I came across the following study while researching siblings of children with Down Syndrome:

http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1073&context=psych_honproj

This study further discussed the feelings, emotions, and attitudes of siblings of children with Down Syndrome. This article caused me to think more about the positive and negative aspects of being a sibling of a chld with any disability. For example, the siblings may feel that they have a great responsiblity to help take care of their sibling with a disability. I think this can be seen as a positive aspect or a negative aspect. Learning responsbility is an important part of childhood, but if I was a parent, I wouldn't want my child to feel burdened by their sibling because it cold strain their relationship with their sibling. The article states that it's unclear whether or not the responsiblities of having a brother or sister with Down Syndrome is a postive or negative thing. I think it's important for the siblings to be able to discuss how their feeling with their parents. This study also made me think about how the parents can affect the sibling of a child with Down Syndrome's outlook on the situation. If the parents aren't responsbile and helpful, the sibling may feel an extra responsibility to their brother or sister with a disability. In conclusion, the relationship between siblings is dependent on the family dynamic as a whole. I think how supportive the parents are directly effect how siblings ( with and without disabilities) interact with each other.