Understanding the Siblings of Children With Disabilities

1
Understanding the Siblings of Children With
Disabilities
2
Concerns Identified

• Resentment
• Embarrassment
• Isolation
• Pressure
• Burden

• Guilt
• Confusion
• Fear
• Anger
• Jealousy

3
Difficulties Experienced

• Having their sleep disturbed and feeling tired at
  school.
• Finding it hard to complete homework.
• Being embarrassed about their siblings behavior
  in public.
• Being teased or bullied at school.

4
Questions Siblings Ask
About their sibling

• What is the cause of the disability?
• Who are the people who work for us?
• Does my sibling have the same feelings I do?
• What will happen in the future?

5
Questions Siblings Ask
About their parents

• What are my parents expectations?
• How do I talk to my parents about my sibling?
• Why dont my parents spend more time with me?
• What can I do to help/Why do I always have to
  help?

6
Questions Siblings Ask
About themselves

• How should I feel about my sibling?
• Why am I different than my sibling?

About their friends

• How do I explain my sibling to my friends?
• Why do kids always tease me?

7
Questions Siblings Ask
About the community

• What happens in special education classes?
• Will people accept him?

About adulthood

• Will I be responsible for my sibling when my
  parents die?
• Does the presence of a disability affect my
  chances for having healthy children?

8
Literature Review
TBI

• Feel they have become more mature, enriched, and
  assertive after a sibling experiences a brain
  injury.
• Anger, frustration, resentment, and guilt have
  also been reported.
• 83 of children living with a sibling that has a
  brain injury experienced clinically significant
  levels of stress.

9
Literature Review
Autism

• Statements about their sibling with autism
  indicated a decrease in negative statements and
  an increase in positive statements after behavior
  training.

10
Literature Review
Additional Findings

• A direct prompting strategy was shown to increase
  interactions between children with disabilities
  and their typically developing siblings.
• Siblings of children with special needs are not
  described as an at-risk population.

11
How Teachers Can Help

• Reach out to these siblings.
• Provide opportunities to express their feelings.
• Encourage them to develop their own interests and
  identity.
• Educate other staff members.
• Host programs specifically for siblings.

12
Chapter 7

• Family Functions

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Questions

• Consider these two questions
• What are the familys and your appropriate
  priorities for achieving family balance in
  carrying out family functions?
• What cultural values and traditions influence
  these priorities?

14
Tasks

• Families have certain tasks to meet the needs of
  the family functions.
• These tasks often have cultural differences and
  expectations.
• Be aware of how the needs in each of eight
  categories are met for families.
• How does time enter into meeting family functions
  and what could schools do to address the time
  factor?

15
Categories of Family Functions

• Affection
• Self-esteem
• Spiritual
• Economics
• Daily care
• Socialization
• Recreation
• Education

16
Steps to take to build a reliable alliance around
each function

• Consider
• What can schools do to support families in the
  eight categories of family functions?
• How does a child with disabilities impact the
  family in each of the functions?

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Chapter 8

• Family Life Cycle

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Family System a Multilayered Complexity

• Every family is unique.
• Every family is an interactive system Anything
  that happens to one person reverberates
  throughout the whole family
• Every family is engaged in a variety of functions
  designed to fulfill a number of needs
• Family life cycle changes

19
Family Life Cycle Theory

• Seeks to explain how a family changes over time.
• Theory is that each family experiences certain
  predictable and stable stages.
• Transition-as the family moves from one stage to
  the next.
• Family has three life cycle stages (three
  generations)

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Life Cycle Stages

• Birth/Early Childhood/Childhood
• Adolescence
• Adult

21
Birth and Early Childhood

• Discovering and coming to terms with
  exceptionality
• Participation in early childhood services
• Impact of grief over the loss of the anticipated
  normal child

22
Childhood

• Developing a vision for the future
• Developing a perspective on the appropriateness
  of inclusion

23
Adolescence

• Sexuality Education
• Expanding self-determination and self-advocacy
  skills

24
Adulthood

• Identifying post-secondary educational programs
  and supports
• Accessing supported employment and supported
  living options