Each April, Autism Awareness Month promotes fundraising and awareness events to help people understand and support people with autism. While there is a lot of information available about autism, many people still don’t know how to support those in their community affected with the syndrome. Autism, as well as other special needs diagnoses, take a toll on the family members who care for their loved ones. If you’d like to help, but don’t know how, consider the gift of a cleaning service.

A special needs child has many doctor appointments and therapy sessions that often fill up the calendar of an already busy parent who might work and have other children with extra-curricular activities. In addition, these parents are often emotionally exhausted from dealing with behavioral and social issues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Parents of children with a physical disability also have added challenges.

Compassionate people often want to help these families, but simply don’t know how. While it would be nice to give these parents a break, many people feel uncomfortable offering to care for a child with special needs. There are other ways to step in and help. You could make them a meal, or offer to drive other children to their activities.

One of the biggest things parents of special needs children struggle with is keeping up with cleaning the house. Time and energy are in short supply, and that often gets pushed to the bottom of the list. Set up a cleaning service to come in and help these caregivers get some things done to lift the burden off their shoulders. Whether it’s cleaning the carpets, upholstery, giving the bathrooms a deep clean, or washing the windows, ServiceMaster is available to help.

For many people, cleaning the house doesn’t seem like an insurmountable task, but for a parent caring for a special needs child, the job is overwhelming. By helping them out with the gift of a cleaning service, you will not only help them in a practical way, but offer encouragement to a person who may feel very alone.