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When you deal with special needs children, there are challenges that come with them that you will have to find ways to deal with them. When I was caring for my autistic foster son there were times when I had to use respite type care for him that I have not done with other foster children. I could take my children including my autistic foster son shopping, on errands, appointments, and some outings. Also there were times when I knew that certain settings would cause problems for him, Like an appointment that I’ll be very involved in, or I was unsure how he would react to environments around him. So in these cases I had to rely on my respite care which was my day care lady, family and friends. When you are faced with caring for five children under the age of four (one is an infant) and one is autistic is not the typical family. There are times that I could take them all out to do an errand or go shopping when an autistic foster son would flip out (meaning: screaming, crying, hitting, yelling, hitting, etc..) and I would have to carry him out while he was flipping out and trying to bite me. Oh, I almost forgot to mention getting my other children including a baby to the car with me. So as you can imagine I would only want to do this in areas and in stores that I am comfortable with and could still ensure the safety of my other children.

I do believe that families need time for themselves without foster children. That could be one weekend a month, a break between taking a new placement, or family vacations.

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“As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we've been given. “
Mary Lou Retton