Dear Friends, An important part of our work at the Sibling Support Project is promoting awareness of the challenges and opportunities experienced by siblings of people with special developmental, health, and mental health concerns. One of the things we talk about when we discuss opportunities is tolerance. Siblings tend to meet people where they are, and to naturally welcome difference with openness and a genuine desire to connect and learn more. Too many siblings know what it feels like when others are not tolerant of difference, and marginalize, de-value, and dismiss their brothers and sisters with disabilities. There is lots of room for difference in the sibling community. However, there is absolutely no space for racism, hatred, or violence. This is where our tolerance ends. We are devastated and enraged by the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and by the countless other Black lives lost to police brutality, social injustice, and economic disparity. Our hearts and condolences go out to their families, loved ones, and communities. We are deeply saddened by the desperate unrest of our nation, and by our civic failure to recognize, respect and respond to the need for greater accountability, equity, and justice for people of color and all those who are marginalized and oppressed by structural racism and discrimination. We therefore stand in solidarity with people of color, particularly brothers, sisters and families in the Black community, and all others who speak out against the ignorance; fear; systemic, institutional, and individual racism; power imbalance and abuse; and blatant disregard for human life that have plagued our nation for too long. Our community of siblings and people who care about sibs is dynamic, vibrant, and strong because [...]

Dear Friends, Isolation is a familiar feeling and unfortunate reality for many siblings of people with special developmental, health and mental health concerns. In her book, “A Difference in the Family,” Helen Featherstone, the mother of a child significantly impacted by disabilities, recognizes the isolation of sibs. "In dealing with the wider world of friends, classmates and teachers,” she writes, typically developing siblings “can feel painfully different." Today, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, many of us feel isolated from our friends, extended family members, colleagues and communities. We feel the loss of the people, places, and routines that filled our daily lives. We are challenged to find new ways to learn, work, connect and play in an unpredictable environment. From Isolation to Community Our mission at the Sibling Support Project remains the same as when Don Meyer founded the program in 1990:  To provide brothers and sisters of people with disabilities opportunities for information, support, and connection with each other. Today, as a proud program of Kindering, we support siblings through more than 550 Sibshops across the U.S. and in 16 countries around the world. We publish books and articles, facilitate online groups for teens and adults, and promote understanding of siblings and how to support them through podcasts, webinars, workshops and trainings. At the heart of our work is the belief that siblings are special, too, and the knowledge that we are better together. Redefining Together The global COVID-19 pandemic now challenges all of us to redefine – and find new ways of – being together. Sibshops across the country and around the world that usually provide in-person gatherings that young siblings look forward to, sometimes for weeks, are innovating to connect. Creative facilitators from Boston to Buenos Aires are using [...]