It was the primary purpose of this manuscript to identify conditions related to being a nonexcep-tional sibling with a brother or sister with mental retardation. Specific issues that nonexceptional siblings experience were discussed. General problems that nonexceptional siblings may manifest were delineated. An instructional unit special education teachers and parents may want to utilize to help nonexceptional siblings understand and cope with their brother or sister with mental retardation was described.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersonE. (1988). Siblings of mentally handi-capped children and their social relations: Re-search supplement. British Journal of Special Edu-cation, 15(1), 24–26.
2.
BensonG. T., & LindseyJ. D. (1984). Supporting handicapped children's nonexceptional siblings: A new and urgent role for professionals. Tech-niques, 1, 134–138.
3.
BensonG. T., & LindseyJ. D. (1989). Siblings of handicapped children: Implication for interven-tion. Manuscript submitted for publication.
4.
FarberB. (1959). Effects of a severely retarded child on family integration. Monographs of the So-ciety for Research in Child Development, 24, 2–7.
5.
GrossmanF. K. (1972). Brothers and sisters of re-tarded children: An exploratory study. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
6.
HaringN. G. (1982). Exceptional children and youth (3rd ed.). Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.
7.
LavineM. B. (1977). An exploratory study of the siblings of blind children. Journal of Visual Im-pairments and Blindness, 71, 102–107.
8.
LaweniusM. (1988). Relations within a family with a mentally handicapped child. International Journal of Special Education, 3(1), 89–96.
9.
MunsonS. (1978). Family structure and the fam-ily's general adaption to loss: Helping families deal with the death of a child. In SahlerO. (Ed.), The child and death. St. Louis: The C. V. Mosby Company.
10.
RowD. C., & ElamP. (1987). Sibling and mental illness: Heredity vs. environment. Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 19(3-4), 115–130.
11.
SeligmanM. (1982). Siblings of handicapped children. In SeligM. (Ed.), A guide to understanding and treating the family with a handicapped child. New York: Grune & Stratton.
12.
StewartD. A., BensonG. T., & LindseyJ. D. (1987). A unit plan for siblings of handicapped children. Teaching Exceptional Children, 19(3), 24–28.
13.
TravisG. (1976). Chronic illness in children. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
14.
WienerJ. (1970). Reaction of the family to the fatal illness of a child. In SchoenbergB., CarrA., PeretzD., and KutcherA. (Eds.), Loss and grief: Psychological management in medical practice. New York: Columbia University Press.
15.
ZetlinA. G. (1986). Mentally retarded adults and their siblings. American Journal of Mental Defi-ciency, 91, 217–225.
