Brothers, Sisters, and Special Needs

Children learn some of their earliest lessons about sharing, competition, and compromise through negotiations with their siblings. As early as age 3, children can recognize special problems their brother or sister has due to a developmental disability or chronic illness. "Brothers, sisters, and special needs" shows professionals and parents how they can help a child's understanding of disability or chronic illness develop in a healthy, adaptive direction during the preschool and elementary school years. This explicit curriculum and activity guide, designed especially for children ages 3 to 8, sets up a series of fun work-shops to help siblings get to know their own personal strengths, recognize positive characteristics of their handicapped brother or sister and other family members, and learn ways of coping constructively with stressful family events. "Brothers, sisters, and special needs" will be of interest to professionals, early interventionists, parents, social workers, psychologists, and pediatricians