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Taking Care of Everyone

Having a child with a disability or serious long term illness is enough of a challenge, but what about the other siblings? Are we paying enough attention to the entire family? Are we noticing changes but not really noticing?

When you and your entire family are faced with the long term treatments and the stress from the demand, we generally focus on the sick child and how we think that they will cope. They will cope because they have to but we want to make the transition as easy as possible since it could be years before this ordeal is over. What we may not be paying enough attention to is the other siblings. Even though they are not personally faced with the illness, they are faced with the survival, as well of the treatments and the family dynamics as a whole.

Are they still happy? Eating properly? Keeping up with their school work? These questions and many others are something very important that we need to pay attention to. Even the slightest change in behavior can give you a signal and a red flag for you to reach out for help. This help can be professional or within the family, with a relative jumping in to give advice and notice the predicament you are in. A professional, if that is the direction you go in, will evaluate the behavior and determine what direction you will need to take. Something I often speak about when I make appearances, “when one child or any family member is sick in the family, the entire family is sick”. Though it may be difficult at times, take the time to give each member of the family special attention, including yourself!