Conversations about what it's like being a sibling are starting to gain more traction.  And sometimes we don't feel like talking about our feelings, but we want to hear about other people's experiences.  As we continue to venture into the world of siblings, the more conversations we start having around emotional support are just as important.  Take a listen to Ali's story in episode 15. 

In this episode we talk about:

About Ali’s family and 3 brothers with autism, and how they’re a good representation across the autism spectrum
Terms like “high functioning”, “low functioning”, “high needs”, etc
How people respond to our families
Stress levels and experiences we didn’t have growing up
Threshold when it comes to asking for help
Silence in the house and how that affects us
Ali’s book that she wrote (https://www.amazon.com/What-Are-You-Looking-At-ebook/dp/B0C1HPNH3D) to start a dialogue and glass children
Picking your battles and being reached out to
Generations of sibs and how they need support in different ways
Sibshops and hope for the future of how siblings are supported
Wanting to feel connected and validated
What can lead up to an identity crisis in a sibling
Messages that we internalize
Caregiving and our individual stories about how we feel about our siblings being in group homes so we can “have our own lives”
Going to therapy and how our feelings are evolving about our siblings and parents and ourselves
What it’s like to be in a time machine when we go back and visit our families
Charlene talks about her life time line starting with therapy till when she moved
Ali being in a full house of people all the time but yet nobody there just for her
Questioning if we just exist to help and serve other people
There is hope for us!  It just might take some time with the right people
Relationships, anger, frustration, loneliness, and other feelings
Internal and external battles 
Identifying feelings and therapy and hard work
We matter and deserve to be cared for
Having refreshing and real conversations
Ali’s encouragement to fellow siblings


Links

feelings wheel: https://cdn.gottman.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Gottman-Institute_The-Feeling-Wheel_v2.pdf


Check out the blog and contact Charlene here: https://thespecialneedssiblingpodcast.com/
Get episode updates directly to your inbox: https://www.thespecialneedssiblingpodcast.com/newsletter

Music by:

AlexGrohl from Pixabay
QubeSounds from Pixabay

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