Critical Review

Seitzer B., Gary, Audrey Begun, Marsha Mailick Seitzer, Marty Wyngaarden Krauss. Adults With Mental Retardation and Their Aging Mothers: Impacts of siblings. Family Relations: Vol. 40, No. 3 (Jul., 1991), pp. 310-317
This article was about how the siblings of a child with disabilities turns out when they are older. Although a lot that was involved in this article was a bit off to me, I felt that the beginning had a lot of good information. The books that I had chosen all involved a tale from a child who was growing up with a sibling that had a disability. After reading these books I realized how much of an impact this must be on children. This article speaks out about a "normal" sibling relationship as being," longer duration than any other human relationship, more equal than any relationship, and the sibling role is ascribed, rather than achieved, and remains a part of an individual's identity." After reading this I thought of my relationship with my sister and noticed how depended we are upon each other and how much I need and cherish our relationship above any other. Then I read on to find out that, "When on of the siblings has mental retardation, however, the nature of the sibling relationship across life span is likely to be affected profoundly." Also, "some siblings of children with chronic handicapping conditions are at risk for emotional morbidity, at least during the early childhood and adolescent period." This article is basically saying that during childhood is when a child will be most affected by their disabled sibling. I think that this article did a very good job showing what the possible outcome of a sibling relationship can turn into if not taken care of in the early years. I also feel that it is important to do what is necessary to make sure that a sibling relationship does not come to this conclusion.
A few questions that came into my head, what would help keep the siblings from ending up with a strained relationship? How much would reading books like the ones I have chosen help? How much do the parents have to do with the outcome of the sibling's relationship?