Ultimately, every individual will find themselves in a caregiving or care-receiving situation at some point in life. As a family caregiver, an individual's effort to support their loved one during difficult times leaves them in a laborious situation. A remarkable number of caregivers caring for a loved one suffering from an acute illness experience a sense of meaning, fulfillment, and profound emotional and psychological rewards. However, lifelong caregiving for a significant one diagnosed with a chronic illness or disability could be onerous. The current book chapter elucidates to the readers the lived experiences of family caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. The caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders go through a life-long caregiving process. Thus, this book chapter will attempt to illustrate narratives of primary caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and the paradigm shift they experienced during COVID-19. This research is a determined effort to ensure that the stories of these unsung heroes reach a wider audience.

Background Family interaction plays a pivotal role in the overall well-being of each member of a family unit. It is foreseeable that a family caring for an individual with a mental or physical health condition could experience negative family interactions for various reasons. Expressed emotion refers to the family environment based on the relatives’ interaction with the individual diagnosed with a specific illness. Expressed emotion in the families of a person with any form of mental condition could pose potential psychological distress and burden to family members, notably the primary caregivers. Purpose The current study intends to explore the expressed emotion of the primary caregivers toward children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). The association between expressed emotion, stress experienced by the caregiver, and the self-sufficiency of the child diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders was examined. Methods The Five-Minute Speech Sample (FMSS), Kingston Caregivers’ Stress Scale (KCSS), and Waisman Activities of Daily Living (WADL) were used to assess expressed emotion, stress, and a child’s self-sufficiency, respectively. The snowball sampling technique was adopted, and data were collected from 35 primary caregivers through telephonic interviews. A mixed-method research design was adopted, and the data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Results The findings reveal that there is a significant association between expressed emotion and caregivers’ stress, expressed emotion, and the child’s self-sufficiency and a significant relationship between the caregivers’ stress and the child’s self-sufficiency. The qualitative analysis suggests the influence of factors such as future concerns, family factors, and relationship strains contribute to expressed emotion. Conclusion It can be concluded that those primary caregivers who reported extreme caregivers’ stress and low self-sufficiency in their child exhibited high negative expressed emotion and diverse individual and systemic factors influenced the display of high expressed emotion within the family.