Siblings: Raising A Son With Special Needs

I used to lay awake at night worrying about Willie's brothers and sister. What had he done to them? How had his presence and neediness and tantrums and basic existence shaped them, changed them, and even traumatized them? I read every book about the topic of raising siblings with a Special Need's brother. We participated in SibShops, a therapy support group. We talked about the elephant in the room endlessly. And then Willie moved out and they grew up and I forgot.

Until last night. I went to see this movie, a Documentary, called My Hero Brother:   http://www.myherobrother.org/ It was a loud reminder that when you have a brother with a disability, it does in fact change you. The movie was so authentic, as it didn't shy away from the harsh realities of this situation.  At one point, one of the sisters said that being born after her Down Syndrome brother was like being raised in a black hole.  She openly discussed how she used to hate him. It was this same sister who volunteered to hike the Himalayan Mountain Range with her brother with a group of others just like her. The love portrayed from this sister to her brother was breathtaking. The hope this movie gives, as is the Director's intention, is a gift that definitely keeps on giving. 

Another theme the Director Yonathan Nir, talked about after the movie was how isolated siblings of those with disabilities are. Yonathan says it is often a self-selection process. I noticed that phenomena once with one of my kids.  None of his sleep-away camp friends knew he had a Special Need's brother for several years. He made that choice. He went to this overnight camp to lose that part of himself.  I remember being dumbfounded by this. But thing is in the movie, these siblings found others who in fact also had a sib with a disability. Now they could share that bond with a whole group of peers. Their entire identities could be revealed.

Check out the trailer to My Hero Brother: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwrbgVrrSSU. And go see the movie. Share it with your kids. Share it with your Special Need's communities. Share it with with your schools. It is a gift you can give all your children. For after the trek to those mountains in India, each of these brothers and sisters, one with a disability and one with not, grew closer then they had ever imagined possible. That is HOPE wrapped up in a box, meticulously gift wrapped, and topped with the sparkliest bow imaginable.