Often the family contacts the agencies serving the aging parents rather than the disability system. The answer seems to be differing points of view between professionals and families, both now and in the past. And what's best has changed over the years from institutionalization to sheltered workshops and group homes to community employment and independent living. As parents and their offspring with developmental disability get older, another family-professional difference in point of view comes into play. This difference revolves around beliefs about aging and includes generic services to aging individuals.
Parents remain committed to their caregiving role and see the relationship as mutually beneficial.
As their own needs for housekeeping help, or emotional and physical support increase with age, it is often the child with the disability who takes on more of the caregiver role. Developing the picture together Photographers use a polarizing filter to remove reflections and make the colors of the image richer. In the same way, we need to remove the distortions caused by stereotyping from our image of aging people with developmental disabilities. As third agers will tell you, retirement is not about taking naps and watching soap operas in the afternoon. Retirement planning and services must be adequately funded, regardless of the chronological age of the individual.