Respite care benefits for children with disabilities

Overnight respite care made the world of a difference to the parents of a teenager with autism, though was a wrench to let him go at first, writes Helen O’Callaghan.

IT TOOK Nenagh parents John and Suzanne Clarke a long time to get their heads around sending their son, Stephen, for respite care.

The 15-year-old is profound on the autistic spectrum and for the longest time his parents saw him “almost like a six-month-old baby you couldn’t give to someone else”.