The Power of Nurtured Sibling Relationships

In a recent article in the National Disability Outlook 2020 publication, Kate Strohm provided some wonderful insights in to both the unique relationship of siblings, and the work of the organisation of which she is a Director, Siblings Australia.

Few would argue with the premise upon which both these insights are based; being that sibling relationships can form a crucial part of a person’s development, within the wider context of the family itself.  Siblings have the potential to provide companionship, affect each other’s emotional development, inform each other’s identity development and to be there across a lifetime.  Of course, there is the potential for them to be uniquely complex relationships too.

The Siblings Australia Mission

When the dynamic of sibling relationship also includes a disability, there is the added potential for it to be even more complex and Siblings Australia, founded in 1999, was formed to help build awareness of the roles and needs of siblings in a bid to improve family relationships.  I know that much of our Lusio Family will include siblings within the mix, and I am sure that some reading this story will already know of Siblings Australia.  I don’t want to try and pretend to tell the Siblings Australia story better than Kate herself, so the link to it can be found here, with the article on Page 106 of the in browser PDF, and I strongly recommend reading it as it is a great one.

How the Lusio Family Can Be Involved

However, if you are short of time and it’s a subject close to you, I can tell you that Siblings Australia was awarded an Individual Capacity Building grant in 2020 by the NDIS to carry out their ‘Stronger Siblings Stronger Families’ project.  As a result they have been, and will continue to be, consulting with families and providers to gain feedback, via various means, and if any families within the Lusio Family are interested in exploring this avenue then they should connect with Siblings Australia, either via the website www.siblingsaustralia.org.au or by liking the Facebook page – here.