THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF SIBLINGS OF PERSONS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Abstract

From a family system’s perspective, all family members are interconnected and interdependent (Minuchin, 1974). Families whose children have special needs are no exception. However, research and support programmes tend to focus on persons with special needs and their parents (Gottfried & McGene, 2013), often leaving out an important subsystem – the sibling. This study seeks to understand the lived experiences of siblings of persons with special needs, from their own frame of reference. Using an adaptation of the Model of Meaning Reconstruction by Gillies and Neimeyer (2006), siblings’ lives will be examined in terms of the disenfranchised grief they experience and the meaning making process they go through to cope with their losses. A total of 11 participants were recruited via convenience and snowball sampling. Each participant took part in an in-depth, open-ended qualitative interview. Results reflected that like bereaved individuals, participants do engage in a process of meaning reconstruction, which comprises sense making, benefit finding and identity change. Factors determining the degree of loss, as well as well factors affecting identity change were also investigated. These findings may have important implications for social work practice, as they shed light on the type of support which can be provided to persons with special needs, their siblings and their families.