Supporting siblings of children in special schools

If you work in a special school you may not see siblings very often, especially if the special school is a long way from their home. However, it is really important for siblings to be involved in their brother or sister's life, and they may not be getting support from any other agency. These are some of the things you can do to support them.

1. Talk to siblings and ask them about things at home. Find out if they need support or information with their family situation. Give families information about sibling groups and young carer groups near where the family live.
   
2. Give all siblings the opportunity to attend the school to find out more about it – for younger children it will be beneficial to let siblings have a go with some of the equipment or materials that their brother or sister can use – for example hydrotherapy pool, ball pool, hoist, wheelchairs, sensory room, toys, computers
   
3. Arrange for them to have a question time with doctor, teacher, physio, speech and language therapist, or psychologist to ask questions about their brother or sister’s disability, treatments, therapies, and medications
   
4. Put on some workshops for siblings on things like Makaton, understanding epilepsy, or on coping with challenging behaviour
   
5. Run a siblings’ group at the school – maybe join up with another service provider so that you have more siblings of a similar age attending
   
6. Run a parents workshop on supporting siblings
   
7. If you have a school website have a page dedicated to sibling issues and have some sibling stories on there too
   
8. If you have a school newsletter or magazine have a section for siblings – with siblings stories, information for siblings, local resources that may be useful to siblings such as sibling groups, young carer projects, clubs they can attend with their brother or sister, some easy to understand information about different types of disability – a different one each month for instance
   
9. Facilitate a meeting between family members including siblings, to help them make plans for the future