Siblings of people with disabilities find connections through Sibshops

Sibshops started in Seattle more than 40 years ago. Today they take place across the United States and around the world.

Anya remembers the first time she attended a Sibshop.

"I felt like I wasn't alone," says Anya, who is 13.

Anya has a sister named Elin who is 10. Elin likes horses, listening to music, and "Frozen 2." She also has multiple disabilities due to a 1Q44 chromosome deletion.

"Having a sibling with a disability can be a really isolating feeling sometimes, especially if you don't know the people that have gone through similar things," Anya says.

Sibshops provide community and support and Anya has been attending them since she was 7 years old. At her Sibshop, Anya meets and plays games with people going through similar experiences. They connect and talk about the daily joys and challenges of their sibling relationships.

The first Sibshop was an idea that came from University of Washington graduate student Don Meyer. Soon after, Meyer started the Sibling Support Project.

Emily Holl took over for Meyer as the director of the Sibling Support Project at Kindering in 2018. She says that research suggests that supporting siblings of people with disabilities when they are young increases the likelihood that they will remain involved in the lives of their siblings through adulthood.

Parents often have access to doctors and other professionals. Siblings, on the other hand, usually only have parents to provide information about a disability. Sibshops can fill that information gap by facilitating connection and creating space for children to learn about a disability while also playing games.

"That's one of the biggest parallels between parents and siblings is that need for information, to meet one another, to talk about the ups and downs of having a sibling with a disability, and then, I think most importantly, to have fun," Holl says.

For people who are looking for support or to connect with other siblings of people with disabilities, Holl recommends looking at the online forums SibNet, Sib20 and SibTeens.