I found an article from October 2005 that discusses the research themes regarding the siblings of children with disabilities. This article summarizes the major themes in research related to this topic. According the article, before 1990 many researches thought having a sibling wtih a disability was damaging to the self-concept of siblings. Since 1990, most research has shown that there isn't a difference between siblings of children with Down Syndrome and those who do not have siblings with disabilities. A study by Burton and Parks (1994) showed that college-age students who were siblings of children with disabilities showed greater control than others. I think this comes from feeling a responsibilty towards their sibling growing up. These responsiblities may cause a child to become more mature in certain aspects of their life. Siblings generally have a positive and nurturing relationship with their siblings with disabilities according to most studies. Overall this article shows that there isn't a big difference between siblings of children with disabilities and siblings of children who do not have disabilities.
http://www.aaiddjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1352/0047-6765%282005%2943%5B339%3ASOCWDR%5D2.0.CO%3B2
Lindsey-
ReplyDeleteWow! The fact that the article shows there isn't a significant difference between siblings of children with disabilities surprises me! I can see the point that they do not know any different but I wonder if they take in to account: Are the siblings without the disability older or younger than the child with the disability? I would think this would effect their sibling relationship (knowing a different routine before having a sibling with disabilities). Just a thought.
Brooke