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Understanding the Siblings of Children With Disabilities

Understanding the Siblings of Children With Disabilities. Concerns Identified. Resentment Embarrassment Isolation Pressure Burden. Guilt Confusion Fear Anger Jealousy. Difficulties Experienced. Having their sleep disturbed and feeling tired at school.

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Understanding the Siblings of Children With Disabilities

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  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 sibling’s behavior in public. • Being teased or bullied at school.

  4. Questions Siblings Ask • 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? About their sibling:

  5. Questions Siblings Ask • What are my parents expectations? • How do I talk to my parents about my sibling? • Why don’t my parents spend more time with me? • What can I do to help/Why do I always have to help? About their parents:

  6. Questions Siblings Ask • How do I explain my sibling to my friends? • Why do kids always tease me? About themselves: • How should I feel about my sibling? • Why am I different than my sibling? About their friends:

  7. Questions Siblings Ask About the community: • Will I be responsible for my sibling when my parents die? • Does the presence of a disability affect my chances for having healthy children? • What happens in special education classes? • Will people accept him? About adulthood:

  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 • 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. Additional Findings

  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

  13. Questions Consider these two questions: • What are the family’s 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?

  17. Chapter 8 Family Life Cycle

  18. 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)

  20. 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

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