Siblings of Children with Autism

It can't always be easy growing up as the sibling of a child with autism. Brothers and sisters can feel jealous of the extra time that parents spend with an autistic child, as well as guilty about their feelings, and afraid of the condition. On top of this, they could feel pressured by the extra demands placed on them, and resentful of them. Sandra L. Harris deals with the many ways siblings may react, and what can be done to help them.

This is a very straightforward book, sometimes even a little too basic and obvious. Divided into five sections, it deals with sibling relationships, how to explain autism to children, talking about feelings, finding time as a family, and helping children to play together. At the end of each chapter there are comments from parents about the topics that are covered.

Although this book is aimed at parents who have both autistic and normally developing offspring, the chapter on explaining autism to children will be useful to all parents of autistics. There will come a time when parents need to explain the condition to other children who are the same age as their child. Often we overestimate how much a child can take in, and this can lead to misunderstandings as well as guilt or fear. The author tackles the problems faced by different age groups of siblings as they struggle to understand and accept the behaviour of their brother or sister.

Chapter 3, Let's Talk: Helping Children Share Their Thoughts and Feelings, is a touch wishy-washy and patronising, as you might expect from a psychologist. How many people don't know that


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The final chapter suggests that siblings can help to teach an autistic child how to play, using simple behavioural techniques. There are limits, according to the age and ability of the child, and the author warns against giving children too much responsibility or allowing them to discipline the other child. This is followed by a brief and basic overview of how to give instructions, prompt, and give rewards, according to the principles of behavioural analysis.Although the theory of how it works is explained well enough, the author doesn't provide many detailed examples of activities which would work well in practice for siblings of various ages.

This is a slim volume that is very easy to read, but doesn't go into any great depth. It's somewhat useful if you have never considered these issues before, but too light on the whole and lacking in details.