Getting consistent information from relatives

Encourage family members to give siblings consistent and accurate information about disability

Parents talk about different views about disability in different generations of their family and in different cultures. This can be especially so in relation to learning disability. Relatives may not have enough knowledge about disability or may not be able to accept that this is possible in their family. They may believe that learning disability can be 'grown out of' in time or may not see the full picture of a child they don't spend much time with.

Siblings get very confused when different family members say different things about disability. They may also get upset because close family are not able to understand what they are experiencing at home.

Things to try:

• Identify someone whom your relative has enormous respect for and who does have a good understanding of learning disability, or who can learn about it. Ask this person to be your ally and to explain the disability to your relative. This person could be a doctor, a religious or community leader, or an old trusted friend.
• Ask your relative to come with you to a parent support group meeting, to an event about disability by a local organisation, or to meet the teacher or other staff member at your child's school.
• See if you can get a DVD about a child with a similar disability and ask this relative to watch it with you. Sometimes TV programmes about disability can be very powerful in helping people understand.