Living with a Child with Special Needs: The Effects on the Family In one’s childhood it is apparent that the immediate family members have a significant impact on the way a child grows up. The environment a child is raised in can and will affect him or her in many ways. Developing siblings learn from one another through everyday play and family activities. The interactions within a family provide many opportunities to acquire social, emotional, and behavioral skills (Conger, Stocker, McGuire, 2009). Sibling relationships, which play such a critical role in a child’s overall development, take on special significance when one of the siblings has a disability (Gallagher, Powell & Rhodes, 2006). Often, as children develop, they may choose behaviors they experienced at home, while others emulate the socialization in which they were so familiar. Regardless of how the socialization plays out, it is an influential factor in the way adults live. The relationship a child develops with his or her parents can serve as a model for subsequent relationship with siblings. Whiteman, Becerra, & Killoren (2009), found research to support that a theory of sibling influences: sibling social learning is directly linked to how siblings develop similar and different attributes, attitudes, and behaviors. These demonstrations that children perform for a sibling can provide them with the skills and habits necessary for participating in today’s society. However, many different circumstances can affect this performance in siblings. Factors include parent divorce, a loss of a family member and a child with a disability. (Conger, Stocker, McGuire, 2009). Siblings who have sisters or brothers with disabilities express a number of special concerns they have a... ... middle of paper ... ...Tuli, S., Krull, K., Lai, J., & ... Shenkman, E. (2013). The Relationships Between Fatigue, Quality of Life, and Family Impact Among Children With Special Health Care Needs. Journal Of Pediatric Psychology, 38(7), 722-731. Hutchins, B. (2013, November 4). Interview by S Pappas. An Adult Perspective: Concerns for a Special Needs Sibling. Pappas, L. (2013, November 2). Interview by S Pappas. Coping with a Child with Special Needs. Seligman, M & Darling, R. B. (2007). Ordinary Families, Special Children. NY:The Guilford Press. Varnet, T. (n.d.). Futures planning for families supporting adults with life-long disabilities . Retrieved from www.ici.umn.edu Whiteman, S. D., Becerra, J. M., & Killoren, S. E. (2009). Mechanisms of sibling socialization in normative family development. New Directions For Child & Adolescent Development, 2009(126), 29-43. doi:10.1002/cd.255
The comparison between siblings has become a universal problem over the past several decades, as implied in Peg Kehret’s elementary monologue, I’m NOT My Brother; I’m Me. Through Jonathan, Kehret expresses the valuable message to never judge people based on the characteristics of their siblings. As the oldest child in my family, I support Kehret’s message and additionally believe that every individual is different and hence, should not be judged or compared with their siblings, family members or friends.
Lavoie’s workshop provokes an emotional response. After viewing life through the eyes of a child with special needs, I cannot help but have a more significant understanding of what people, especially children with disabilities, must deal with every day, everywhere. During the many years that I have worked with children with various disabilities, I have encountered each of the topics discussed in Lavoie’s workshop and agree with the points he makes regarding children with disabilities. Particularly impacting the way I interact with my students are the topics concerning: anxiety, reading comprehension, and fairness.
He is perhaps the posterchild for stress. Stuck at a dead-end job, longing for freedom, but unable to do so because he is the main caregiver for his brother, he does a remarkable job of showing patience when dealing with a developmentally disabled person. However, as a stressed out individual, his relationships tend to suffer, as he is riddled with frustration and thinks very negatively about himself. As the primary caregiver for his younger sibling, this is to be expected. Caregivers of physically or mentally disabled family members are at risk for chronic stress. Spouses who care for a disabled partner are particularly vulnerable to a range of stress-related health threats, including influenza, depression, and heart disease. Caring for a spouse who has even minor disabilities can lead to severe stress (Harvey
Watanabe-Hammond, S. ( 1988). Blueprints from the past: A character work perspective on siblings and personality formation. In K. G.Lewis ( Ed.), Siblings in therapy: Life span and clinical issues New York: Norton.
