Abstract

As siblings play an important role in one another’s cognitive, affective, behavioral, and social development, the sibling relationship is an important subsystem within the family unit. However, in families where one child has an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, the dynamics between family members may be different due to the associated deficits in communication. Therefore, the purpose of this mixed method study was to explore the perceptions of six typically developing children with a sibling with autism and their parents. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used for both parents and the typically developing child, which allowed for an in-depth investigation into the sibling relationship. Identification of major themes followed by
focused coding was conducted in order to capture the essence of what was said and to categorize the most frequent themes. Overall, both parents and typically developing children had positive and negative things to say about the relationship. Additionally, typically developing children seem to be at a loss for coping strategies that they consider helpful, perhaps due to their own poor emotional regulation skills. This study emphasizes the need to support typically developing children and their development, as well as parents. Parents also identified other themes beyond the sibling relationship such as the perceived poor quality of public services received, the school experience, and their reactions towards the diagnosis.