Say you’re a kid.
And your brother or sister has special medical circumstances, requiring extra attention from your mom and dad.
Which also means a whole lot of extra “watching out” from you, in school and on the playground.
Of course, you’re doing everything you can.
That’s even after your parents are gone and you’re out on your own, with kids of your own.
Might be nice, every once in a while, though, to hang with people who get that responsibility, wouldn’t it? You know: Since their families are exactly like yours.
WVU’s Center for Excellence in Disabilities has a virtual space where siblings of the same can do just that.
That’s why the “Sibshops” and “SibTeen” programs were created, said Courtney Ringstaff, who coordinates parent education outreach there.
Ringstaff is a licensed social worker, and before she joined the center, she traveled north-central West Virginia, serving foster care children and people with disabilities.
That’s why she was surprised there were no such sibling enrichment programs as the above in this part of Appalachia.
After all, she said, this is where families, more often than not, step up for their disabled family members — whether by becoming activists or skilled and knowledgeable caregivers themselves.
Many times, she said, it’s the siblings who do the emotional heavy lifting.
“They get a little lost,” Ringstaff said.
“They lose their identity,” she continued. “It’s like, ‘There’s so-and-so’s brother or sister.’”
Meanwhile, the Center for Excellence in Disabilities offers the only such programs of their kind in West Virginia, Ringstaff said.
Virtual gatherings for the both programs are ongoing and will run from October through December to close out the year. Visit https://cedwvu.org/families/siblings for full details.
Ringstaff stresses the above are neither therapy sessions — nor recruitment tools for caregivers.
While some games and activities are designed to spark dialogue, she said, still more are there just for fun.
“Kids can share their experiences,” she said.
“And they can know there are other kids out there just like them.”
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