People with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are born into families and influence family functioning both positively and negatively. One of the most enduring relationships a person with ASD will have is their relationship with a brother or sister. Services for people with ASD should provide effective support to families, which include brothers,…

Adult siblings of people with autism and a learning disability have hitherto been largely overlooked by research, policy and practice in the UK. As part of a qualitative study focussing on adult siblings, we met twelve people with autism plus severe learning disability with their brother or sister. Individually tailored resources were used to make…

Interest in sibling conflict prompted Avigail Ram and Hildy Ross to investigate how 32 sibling peers shared information with each other in order to reduce conflicts of interest. The investigators set up a situation in which they asked sibling pairs to divide a set of five toys. Half of the pairs were asked to share information to their brother or…

The parent of the child with autism is faced with many home management challenges, not the least of which is the achievement of intra-family harmony among siblings. Sibling rivalry occurs in all families. However, the presence of a child with autism may, in some instances, intensify this rivalry. In this article, the author provides tips for…

Cognitive and language skills of 39 siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) and 39 siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) at ages 4, 14, 24, 36, and 54 months were compared. Twelve of the 39 SIBS-A revealed a delay in cognition and/or language (including one child diagnosed with autism) compared to only two SIBS-TD. Developmental…