Skip to main content

Special needs siblings - the real superheroes


Sometimes it's a bit hard to post, especially when you don't have something positive to post about. It's been a rough couple of weeks. I've decided to try to post something positive so here goes...


Special needs siblings - the real superheroes:

Here is a list of the most amazing qualities of a sibling of a child with special needs:

1. They just "get" their sibling - in a way no-one else does. They pick up on their siblings moods and know exactly how to handle it.
If their sibling is sad, they know how to cheer him up. If he is angry, they know how to calm him down, or how to dodge the hits and kicks.

2. They have a wicked sense of humor. Any sibling has to have a sense of humor to survive living with a special needs brother/sister. They see the comedy in situations that may not seem funny to any "normal" human being.
When your autistic child claps his hands very loudly in the restaurant and his brother joins in to spite the people giving his sibling dirty looks, you know your kid has a somewhat "off" sense of humor, just like you. And you're immensely proud of that.

3. Siblings of special needs kids have so much empathy, not just for their siblings, but for any individual that may not be "normal" in the conventional way. In one of Ruben's softball games, he was about to pitch to a boy, when said boy's insulin pump went off. Ruben knew exactly what it was and when he heard the boys bloodsugar was low he helped the boy to bring his bloodglucose back up. And even felt bad for striking him out (after the boys bloodglucose came back in normal range).

4. These amazing siblings also have fears that no child should have. Fears for their siblings future. Fear of their brother/sister dying. Fear of their parents dying and having no-one to care for their sibling.

5. But then they also have such selflessness and sense of responsibility that they offer to be their siblings caregiver when they are both adults.

These are just a few examples of the ways special needs siblings are superheroes.
Jacques truly has the best little big brother anyone could have.

Comments

  1. Yip. The siblings have a very unique perspective on life and love.

    Super lief vir daai groot Klein host ❤️❤️

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hobbies - sanity saving stuff!

 I haven't written anything in a while. Mostly because I've been keeping myself busy, quite productively I must say. I started a whatsapp group more than a year ago, where I sell items I find at thrift stores. I hit an emotional bump in the beginning of the year and stopped the group for a few months. After some self reflection, I started the group again, and it's been keeping me occupied. And thus away from sinking into depression again. Depression as a result of PTSD from special needs parenting. But I have posted about this before, and this post is about positivity and hope. So I won't be going into depressing subjects today. My whatsapp group's name is Interestingfinds. And that's exactly what I sell on the group. Treasures I find in thriftstores and similar stores. I also have a bidorbuy account where I sell similar items. But the whatsapp group has been really therapeutic. I get to interact with other people (electronically) and I have made quite a few fr

Our greatest fears came true for a friend of mine.

The third angel I had the privilege of knowing has passed away. And my heart breaks for all of the parents of the kids taken away so young. This is a pain I am not yet familiar with, but it is the pain I know that will hurt the most. This is the pain many special needs family's fear more than any diagnosis or treatment. The pain of saying goodbye to the person who formed you more than anything or anyone else ever could. And this special person formed the whole family dynamic. Everything revolved around their care. Vacations were planned around their needs. Their parents were absent for a lot of their siblings life. I fear for the time, just after the loved one will be taken, what will the sibling/s feel? How will they react? How will we react? I know there will be sadness, but what other emotions will be lurking around? Anger? Resentment? Maybe even a sense of relief? How will we deal with that? I think it's important to start dealing with these emotions wh

Embarrassing or infuriating?? Both.

This special needs journey has been entertaining. It has been scary. It has been educational. It has been down right depressing at times. It has been humerous. All of these emotions have been present for a while, and we experience most of them daily. It has also been embarrassing. But we got used to the dirty nappies at inoppertune times. We even got used to impolite stares and whispers. All of these moments have been embarrassing in a way, but we got over it and learned how to cope with them. We have recently begun to deal with issues that were not present before. It is embarrassing, but it also reminds me of how uninformed people can be. We attended my niece's birthday party and one of the moms told my sister that she was worried because my son would be attending. She was worried he would try something with one of the girls. Now, for those who don't know Jacques, that is just plain hilarious. It is funny because Jacques doesn't understand sexuality. And it is hilarious be