Aging, Caregiving, and Disability Futurities: Challenging Policy Frameworks
摘要
Incorporating the experiences of elderly parents of adult children on the autism spectrum and psychosocial disability, this chapter attempts to understand issues pertaining to aging, disability, and care in the Indian context. In a sharply inequitable society, where the state is an absent presence with regard to services and welfare for persons with disability, this chapter explores how elderly parents/caregivers imagine a future for their disabled children. The central argument for this chapter stems from the authors’ long-term interactions with elderly parents of children on the autism spectrum and psychosocial disability. One of the questions that emerged during our conversations with parents and caregivers was “What after us?”. We discuss in detail three examples that address these issues of long-term care for disabled and aging persons: (1) In-depth interviews with an elderly parent of an autistic adult who is exploring an inclusive gated community that would accommodate the needs of elderly parents and disabled persons, (2) an in-depth interview with a parent of autistic and non-autistic children, (3) a case in which an elderly mother and daughter with psychosocial disability wrestle with issues of long-term care and assisted living. We use these examples to talk about the need for thinking about long-term care in contextual and intersectional ways and to enable conversations around disability futurities.