13. The Sibling Experience is Individual, a Balance, and a Process 474g2

Everyone's sibling experience is unique and individual and at the same time can be a great bonding experience with other siblings. There are so many pros and cons to living life as a sibling that we don't know how to vocalize our needs sometimes. It's definitely a process and a balance trying to hold everything together, but it takes time! And even then, it's still a unique experience to YOU. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Do what's best for you and when you do that, there's so much empowerment that comes with it. Take a listen to this conversation with Jasmine to hear her story. In this episode we talk about: About Jasmine’s family with multiple siblings with a variety of disabilities AND her very own family with a daughter who has down syndrome Jasmine being involved in disability ministry Going from being a sibling to someone with special needs to a mom to someone of special needs Being a parent to your children who are also special needs siblings Advocating for your kids with disabilities and teaching them to advocate for themselves How hard it is to vocalize the feelings we have as children and also voice our needs as adults The enneagram (just for a little bit) Not wanting to be told no when we ask or even realizing that we have needs that we need to have met The parental grieving process when a child is diagnosed with a disability Siblings also mourn or grieve things that have been impacted by disability The longest lasting relationship for a person with a disability is most likely going to be their sibling Siblings are a core component of families affected by disability  Talking openly about how your experience is changing as you, your sibling, and parents age Counseling is important to help you work through feelings and acknowledge the hard things Diversity of the sibling experience, that may even have things that are not related to disability Being able to connect with other sibs even when our individual experiences can be very different Feeling safe with other sibs and laughing at jokes How we feel when we’re connected to other siblings Being able to hold both the good and the bad parts of the process and both things can be true Taking action on prioritizing yourself Sibnet on Facebook (https://sibling.org/connect/sibnet/), instagram, and a community of varied experiences might can even help us identify things in our own journey Empathy and feeling lonely as a sibling Taking the time to be alone to feel our feelings when they’re hard How we communicate with our partners when navigating our feelings when we share them Third-culture-kids and typical siblings in Jasmine’s family It’s complicated Jasmine’s encouragement to fellow siblings - Check out the blog and Charlene here: https://thespecialneedssiblingpodcast.com/ - Get episode updates directly to your inbox: ⁠https://www.thespecialneedssiblingpodcast.com/newsletter⁠ - the podcast on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thespecialneedssiblingpodcast Music by: AlexGrohl from Pixabay QubeSounds from Pixabay 2w1f1g