Hi all,
We have an 8 year old son with an ASD diagnosis and have just been told to make aletrnative provisions for after school childcare as his present after school club are not happy to take him. I've been put in touch with a special school that provides a 1:1 service whereby they employ carers to provide support in the home. This could be ideal for us, they will pick up from school and the service will provide suitable ASD training for the carers. They have a long waiting list though...
We will have to pay for this (I will apply for social care help but I'm not holding my breath). It's going to be much more expensive but we should be able to afford it a couple of days a week.
My problem is this: the special school service is regulated via the Care Quality Commission and not Ofsted. Therefore they do not accept childcare vouchers, and therefore this will effectively increase the cost to us by about a third as we will no longer get the tax and NI back via the salary sacrifice facility. The new childcare voucher system is no help, as the eligibility for providers is the same.
I do not think this can be right - I feel as though we could end up being taxed for having a disabled child. I am also applying for DLA to help cover some of the costs, so it may end up that what the government provides with one hand via DLA, it takes away with the other via tax and NI.
Is this an issue that the NAS could raise with ministers responsible? We can't be the first parents who have been caught in this situation. And I cannot believe that it was ever the intention that specialist disabled childcare services should be excluded from tax breaks.
cheers