 months).

Family, pensioner, day care

Family: The older sister and her boyfriend help us regularly.
A pensioner who likes C. very much, lives a few houses away and tries to step in whenever there is an emergency. She also takes care of me as scheduled when I have appointments or go on vacation or business trips alone.
Day care with special educational support.
That really takes a lot of pressure off us!

Intensive childcare service

During the week, our son is accompanied, looked after and cared for by pediatric nurses from a children's intensive care service. This includes accompanying him to school and to therapies. But even when he is ill and cannot attend school, the nurses are with us at home to provide support.

Children's hospice

We use the short-term care in a children's hospice near us. Our son could spend up to 28 days a year on vacation here. For us, this time out means recharging our batteries, looking after our siblings and taking short trips that would be much more time-consuming or simply not possible with our son.

Temporary care, family, family hostel Lebensweg

We are lucky enough to have great grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles who are happy to look after our daughter and her brothers to have a bit of me-time, sibling time or couple time. We also have two great young neighbors who look after our daughter on an hourly basis via respite care.
Once a year, we go on vacation to the Lebensweg family hostel to recharge our batteries.