Relating to Other Relatives

Abstract

The parents of mentally handicapped children suffer so greatly that it is easy to become preoccupied with their needs and to forget that other members of the family may also be suffering. The fact that many mentally handicapped children are born to older parents means that they will often have older brothers or sisters. Sometimes parents deal with the shock of having had a mentally handicapped child by conceiving again. It is becoming rare in fact to find a single mentally handicapped child. What do other children make of their mentally handicapped brother or sister?