I wanted to piggy back on what Linny mentioned about the helpers that may come in help large families with special needs children.
I had 4 special needs kids (all bio preemies) but one in particular was so sick that we had nursing that ended up lasting for about 6 years! They were just like family and while I never asked them for anything, they would bathe 3 of the boys if they had to bathe one (it was more fun that way), start on dinner, change the diapers of another even though that wasn't their "patient", vacuumed, picked up toys, washed clothes, even walked them all down the street to the park so that hubby and I had a break. We still keep in contact with them and love them dearly. They were and still are part of our family.
So if they have therapists, nurses or other specialists that "adopt" the whole family and not just the child they were assigned to care for, then it can be a huge help (and a blessing)!
