ABSTRACT
The notion of ‘community care’ for handicapped people often means in practice that the burden of care falls on families, and in particular upon mothers. The effect this has on the lives of the people who do the caring is illustrated by the following description of the day-to-day experiences of three families with a child categorised as ESN(S). The descriptions are taken from David Wilkin’s book Caring for the Mentally Handicapped Child, and are based on research he conducted in the early 1970s for the Department of Health and Social Security, on the provision of services for families of mentally handicapped children.
