New report – “Lonely Lockdown. Life for siblings of disabled children in the UK”
Children and young people growing up with a disabled brother or sister often get less attention from parents and have more worries and responsibilities than their peers. Lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic has created further isolation and challenges for this group of children and young people. Our last survey in May 2020 told us that life had been tough for siblings, and ten months on, we wanted to understand how this latest lockdown had impacted on siblings' health and wellbeing. Many siblings have also become young carers for the first time. "Lonely Lockdown" is a collaboration with UCL family researcher Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou. Sincere thanks to all parents who took the time to share their views with us.
Key statistics revealed:
81% of parents said their sibling child’s mental health had worsened
43% of siblings were providing more care in lockdown
40% of young siblings were feeling isolated and missing support from family and friends
54% of parents said that respite or a break would have helped siblings cope
What parents said:
“It has been impossible to support my other children properly with schoolwork or even keep them safe. One of them suffered a near fatal accident as a result.”
“One class google meet a week! As the sibling of autistic child no support whatsoever, I tried to get one or both into school but couldn’t”
“No support offered at all despite announcing my sibling child’s brother was beginning another round of chemotherapy. They didn’t even reply to my email.”
“The siblings have missed out on support from me as their brother needs more help and they have never once complained.”
To read the full Lonely Lockdown report see here:
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10125424/
To view a recent Channel 4 news piece on how the pandemic has affected sibling Charlotte see here:
https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/313947050194848
Press release here:
Sibs Press Release – Lonely Lockdown 080421
To read our previous report Life in Lockdown, see here:
Sibs report – Life in Lockdown (2)