Kate

My Requirements

We are looking for a live-out nanny for our 3 year old boy who has special needs. The role would be for 4 days a week, excluding Wednesdays, for 9.5 hours a day (8am-5:30pm but with some flexibility). A car might be useful, but not essential, and a willingness to become Ofsted registered would be essential. Some additional training and/or experience in special education needs, or one-to-one experience with a child with similar needs would be preferable. Above all a willingness to get out and about and plenty of energy to keep up with Tommy!

A bit about Tommy's needs:
Epilepsy: Tommy was diagnosed with epilepsy in March 2023. He is on three separate anti-seizure medications but still has between 3 and 10 tonic seizures per day. These last up to 40 seconds. Whilst this can be hard to watch, these are sadly ‘normal’ for Tommy and he doesn’t need to go to hospital or have any drugs administered afterwards. We are still trying to reduce the number of seizures in consultation with his Neurologist, but for now it’s a case of allowing him time to recover and trying to keep him in a calm and happy state to keep seizures to a minimum. His seizures are more likely to be triggered by over-exertion, tiredness, or stress related to too many people or unfamiliar surroundings (we avoid places that are likely to be busy, e.g. soft play at weekends).
Autism (ASD): Tommy has just had a diagnosis of autism from community paediatrics. He has related speech delay (he only has a few words) and sensory seeking behaviours - he wants to put everything in his mouth / bite things. He needs routine and certain things can make him stressed.
Global Developmental Delay: Tommy has Global Developmental Delay, and was found to be at the bottom of the scale (‘extremely low’) for each area of development. Of particular note is his fleeting attention span (when he’s old enough he will very likely be diagnosed with ADHD), which makes learning harder for him.
He is on four medications that need administering twice daily.

About Tommy
Despite the above challenges, Tommy is a fabulous little boy with a great character and with a great curiosity about the world. It is possible to engage him (he can make eye contact) and he can be very silly and sweet.
Almost everyone comments on Tommy’s smile and sense of humour. He really enjoys peekaboo and rough-and-tumble play. When he is having calmer episodes, it’s possible to really enjoy his company as he is curious, sweet and loves to explore.
Tommy loves Thomley Hall, one of the few places that Tommy can be himself and avoid some of the triggers that cause him stress. He particularly loves their bouncing pillow and this seems to be able to entertain him for longer than any other activity.
Tommy loves water play and will get into any water he sees given half the chance. We take him swimming when we can (with a life jacket!) and to splash parks when they aren’t too busy.
Tommy loves messy play and will usually get entirely into any mess that is laid out at nursery. He doesn’t mind being wet or muddy one bit.
Tommy’s climbing skills are going from strength to strength - he loves to attempt bigger and bigger climbing frames and slides. We often go to local parks so that he can run around and climb to his heart’s content.
Tommy is very brave - he falls over a fair amount because of his developing gross motor skills, and will usually get straight up again without a second thought.
Tommy really loves being with his family, including us, his brother Eddie, two sets of grandparents and his cousins, uncles and aunts. He lights up when he sees ‘his people’ and is comfortable being left to have fun with them.

Above all, we’re looking for someone who will love Tommy and feel confident to meet his needs. We feel strongly that having 1:1 support for Tommy will enable him to better navigate the challenges that life has thrown at him, and support us all as a family to help him thrive. We’d love to hear from you if you’d like to know more about us or the role.

Just to note, we’ve asked Tommy’s auntie Kate to help us in our nanny search, she is managing this account and will be delighted to hear from you.