Many caregivers are desperate, exhausted and isolated. The demands of daily life take a heavy toll on their mental and physical health.


These quotes from caregivers of people with special needs represent what many caregivers experience every day:

There are millions of special needs caregivers in America. Their declining mental and physical health constitutes a public health crisis.


The following stats are specific to caregivers of children with special needs:

When caregivers are not supported and don’t have adequate resources, the outcome can be tragic.


These are real excerpts from devastating stories that occurred because caregivers had reached a breaking point.
“An 87-year-old woman is accused of killing her disabled, adult grandson for fear that no one would care for him after she died.”
“An Ontario woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing her 4-month-old and 14-year-old daughters...The 14-year-old victim was described by police as a special-needs child...It appears the mother had been dealing with depression.”
Source
“Syracuse mother’s trail of hardship ends with murder-suicide...Each step of her life – raising three special-needs kids, pursuing an advanced degree, a failed business venture here in Syracuse – has been a struggle… And she appeared to have undertaken the challenges alone.”
Source
 

Statistics with no context are easy to ignore.

A tragic story in the news might make us pause for a moment, but requires no action.

Until we put names, faces and stories with the struggles of special needs caregivers, they will continue to go unseen.

Unseen: Caregiver Documentary
caregiverdocumentary@gmail.com