Member

Newcastle Carers has shared two cases with me. I will refer to them briefly and will not use real names. John is 12. He cares for his father who has a mental illness and has in the past made attempts on his life. His mother has epilepsy and he has a sibling who is being assessed for ADHD. John had problems when he moved from primary to secondary school and his parents decided to home-educate him. Both parents struggled to manage the children’s educational needs as a result of their own health needs. John was exposed to very challenging behaviour from his parents and got no break from their needs. The pressure to remain in the home was huge and John’s parents now rely on him for even more support. No 12 year-old should be expected to handle that.