Families in crisis: aging parents & disabled children

Air Date: December 8, 2017

Joann Clark, left, and her daughter, Jessica Clark, 35, lean to touch their foreheads as they share a funny moment talking about Jessicaís love of Bette Midler as they talk at the kithcen table in their Glen Mill, PA home. Joann Clark is 69 years old and her daughter, Jessica Clark, 35, lives with her in her over 55 community in Glen Mills, PA Joann Clark is worried about what will happen to her daughter after she is gone. MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer

GUESTS: RONNIE POLANECZKY, AUDREY (DEE) COCCIA & MAUREEN DEVANEY

Daily News columnist, RONNIE POLANECZKY, has been writing a series about aging parents of intellectual and developmental disabled adults. The series, called Falling off the Cliff, takes us through several stories of families who struggle with reporting incidents of incompetence or abuse from caregivers. Some families are having difficulty finding employment, housing and medical services for their disabled children. They also can have anxiety about what will happen to their children when they die. In this hour, we talk with Ronnie about her findings. We’re also joined by AUDREY (DEE) COCCIA and MAUREEN DEVANEY,co-founders and co-executive directors of Vision for EQuality, Inc., who have advocated for over 30 years for their own intellectual and developmental disabled adult children and many others.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.