What About Me?How do families cope with the stressful aspects of raising a developmentally disabled child? There are over a million mentally impaired children in the United States, and another million children suffering from physical disorders or sensory handicaps. In What About Me?: Growing Up with a Developmentally Disabled Sibling, Dr. Siegel, a highly regarded developmental psychologist, and Dr. Silverstein, a respected pediatrician, compassionately address the issue of living with a neurologically impaired sibling. They offer an incisive guide to the psyche of siblings who must assume difficult tasks and burdens, and approach their subject from a variety of perspectives, including a poignant first-person account by Dr. Silverstein, himself the older brother of an autistic sibling; a fascinating view from Dr. Siegel based on clinical interviews with over 1000 families of different ethnic and social and educational backgrounds and their approaches to handicaps; a compelling review of research on family factors and adjustments of the nonimpaired siblings; an analysis of family coping and defenses patterned on the Adult Children of Alcoholics model; and a helpful chapter for adult siblings on the legal aspects of becoming one's "brother's keeper". The authors also describe an interesting and clinically useful series of prototypical "roles" adopted by siblings in coping with a disabled brother or sister: the Parentified Child, the Withdrawn Child, the Acting-Out Child, and the Superachieving Child. To depict the psychological dynamics within the family, this book features vignettes of everyday situations that have presented problems caused by the inevitable adjustments and conflicts of living with adevelopmentally disabled child. There is also a helpful appendix of exercises for individuals, discussion groups, and parents of disabled children that explore the experiences of trying to cope with a handicapped child. What About Me? is a tremendously affecting book for siblings of disabled brothers or sisters, and for their parents, and a valuable resource for psychologists engaged in developmental or clinical study, teachers, social workers, marriage and family counselors, public health personnel, and psychotherapists. |
Other editions - View all
What About Me?: Growing Up With A Developmentally Disabled Sibling Bryna Siegel,Stuart Silverstein No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
able acting-out child adolescence adult siblings alcoholism altruism amniocentesis anger Asian Asian families autistic baby become behavior birth blame brother or sister brothers and sisters Chapter chil child's disability child's problems childhood clinic codependents cope couples cultural denial depression develop developmental disorder developmentally disabled child developmentally disabled children developmentally disabled sibling diagnosis difficult disabled brother discussed Down's syndrome dren educated parents emotional emotionally example expected experience factors family members family's father feel friends function genetic counselors girl growing handicapped brother handicapped child handicapped sibling ical Latino less lives Marc Marc's mentally retarded mother needs negative nondisabled siblings nonhandicapped siblings normal sibling older sibling parentified child parentified children Parentified siblings person physical pregnancy psychogenic disease realize relationship responsibility Rett's syndrome risk role sibling's Sometimes spina bifida stress stressor superachieving talk tend things tion understand usually withdrawn child xylophone