Amy Ward

Amy Ward and her family. The Wards moved to Arizona from Montana. They have five children; four have a disability.

Parenting is a tough job — and parents of children with disabilities often face additional hurdles. 

Amy Ward has five kids; four of them have disabilities. One has a physical disability, two have autism spectrum disorder and her youngest has a very rare intellectual disability. She reflected on what she wanted this Mother’s Day.

"We don't need pity, we need understanding," said Ward.

Especially when it comes to the mental health of family caregivers.

"We have to make sure that our brothers and sisters of our kiddos are doing good. We have to make sure mom and dad are doing good. And I think as a society, we fail at that level, we don't really offer a ton of support." 

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and she says families of children with disabilities became even more isolated, "because you had kids that were immunocompromised, there were just a lot of scared parents and so we didn't know how to react."

Ward has called this last year her year of mental health and wellness. She started talking to a counselor through Care 4 the Caregivers, which supports parents raising children with disabilities.