ABSTRACT

This quote could have been from me as I identify with it so closely. It is actually taken from a parent interviewed for Rita Jordan's (2001: 191) book Autism with Severe Learning Difficulties. It shows really well the way it is for parents of children with special needs. We're ordinary people with no choice but to live extraordinary lives. This chapter is about 'Building up support' but before consid­ ering ways of getting support some of us have a barrier to cross: we feel guilty about asking for help. This first section considers why our family life can be so different from the lives of other families and thinks about the possibility of new ways forward.