Unfortunately, a lot of parents may have a difficult time accepting their child, and coping with their needs and the responsibilities. From the book “The Elephant in the Playroom,” some families dealt with depression and physical and mental deterioration of their health. These struggles were shown in the story by Laura Cichoracki. Laura’s son’s name was Patrick. Patrick was a 6-years-old boy with autism. “I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t showering regularly, I wasn’t sleeping well” (Brodey, p. 64). I also read the story told by Susan Marrash-Minnerly, which highlighted emotions that parents face. Susan also shed light on how wonderful children with special needs can be to a family, such as her ten-year-old third grader who had autism. Susan talked about how it was normal to feel angry at times, especially with the ups and downs a child’s disability may come with. “When I look back, I want to tell other parents that a child’s future is worth grieving over – but it’s not the end of the world” (Brodey, p. 75). After reading these stories, it became apparent to me that families who are raising kids with special needs, need support, kindness, and available resources. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by other moms who understood my pain…who could be supportive and emphatic.” (Brodey, p. 67). Overall, educators can use this kind of information that was shared in “The Elephant in the Playroom” about family systems and risk/resiliency by creating lines of open communication between families. This is to connect parents together that share similar struggles. By creating open communication is can allows for the teacher and parents to be on the same page when it comes to the issues affecting special needs students and
Family systems have been studied since psychologists began studying people and their behaviors. The family is a dynamic system—a self-organizing system that adapts itself to changes in its members and to changes in its environment (as cited in Sigelman & Rider, 2009). Allowing the focus of a family system to grow beyond the mother and child relationship did not happen overnight. For many years, there was no connection made between other members of the family and the developmental issues of the children involved.
Raising a child with a disability will have an impact, positive or negative, on the structure of a family system. Research concerning how various disabilities affect the family functions focuses primarily on the parents. Siblings are seldom included in the research, yet they can provide a stable, powerful developmental context for socioemotional development.
Their conclusion is that family dynamics have a key role in creating the context where sibling
This article was very interesting and there are a few key points that stand out. The author explained that it is important to be an advocate for your child by learning as much as you can about the disability that they have. Also, she mentioned that if a parent keeps on living in denial about the illness or disability, that this will never help the child or the parent. I also found it interesting when she spoke about support within the family as well as outside the family. Lastly, I thought it was important for her to mention the strain that a family with a disabled child will incur.
Living with a child with special needs can have profound effects on the entire family including the extended family members, siblings, parents, and the child with the special needs. It can affect all aspects of family functioning, since they have to be on the watch for the child. On the positive side, living with a child with special needs can expand horizons, develop family cohesion, increase the family members’ awareness of their inner strength, and promote connections to community groups. On the negative side, this child will need time, physical and emotional demands and financial cost in order to make the child’s life comfortable. However, the impacts will depend on the child’s condition, and its severity, as well as the emotional, physical, and the financial resources available to take care of the child.
What do you consider to be one of your greatest challenges in being a parent of a child with a severe disability?
Three objectives were set out for this qualitative study in assessing sibling relationships in families of children with and without learning disabilities. First, to determine whether the presence of a child with learning disabilities (LD), with and without reported behavior problem, impacts the psychological well-being and self-concept of his or her siblings compared to a child without LD. Second, to establish the quality of the sibling relationship and perceived sibling impact in families of children with LD. Third, to find out whether or not a child with LD was observed by parents to have a negative impact on the family in terms of emotional, physical, and/or social stress. Families were randomly selected and placed into four groups: LD
Donald Meyer and Patricia Vadasy. “Living with a Brother or a Sister with Special Needs.” The. Sibling Support Project -. Web.
The problem not only affects the family’s life but it also affects the child’s ability to learn and be productive at school. Children requires a lot of attention and love on a daily basis, however, having a child that has a disability requires extra attention and love because they are trying to understand the world through a different set of lens. This could become a problem especially if there are multiple children in the household. In often cases, the amount of attention that the parents give to the child in need obstruct the family dynamic because of the pa...
While my peers volunteer with the Special Olympics to gain experience with the differently abled, I live the event every day. My younger brother has severe Autism. Life with him carries a unique set of challenges and benefits that have shaped me. I have never known what it is like to live without the perspective gained by having a sibling with a disability. Empathy, resilience and maturity have been the key to maintaining a positive and fulfilling life. They are the characteristics that are giving direction to my future.