rivka

Yeah, there's lots of data showing that social isolation is common among families with disabled children. It's partly because of burden-of-care issues or accessibility problems, but it's often also because parents don't want to expose their kids to other people's funny looks, or don't want to face questions. I know my mother often found it pretty grueling.

And yes, generally speaking, socially isolated parents tend to report higher stress levels and to be at greater risk of taking it out on their kids. Which is not to say that the majority of them do - it's just a risk factor.