The attitudes of typically-developing children towards participation with their siblings with severe speech and language disabilities

Abstract

Sibling relationships and the interaction within these relationships play a central role in children’s general development and will therefore impact on functional outcomes of children with severe speech and language disabilities. Siblings of children with disabilities have often felt excluded from family interactions, possibly causing negative attitudes towards participation with their siblings, in turn impacting negatively on the functional outcomes of their siblings with disabilities. The main aim of this research is to determine the attitudes of typically-developing children towards participation with their younger siblings with severe speech and language disabilities in four everyday life situations, namely: play (major life areas), communication, activities of daily living as part of domestic life and interpersonal relationships (time and responsibility issues). Twenty-seven older, typically-developing siblings of children with severe speech and language disabilities were selected to complete the measuring instrument (SAS). The results indicated that the participants held the most positive attitudes towards participation in play (major life areas) but that they held less positive attitudes towards communication participation and that they were least positive about participation in interpersonal relationships (time and responsibility issues). This study succeeded in documenting attitudes of siblings towards participating in four everyday life situations with their younger sibling. It is envisaged that these results will provide tentative guidelines for how activity-based interventions can best be structured to support both the child with a disability and their sibling. Copyright