Mankato, MN: Mom of autistic son opens special needs daycare

July 22, 2025, Mankato, MN, KEYC: Mankato daycare opens for children with special needs

For Patience and Bubbles Daycare owner Mary Ssegirinya, Tuesday morning’s celebration was also a time to reflect on the struggle it took to get here.

“Now I see everything all the hardship, all the troubles, all the chaos... it was worth it,” said Ssegirinya. She spent the last two years trying to open this daycare which caters to children with special needs.

This was inspired by Ssegirinya‘s son, Jeremiah, who she struggled to find care for with him being on the spectrum.

Ssegirinya said, “every time I would call a daycare center, they would say, ‘yeah oh yeah, we have openings.’ Then I’d say, ‘okay great but he’s non-verbal and he also has autism...’. So, a lot of times I wouldn’t get a call back.”

The search for specialized daycare also affected single mother Sarah Erickson whose life revolves around her son.

“Finding a job that would be able to let me go if he was in school,” Erickson explained, “I had to find family members, thankfully I had really supportive family members.”

Erickson and Ssegirinya realize meaningful care is needed for parents without the extra help at home.

Ssegirinya said with a smile, “My goal is for them to be able to have a safe, nurturing, and loving environment.”

Ssegirinya created that environment by hiring staff that are not only trained but also are close to someone with a disability.

“You will give each and every child that same care that you would want for your own child or your own relative - that’s the difference,” Ssegirinya explained.

Finding daycare for kids with special needs is Ssegirinya’s top priority...but she knows it’s hard to find openings, no matter the child.

Ssegirinya said, “There are not enough facilities, there are not enough home day care centers, there’s a lot of people here that need daycare. So, my hope and my goal is to be a home away from home for parents.”

Patience and Bubbles Daycare is running open enrollment for all children in hopes that children on the spectrum can grow alongside neurotypical children as well.