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In many countries, April 10th is Siblings Day – like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. As a researcher of siblings and disability, this makes it a nice day to reflect on my research field.
#NationalSiblingsDay2021 #ItsaSiblingThing #siblingsupport2021
#NationalSiblingsDay2021 #ItsaSiblingThing #siblingsupport2021
In 2016, I published a paper with John Kramer calling for more connections between sibling-disability research & disability studies. Back then, we saw barely any sibling-disability research beyond the medical model of disability & we wanted that to change. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687599.2015.1127212
And I’m pleased to say that even in the 5 years since we published that piece, that *has* begun to change and there are now more frequent critical takes on disability in sibling-disability research.
Some of the stand out pieces applying a disability studies and intersectional framework to siblings are these couple of papers led by Shaquinta Richardson https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2017.1351330 and https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2018.1555451
This one led by @mauldin_laura is another stand out, nicely combining theories on caregiving and from disability studies to analyse sibling care https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2018.1555451?casa_token=PSWtlwVggRIAAAAA%3AnXh56_j72u_Ho5ZYv6Ih9S8zy62R7ojlfnxG7TgaHvrnYr9roeb0LPZge4Eg_QgbbdDzlrdNhyQ
I’ve kept publishing on this too – this paper drawing on a disability studies’ version of embodiment and enactment theory is my favourite, used to analyse how siblings talk, act and feel about each other where disability is present in their relationship https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2018.1481016
And luckily there are also other disability studies takes within sibling-disability research now too. It’s exciting to see them develop. While still a small presence in the whole field, it’s starting to be a notable little group of new & much needed perspectives. So good to see!
Other exciting things are happening in sibling-disability research too. @JoPavlopoulou has led some great work using Photovoice with siblings. Not surprisingly, it has led to some lovely nuanced, humanistic insights https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2019.103556
@clkgibson and @JoPavlopoulou, as well as @helenries and @yonalunsky, have also (both with colleagues) kept the field up to date with really important research into the impacts of COVID-19 on siblings of people with disability. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10125424/ and https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12793
Meghan Burke and colleagues continue to broach new sibling-disability ground, including this piece on “siblings-in-law” https://meridian.allenpress.com/idd/article-abstract/58/5/361/445831/The-Sibling-in-Law-Understanding-an-Unknown-Member?redirectedFrom=fulltext&casa_token=iWVvG7QcYLwAAAAA:efgSWO8EKJp9Ib5JBxKwfNBV3-fT88U-gi1-lmpce9-HpJrRSnsy0XviIF0dhmATnaD_F-Y and this one, which remains one of the very few pieces I’ve seen on professionals’ attitudes to siblings https://meridian.allenpress.com/idd/article/55/2/72/2047/The-Perceptions-of-Professionals-Toward-Siblings
Finally, @HannaKovshoff, @KatieCebula and colleagues have done some excellent work introducing a thorough ecological framework for sibling-disability research – personally, I think it’s some of the best use of theory in the field https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40474-017-0110-5
@KristyMuir2 & I built on their work in this paper, where we combine ecological & systems thinking theory to identify how to change the system of influences on siblings where one has a disability, using leverage points to make change in their lives https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41285-020-00158-6
It’s satisfying to see sibling-disability research make these changes. It makes me proud of and excited about the field I am a part of.
Siblings with & without disabilities continue to need support for the challenges they experience. But the set of studies that I’ve linked to here change our view of what the challenges & solutions actually are – i.e. it’s not just about a medical model of disability.
Rather, the ways we understand disability & the systems of multiple societal influences around siblings all matter to what sibs experience. As we move towards a better understanding of this as a research field, maybe we’ll be able to make more change & improve more people’s lives
Also a shout out to @NeuroBrittany, an up-and-coming sibling-disability researcher - excited to see your publications join this list in the years to come :)
