Bucks for Bugaboo

Our son, Joshua David, nicknamed "Bugaboo" since birth , has severe autism. He had a slight delay in developmental milestones, but otherwise an uneventful birth, infancy, & toddlerhood. Josh loved to smile for the camera & interacted well with others. His language was delayed, but he used to say words & phrases. Over the past few years, Josh has lost all speech. He's been completely nonverbal for over 2 yrs now. Josh has very little functional communication, to the point where he is often unable to make his needs known. He is easily frustrated, more & more the older he gets. Josh is dependent on his parents & caregivers for all of his activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, toileting, & incontinence care. He requires close supervision at all times for his own safety. Josh will eat inedible objects, bolt away into unsafe situations, and teeter precariously on the edge of a high place. He once suffered a 2nd degree burn when he touched a hot stove. Unfortunately, Josh is undersensitive to pain, hot, cold, etc. and has very poor safety awareness. Joshua also has numerous self-injurious behaviors, including banging his head, biting himself, picking at skin & pulling hair out of his head. My husband & I are asking for some assistance, since we need caregivers more than 16 hrs a wk & are unable to pay out of pocket. Most experienced caregivers are at least $14/hr. There are other expenses as well. Josh has damaged or destroyed quite a few things in our home, including windows, screens, shades, dishes, trampoline net, etc. We have another child, Audrey, who is Josh's younger BIG sister. She is only six but already a natural caregiver. We want to give her as normal a childhood as possible while still caring for & managing Joshua's behaviors at home.