Aging parents of disabled adults face the challenge of finding
replacement caretakers when they are forced to
relinquish that role. More than 60 % of 4.6 million people with developmental
disabilities in 2002 lived at home with family members, and one-fourth of
those family caregivers were 60 or older. Donald Tullis, 84, has been taking
care of his autistic son Tim, 50, by himself for five years. His wife was
diagnosed with Alzheimer's at that time and died a year later. This morning he
helps Tim walk down the icy steps from their Pittsburgh apartment to a van
that will take Tim to the Ross Center, a training center for developmentally
disabled adults.
