Siblings of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

Defining features of An intellectual disability are deficits in intellectual functioning, meaning; problem solving, learning in an academic environment as well as life experiences, reasoning skills, social communication and so on. Daily life for individuals with an ID can be quite challenging, since depending on the severity of their disability simple tasks like getting dressed, maintaining hygiene or carrying a conversation can be a struggle. This is why it is crucial that these individuals have strong support systems, which are usually found in their immediate family, their parents and siblings. The struggle that parents go through emotionally, financially, and socially is often discussed because it is indeed difficult to raise someone with an intellectual disability but it can still be rewarding. However, a relatively underrepresented demographic that is overlooked by researchers and sometimes their parents are the typically developing siblings of those with intellectual disabilities. Typically developing siblings nearly always experience an increase in responsibility in regards to their sibling, essentially taking on the roll of another caregiver. It is also important to note that a child with an ID (depending on the severity) will require a lot of attention from their parents, and often times parents will get so consumed with the care of their ID child that they don’t give the appropriate amount of attention to their typically developing child. This can foster a variety of confusing feelings; jealousy, resentment, guilt, inferiority and so on. It is especially difficult for them because in many cases they do understand that their sibling does require more attention. Not to mention the added stress of worrying about their siblings disability and their limitations can cause feelings of anxiety. Based on this, there is reason to believe that due to the earlier mentioned factors that these individuals are at risk for negative psychological effects which is further explored throughout the following research.