siblings

Hello to everyone who's posted here.

My sister has autism (26 yrs, I am 28) and in the last few years I've become increasingly involved with supporting her, especially given the fact that her increasingly bad psoriatic arthritis has dealt her a double blow, and which I think is linked to the stress she experiences in daily life as someone with autism.

Being an (only) sibling can be extremely tough... and while it's great that autism seems to be getting a good deal of press at the moment and awareness is improving, I still think that there is a huge amount of work to do in improving our social systems to accommodate and understand the idiosynchrasies of people on the spectrum. (I say this with no judgement - whether neurotypical/neuro-untypical we view the world in our own way and cannot help this).

So being a sibling is difficult, I have increasingly come to realise, (though like you say, sybil, I love my sister more than anything and would never be without her) and I was wondering what kind of interest there might be for the formation of a siblings group in the London area. I would love to meet other siblings of people on the spectrum, hear about their experiences and share mine.

Incidentally, I am training as a counsellor and have been fortunate to be working with a therapist who has done a lot of work with ASD. I have learnt a great deal about how best to 'be' with someone on the spectrum (saying that, my experience has only been with my sister, and I certainly do not claim to have all the answers!) - how to help minimise anxiety, be supportive with communication and creative in problem-solving. I would love to share this with others and just as much hear others' experiences. If anyone is interested, please let me know, and we can discuss it further.

One final word - I think the very fact that we are all on here talking about our lovely siblings is fantastic - they need our support just as we all need ours, and it is a bit overwhelming for me to think of how much support there is available nowadays to help people experiencing difficult times (though happy ones allowed too!). I just don't think the same was available for my mum when my sister was diagnosed...

I look forward to hearing from anyone who's interested in the group, and if you happen to know anyone not on here that might, please do ask them to come and post.

With best wishes,

Jo

Hello to everyone who's posted here.

My sister has autism (26 yrs, I am 28) and in the last few years I've become increasingly involved with supporting her, especially given the fact that her increasingly bad psoriatic arthritis has dealt her a double blow, and which I think is linked to the stress she experiences in daily life as someone with autism.

Being an (only) sibling can be extremely tough... and while it's great that autism seems to be getting a good deal of press at the moment and awareness is improving, I still think that there is a huge amount of work to do in improving our social systems to accommodate and understand the idiosynchrasies of people on the spectrum. (I say this with no judgement - whether neurotypical/neuro-untypical we view the world in our own way and cannot help this).

So being a sibling is difficult, I have increasingly come to realise, (though like you say, sybil, I love my sister more than anything and would never be without her) and I was wondering what kind of interest there might be for the formation of a siblings group in the London area. I would love to meet other siblings of people on the spectrum, hear about their experiences and share mine.

Incidentally, I am training as a counsellor and have been fortunate to be working with a therapist who has done a lot of work with ASD. I have learnt a great deal about how best to 'be' with someone on the spectrum (saying that, my experience has only been with my sister, and I certainly do not claim to have all the answers!) - how to help minimise anxiety, be supportive with communication and creative in problem-solving. I would love to share this with others and just as much hear others' experiences. If anyone is interested, please let me know, and we can discuss it further.

One final word - I think the very fact that we are all on here talking about our lovely siblings is fantastic - they need our support just as we all need ours, and it is a bit overwhelming for me to think of how much support there is available nowadays to help people experiencing difficult times (though happy ones allowed too!). I just don't think the same was available for my mum when my sister was diagnosed...

I look forward to hearing from anyone who's interested in the group, and if you happen to know anyone not on here that might, please do ask them to come and post.

With best wishes,

Jo