Introduction

When a child is born with mental or physical disabilities or develops them at some point after birth, the child's family experiences a variety of challenges. The person with the disability must learn to cope with his or her problem, but the other family members also need to adjust.

There will always be sadness in such situations, but there is often joy as well. The families in this book have dealt with many emotions and more concrete problems as well. They have things they regret about their situations but also things they are pleased with.

When a member of the family has a mental or physical disability, each family member learns something from the experience. This people in this book have shared some of these things in their stories.