Siblings

[Guest guest]

Meg - My daughter was about 6 1/2 when Crystal came along. She also had

the usual " hey look at me " attention bug... One tends to forget, but I have

some of it on videotape. It's strange to look back now, on videos that were

made BEFORE we knew anything was amiss with Crystal. She started having IS (

Infantile Spasms ) when she was about 4 1/2 mos. old. Sooo - Crys is pretty

little in these videos( between 2 & 4 mos. old ) . Still, she appears ( in

reflection ) to be at about the newborn level, developmentally. At that time,

I thought nothing of it. It had been quite awhile since I had a baby & I had

honestly forgotten how quickly they develope.

is alot like . She has her moments with Crystal. Sometimes she'll

play with her, sometimes not. ( she's 9 ) The same thing with my 2 older sons

( 14 & 12 ). As long as they're not involved in a game that Crystal will

disrupt, they usually play with her nicely.

That's about it. Just wanted to put my 2 cents in ( for what it's worth ) ...

Kiss the kids for me & mine....

Take care & God bless...

- mommy of Crystal Aquielle - 26 mos. old - BPP

[Guest guest]

Hi, everyone.

Teddy has one sibling, our daughter who is six.

Since was an only child for five years before

Teddy came onto the scene, she has had plenty of the

usual problems to adjusting to a sibling. She called

him " the attention hog " when he was much younger, and

I let her say this because I think it's important not

to stifle her feelings. doesn't talk about

Teddy's disabilities a lot, but sometimes she asks me

if he's going to walk or talk or eat. I always give

her the most honest answers I can. Sometimes

plays with her brother, sometimes she complains about

him, sometimes she ignores him. As someone else on

the list pointed out, her relationship with him is not

much different from that of " normal " siblings.

What worries me more than their relationship now, is

their relationship when they are adults. will

likely be the one to take responsbility for her

brother after Dan and I die. I can't bear to imagine

the burden this will be for her, financially and

emotionally. But who knows? Maybe Teddy will be more

independent than I envision right now.

I really sympathize with those of you whose siblings

have very troubled relationships with your PMG kids.

For sibs aged 8 and up, I recommend a great book

called " Views From Our Shoes. " It contains letters

written by siblings of children with disabilities, and

it could help to start a dialog at home. For younger

children, likes a picture book called " My

Brother " which also talks about what it's like

to have a sibling with a disability -- the good as

well as the bad. I got both of the books from

Amazon.com.

Take care, everyone.

Meg and Teddy, 16 mos, bilateral perisylvian PMG, and

cuter than words can say

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