Respite Care

I provide respite care in my home. There are three types of respite care, and together we will determine which kind of care you need.

• Relief or normal respite is similar to babysitting. It is used when parents need a break for a couple of hours up to a couple of days. It can be used when you want to go to a movie or you simply need a break from your challenging child to re-energize. When using relief respite, your child is treated as a guest of the respite providing family, living by the rules of that family and participating in family activities.

• Therapeutic Respite is utilized when a challenging child is making life so difficult at home that the family is unable to function well as a family. It can be scheduled on a regular basis or utilized as needed. A therapeutic respite provider maintains the same kind of structure that the parents are using at home. A therapeutic respite provider does not nurture the child. All nurturing, love, sweetness must come from the parents.

• Therapeutic Motivational Respite  (TMR) is used when a challenging child is having such difficulty at home that the child must be out of the family home in order get unstuck from unacceptable behavior and be ready to return home. A child will normally be in TMR until the respite provider determines (in consultation with parents) that the child is ready to go home ready to be responsible, respectful and fun to be around. Often TMR is provided in consultation with a child’s therapist. Just as in therapeutic respite, a therapeutic respite provider does not nurture the child.