Disabled Male Child carer???

Question

My husband is an amputee and registered disabled. He can walk and drive so not really physically disabled. He wants to train and get into childcare as an alternative career following a traffic accident - he used to be a lorry driver and can now no longer drive for a living.

Do you think its ok for him to do child care? I think he would be brilliant at it cos he's really good with kids and tolerant etc... just needs to be given a chance really....

Answer 1

your husband sounds very special - tell him to go for what he wants as he should have the same chance as everyone else - theres a good website where you and your husband might find any advice you need and they usually reply within 3 days - theres a section about jobs too - its www.yourable.com  hope it helps

lynda

Answer 2

How do you reply to this question without sounding heartless?

First you have the stigma of a male child carer, they are no where near as popular as females and when dealing with children any sort of disability might play on the mind of a parent. Im sure as you say he would be brillant but only if given that chance...unfortunatly parents dont give leave things to chance with thier kids.

Answer 3

There is no difference between being male or female when it comes to child care. It's just the same as being a teacher and they are both male and female. I do think it will be harder for him in the beginning because of the stereotypes mentioned above, but if he is good with children why should this matter. A lot of kids these days grow up in one parent families, usually just the mother and they miss any male input or role model so he could fill a gap in the market! As long as he passes the CRB check from the police there should be no problems whatsoever. Good luck to him.

Answer 4

i see no problem and you should be proud of your husband for not curling up and forgetting the world, all i would care about is whether my child was safe and being looked after in the proper manor not the fact the carer was male, i wish your husband the best of luck he sounds like a lovely man and hope the route into child care is not to difficult for him, good luck

Answer 5

I work in a school system as a substitute teacher. I have worked with a women who is in a wheel chair who does lunch room monitoring and crossing guard work.

I was amazed.  You can do that type of work & collect disability also.

Answer 6

I think that it is a good idea for your husband to become a childcarer or a mentor.

He should consider working with children who are in wheelchairs or have a SEN (special educational needs) status, as they would be able to relate with him more easily.

I know there is a certain stigma of men working with children and although this is unfounded, he should be aware that parents of children will be more wary of him just for being a male.

One of the best teachers i knew was male (he worked in the nursery section of a SEN school).

Answer 7

If this is what he wants to do, if he is good with children, and if he can handle the physical demands of the job, I think that would be the choice for him.  We can be anything we want to be.  Often we are limited only by our own fears and worries.  Tell him to go for it.

Answer 8

I might recommend that he consider being a teaching assistant in a special education program or a substitute teacher in a school as well, depending on his education levels. I teach a mental impairment class in an urban area and my kids really don't have very many good male role models. Most of the men they know are abusive, do or deal drugs, etc so my boys really have problems knowing what a "man" should be like. We have 2 great male substitutes in our district, and I request them whenever I am gone. We also have a part time teacher's assistant that is male. He is fantastic with the kids. I definitely think it is a good idea for your husband to get into child care or another career with children. He just will need to be extra careful to never be alone with a child, leave doors open if he is the only adult, and just take extra precautions to make sure there is no possibility of him being accused of inappropriate conduct with a child. It's sad, but men who want to work with kids are considered strange or deviant by some people, so you have to take extra precautions. Good Luck to both of you

Answer 9

I don't see anything wrong with it. He will need a ton of patience though.  Good luck.

Answer 10

Go for it!

I am a disabled male too - a wheelchair user.

Childcare is one of the careers I considered when I was younger. Even though I went into IT, I think I would be great at looking after kids.

I'm uncle of 5 wonderful kids - aged from 3 to 8 years. I read to them, play games, we bake cookies and pies, I help with homework, give them rides on my chair, and so on...

Its all good!