The Sibling SLAM Book
What it’s REALLY like to have a brother or sister with special needs
By Don Meyer, editor ~ 2005
Give teenagers a chance to say what’s on their minds and you might be surprised by what you hear. That’s exactly what Don Meyer, creator of Sibshops and author of Views from Our Shoes, did when he invited a group of 80 teenagers to come together from all over the United States and abroad. They talked openly about what it’s like to have a brother or sister with special needs.
Their unedited words are found in The Sibling Slam Book. This is a brutally honest look at the lives, experiences, and opinions of siblings who do not have disabilities but who have brothers or sisters with special needs.
Formatted like the slam books that are passed around in many junior high and high schools, this one poses a series of 50 personal questions along the lines of:
What should we know about you?
What do you tell your friends about your sib’s disability?
What’s the weirdest question you have ever been asked about your sib?
If you could change one thing about your sib (or your sib’s disability) what would it be?
What annoys you most about how people treat your sib?
The Sibling Slam Book doesn’t “slam” in the traditional sense of the word. The answers tone and point-of-view are all over the map. Some answers are assuredly positive, a few are strikingly negative, but most reflect the complex and conflicted mix of emotions that come with the territory.
Whether they read it cover to cover or sample it at random, teenagers will surely find common ground among these pages and reassurance that they are not alone.
It is a book that parents, friends, and counselors can feel confident recommending to any teenager with a brother or sister with a disability. It is also a book for parents, relatives and counselors to read to better understand these special relationships.
