Concerns About Siblings - Part 1 

In the book "Sibshops: Workshops for Siblings of Children with Special Needs," Meyer & Vadasy describe several concerns that may be seen with siblings of children with disabilities.  The first concern that is addressed is overidentification.  Meyer & Vadasy state, "Overidentification occurs when a sibling wonders whether he or she shares-or will share-a sibling's problem or fate.  Frequently (but not always) irrational, these fears can be very real, especially to young children, who often indulge in "magical thinking" and who have an immature concept of contagion.  "Well, we all got strep throat," a sibling may wonder. "Why shouldn't we all catch cancer?"  Although younger children are more open about fears of catching a disease or acquiring a disability, Sourkes (1990) doubted that there are many siblings who haven't worried about acquiring their sibling's special needs."   

The authors go on to say that, "The risk of overidentification is one of the many reasons that brothers and sisters need accurate information about their siblings' disabilities and illnesses. Information that may be obvious to adults may not be obvious to children.  For instance, younger children need to know that they cannot "catch" their sibling's disability.....Siblings who are at higher risk for acquiring a disability or illness need to know what their chances are.  Usually their risk is much lower than they might imagine."  (pgs. 9-10)

Sibshops: Workshops for Siblings of Children with Special Needs.  Meyer, D. and Vadasy, P.  Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing. (2008).

Book of the Week: The Miller Method: Developing the Capacities of Children on the Autism Spectrum [electronic resource]/ Arnold Miller with Kristina Chretien. J. Kingsley. 2007.  

Here's the Table of Contents for this title:  

• What Makes the Miller Method Unique?
• Children as Victims or Masters of Their Systems
• Searching for Capacity
• Getting Started with the Miller Method
• Elevating the Special Child : Creating an Enhanced Reality
• Exploiting Systems to Develop Social Capacity
• Prelude to Communication / Kristina Chrétien
• Becoming a Child who Communicates
• Teaching the Child to Cope
• Teaching to Children's Reality
• Research and Applications of the Miller Method

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