young white woman looks down in exhaustion, her face is partially covered by her hand. experiencing the burnout of mothering a child with special needs without adequate support

From Donna Thomson: Caregiving is not a competition. But this is a special shoutout to parents of children with disabilities whose work may go on for the lifetime of the child. A dear friend is now nursing her husband at home who has terminal lung cancer. But she gave total care to her two sons at home for their lives until they died (one at age 36 and one at age 47). My friend is in her 70s now. Many parents of children with disabilities also care for aging parents as well. But their role as parent to a child with extra dependency needs will last the lifetime of the child or in some cases, until the parent dies first (often a parent’s worst fear in this situation).

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