When people hear I have an autistic sibling, they always seem to jump straight to an apology… like I should feel sad that my brother has autism. Personally, I have never understood this. I love my brother more than life itself and he is the greatest person in my life. It’s hard to say whether … Continued
Shamini entered Poetry for Good, a national competition that ran in the Spring of 2021. Her piece ‘Risk Assessment: High’ was highly commended in the spoken word category. Many siblings will relate to this powerful and articulate poem, that highlights the unseen work of sibling carers during the pandemic. “I entered this competition because I … Continued
My brother Mike and I were born in the late 1960s. In our early years, we were very close as we were near in age. We grew up with an extended family of grandparents, aunts and uncles. We used to mimic TV programs of the time like Bonanza, we painted each other’s faces, we were … Continued
My parents were foster carers. In 1976 when I was 4, a baby boy named Paul was placed with us. I cannot remember a time before Paul and I grew up together as brothers. Paul has severe learning disabilities and autism. He communicates through rote behavior & echolalia learnt through his lifetime. In the ‘moment’ … Continued
Join us in celebrating National Siblings Day on 10th April – a global awareness day recognising brothers and sisters! This year our theme is #SiblingStrengths and we spoke to three brilliant siblings who told us more about theirs. What are your #SiblingStrengths? What strengths do you admire in other siblings? Be part of the conversation … Continued
The day my sister was born, I had no idea this tiny baby would become the most important person in the world to me. Nearly four decades later, we are soul mates. As children, we could be silly together but we were too different to enjoy the same things. That all changed when I took … Continued
Over the summer of 2021, many Covid-19 restrictions were lifted across the UK and many people returned to pre-covid activities. For some siblings, this wasn’t possible. Some continue to shield or take daily life extremely cautiously, in order to protect their clinically vulnerable brother or sister. Our shielding survey in August 2021 revealed the extent … Continued
We are Esther and Judith. We’re sisters to our brother, Jonathan, who is autistic and has a learning disability. He has a weekly routine of activities and supported training placements. In March, the café he works at closed, and the rest of his activities, including all social and sporting groups, were cancelled. This left Jonathan … Continued
My brother is in his 50s and lives semi-independently with the help of myself and carers. Before coronavirus was an issue, he spent his week doing activities at a local centre and enjoyed drumming and ballroom dancing lessons. My brother has anxiety and traits of autism, so these activities were great for helping him to … Continued
The impact of Covid has been huge. Probably not in such an obvious way as other people, but in ways that have had a cumulative effect on my disabled sister, myself and our parents. Our father is on the extremely vulnerable list, both parents are over-70, and my sister needs to shield for her own … Continued