Praying for School to Stay Open

The NY Times just ran a story about how parents of kids with autism cope when their schools are shut because of swine flu. As a kid, I would have loved a school shut-down (I certainly have happy memories of the teachers’ strike) but now I’d hate it. First, it would mean entertaining Alex all day long. Second, it would mean coping with Alex’s fondness for staying inside and watching Elmo or Arthur all day long.

It raises the question, at least to me, of how difficult it can be for parents of special needs kids to work. It can hard enough scrambling for a last-minute babysitter when you have typical kids, and you can look forward to a time when they won’t need supervision.