| Introduction | |
| Personal and Clinical Perspectives on Siblings of Developmentally Disabled Children and Adults | p. 1 |
| A Personal Story | p. 5 |
| What Research Tells Us about the Brothers and Sisters of Developmentally Disabled Children | p. 17 |
| How Common Are Families with a Developmentally Disabled Member? | p. 18 |
| The "Labeling" of People with Developmental Disabilities | p. 22 |
| The Meaning of Sibling Relationships | p. 24 |
| Factors Influencing Sibling Coping | p. 28 |
| Moving from Research to Individual Cases | p. 38 |
| A Family's Adjustment to a Developmentally Disabled Child | p. 39 |
| The Relationship between the Parents | p. 40 |
| Factors That Affect How Well Parents Raise Children Together | p. 42 |
| Other Parenting Stressors | p. 50 |
| Parental Age and Approaches to Child Rearing | p. 53 |
| Parental Denial and Its Relation to Social Support | p. 55 |
| Extended-Family Social Support and the Nonhandicapped Siblings | p. 57 |
| Parental Problems in Confronting the Disabled Child's Diagnosis | p. 58 |
| The Effects of Pointing the Finger of Blame | p. 62 |
| The Age of Recognition and the Age of Diagnosis | p. 64 |
| Explaining Developmental Disability to Nonhandicapped Siblings | p. 65 |
| Conclusions | p. 70 |
| Cultural, Religious, and Educational Factors Influencing Family Adjustment | p. 71 |
| Different Cultures and Different Attitudes toward the Developmentally Disabled | p. 72 |
| Mainstream Culture and Changing Attitudes toward Developmental Disabilities | p. 72 |
| Asian Families and Developmental Disabilities | p. 76 |
| Latino Families and Developmental Disabilities | p. 79 |
| African-American Families and Developmental Disabilities | p. 81 |
| Religion and How It Helps in Coping with a Disabled Child | p. 83 |
| A Parent's Level of Formal Education and Coping with a Disabled Child | p. 86 |
| Conclusions | p. 92 |
| Coping and Defending: Applying the Adult-Children-of-Alcoholics Model | p. 93 |
| The Adult-Children-of-Alcoholics (ACOA) Model | p. 94 |
| Maladaptive Coping in Families with a Developmentally Disabled Child | p. 105 |
| More Positive Coping | p. 112 |
| The Parentified Child | p. 113 |
| Defining Parentification | p. 113 |
| The Circumstances of Parentification | p. 114 |
| Taking Actions to Understand and Help the Parentified Child | p. 124 |
| Adolescent Backlash | p. 128 |
| Who Is at Risk of Becoming a Parentified Child? | p. 137 |
| Approaches to Coping | p. 133 |
| The Withdrawn Child | p. 137 |
| Who Is the Withdrawn Child? | p. 137 |
| The Roots of Withdrawn Behavior | p. 141 |
| Helping the Withdrawn Child to Feel Better | p. 142 |
| Difficulties Encountered at Home by the Withdrawn Child | p. 143 |
| Characteristics of the Withdrawn Child in Adolescence and Adulthood | p. 147 |
| Who Is at Risk of Becoming a Withdrawn Child? | p. 147 |
| Detecting Depression in the Withdrawn Child | p. 149 |
| Professional Help for a Withdrawn, Depressed Child | p. 154 |
| Conclusions | p. 154 |
| The Acting-Out Child | p. 157 |
| Acting-Out Behavior | p. 158 |
| Characteristics of the Acting-Out Child | p. 163 |
| Who Is at Risk of Becoming an Acting-Out Child? | p. 164 |
| Helping the Acting-Out Child | p. 166 |
| Conclusions | p. 169 |
| The Superachieving Child | p. 171 |
| Superachieving and Perfectionism | p. 171 |
| The Mental Age Gap | p. 173 |
| The Importance of Being Independent | p. 174 |
| The Need for a Separate Life Outside the Home | p. 177 |
| The Hero or Mascot of the Family | p. 178 |
| Intermittent Reinforcement of Achievements | p. 178 |
| Superachieving and Family Characteristics | p. 179 |
| Implications for the Adult Sibling | p. 180 |
| Promoting a Healthy Family Life | p. 183 |
| Adjustment to a Disabled Sibling as a Child and as an Adult | p. 183 |
| Stressors That Affect Family Functioning | p. 187 |
| Suggestions for Coping with Areas of Family Conflict | p. 190 |
| Problem-Solving Skills | p. 195 |
| Aids to Family Coping from Outside the Home | p. 199 |
| Residential Placement | p. 202 |
| Legal Aspects of Becoming Your Brother's Keeper | p. 205 |
| Responsibilities of an Adult Sibling | p. 205 |
| The Politics and Psychology of Public Services | p. 207 |
| Services for the Disabled and the Tax Revolt | p. 208 |
| Strategies for Gaining Access to Services | p. 210 |
| Legal and Financial Issues | p. 212 |
| Public Services for Disabled Persons | p. 217 |
| Strategies for Successful Advocacy | p. 220 |
| Afterword | p. 225 |
| Appendixes | |
| Discussion-Group and Support-Group Materials and Topics for Individual Consideration | p. 227 |
| The Mixing of Coping Styles: Adult Siblings--Individual or Group Exercise | p. 229 |
| Positive and Negative Connotations of Coping Styles: Adult Siblings--Group Discussion | p. 231 |
| Sibling Areas of Conflict: Adult Siblings--Questionnaire | p. 233 |
| Social Support and Family Resources Questionnaire: Adult Siblings or Parents--Individual and Group Exercise | p. 243 |
| Defenses and Negative Affects: Adult Siblings--Group or Individual Exercise | p. 249 |
| Adult Siblings: Parentified Child--Questionnaire | p. 251 |
| Adult Siblings: Withdrawn Child--Questionnaire | p. 257 |
| Adult Siblings: Acting-Out Child--Questionnaire | p. 261 |
| Adult Siblings: Superachieving Child--Questionnaire | p. 265 |
| Parent-Sibling Interaction: Parent Exercise | p. 269 |
| Children's Concept of Developmental Disabilities: Parent Exercise | p. 271 |
| Family Problem-Solving Approaches: Siblings and Parents--Home or Family Therapy Exercise | p. 273 |
| For Further Reading | p. 275 |
| Index | p. 279 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |
