It depends on the age of the child. Initially, I had a family member. But as time progressed I felt my son needed to learn how to interact with others. Once in daycare facility he seemed to develop social skills and increase his understanding.

I put mine in daycare that had teachers with experience with autism. Plus the doctor said it helps alot with social skills. It truly has helped him come along way on social skills. But I am blessed to have such a caring staff that looks out for him. Good luck

We used Daycare for the first 3 years of his life, and that was before and then during the initial stages of diagnosis. I liked the daycare, BUT they tended to put him in with the babies and younger kids because he couldn't keep up with the kids his own age. I chose daycare, because I wanted him to be in a "School like" environment. He was there all day, and I didn't want him thinking someone else (a parent/home care giver) was his mom or that their was his house. When he transferred to a regular school - (Pre-k) he had absolutely no problems. He has no problems sharing either, like a lot of children who I've been exposed to that are at home care. (could just be the kids...)

I've used both a daycare and a parent for my son's childcare. The parent is a woman who worked with special needs children when she worked for the local school district. She left the school district and opened her own daycare out of her home. She does not have a special needs child, but does have experience working with them. She currently provides after-school care for my son and then he goes there full-time when school is on break. The daycare facility we used in the past accepts special needs children. The nice thing about a daycare facility versus a parent is the daycare is opened every week day whether or not a teacher gets sick or has other appointments. When my son's care provider has personal things going on, she closes her home and that means no childcare for however long she needs time off for.

I think it depends on the individual. There are definitely professions I would trust more with my son than some parents...Just because you have a child with special needs, doesn't always mean you know how to parent children with special needs (your own child, is different than some one elses). That said I would rather have an individual caring for my son than a daycare center.