Autism Siblings

I want to talk a little bit about the siblings of Autistic children. I often wonder how my oldest daughter feels about her brother. I wonder how much she realizes. I wonder if she ever feels like we spend more time with her brother. I don't want her to ever feel like she is being put on the back burner. So, to make sure that doesn't happen, we do several things.

First, we take our daughter on dates. We want her to always know and feel that she is special. My husband or I will take turns going to dinner and a movie with her. She loves this. This past Friday night, I took her to Soul Surfer. It was the perfect movie for her to see. While watching it she kept making comments like, "mom, if we do our best and never give up, anything is possible!" I'm so proud of my little girl. She is growing up so fast. As she gets older, it is so much fun to hang out with her. We love our dates.

We talk to our oldest daughter about how special she is. We remind her that she was our very first baby and how first babies are sooo special. Every night, I like to go into her bedroom and remind her why she is so special. I tell her how sweet, kind, smart, funny and beautiful she is. She usually adds, "I know mom. I'm amazing." She really is amazing and I'm glad she knows it.

Another thing I think is important is to educate the siblings. We've talked to our oldest daughter quite a bit about Autism. We explain to her what it is, what it means. We let her ask any questions she may have. I think this really helps her to better understand her brother. It also gives us a chance to talk about it as a family, which is nice.

Our other children are just 2 years old and 5 months old, so they are too young to get it...but our 2 year old loves playing with her big brother. She looks up to him. They laugh together, chase eachother, talk to eachother. They are buddies. I pray that friendship and love they have for eachother will continue as they grow.