Hopes, Dreams, but No Plans : Aging Parents of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Individuals living with an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) are often reliant on others for most of their lives. As a result, the parents of individuals with IDD are positioned in a unique caretaking role as they age alongside their dependent children. Drawing from in-depth interviews with 14 older parents of individuals with IDD, the present study discusses the ways in which these aging parents attempt to make future plans for both themselves and their children within the neoliberal framework of the United States. This paper argues that because parents of individuals with IDD are reliant on an inherently unpredictable system of public services for support, the capability to plan for their old age is limited