ABSTRACT

In this chapter we wish to examine how the creation of a new care category, ‘young carer’ has added a new dimension to existing narratives on disability. By drawing on recent media coverage surrounding young carers we will explore how the presentation of these ‘children who care’ as ‘poor innocent victims’ and ‘brave little soldiers’ offers a window through which broader issues can be explored. As such, we will focus on the conceptualisation of childhood, parenting and disability that situates narratives on the lives of disabled parents and their children within a specific social and cultural discourse. Through an examination of television and newspaper coverage that ‘raises awareness’ by championing the ‘plight’ of young carers, we will show how the roles and responsibilities within these disabled families are inscribed with various layers of meaning: meanings that create a sense of self and identity that when brought to a level of consciousness can be de-coded to expose the normative notions embedded in them.