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Siblings of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often play a large role in their brothers’ or sisters’ lives. Siblings can be teachers, models, and social partners, and, in later life, they can provide emotional, financial, and other functional support for the individual with ASD.
In order to maintain the health and well-being of both the sibling and the individual with ASD throughout these interactions across the lifespan, the siblings must have a positive relationship with each other. Although many individuals with ASD do have healthy relationships with their typically developing siblings, there are several aspects of ASD that may make it difficult for siblings to deal with. First, the social communication deficits of people with ASD may make it difficult for siblings to communicate with their brother or sister with ASD. Second, if the individual with ASD has a lot of behavior problems, such as aggression, then the...
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References and Reading
Dansby, R. A., Turns, B., Whiting, J. B., & Crane, J. (2018). A phenomenological content analysis of online support seeking by siblings of people with autism. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 29(3), 181–200.
Hastings, R. P., & Petalas, M. A. (2014). Self-reported behaviour problems and sibling relationship quality by siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder. Child: Care, Health and Development, 40(6), 833–839.
Pavlopoulou, G., & Dimitriou, D. (2019). ‘I don’t live with autism; I live with my sister’. Sisters’ accounts on growing up with their preverbal autistic siblings. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 88, 1–15.
Shivers, C. M., & McGregor, C. M. (2019). Brief Report: Sibling feelings toward their brother or sister with or without autism or intellectual disability. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(1), 404–409.
Shivers, C. M., et al. (2019). Functioning among typically developing siblings of individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analysis. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 22(2), 172–196.
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Shivers, C. (2020). Sibling Feelings About Their Brother or Sister with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102374-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102374-1
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