I remember volunteering for Special Olympics in high school and it was an experience that I took for granted at the time. I had fun, the kids were cool to hang out with, but when the event was over I didn't think about how me being a part of their day impacted my life. Now, having a child with special needs, I see the importance of these interactions. Not only for Sissy, but for her brother and "typical" kids like him. He talks about his little sister in a way I wish I could. He doesn't see what she can't do and feel sad about it, he sees what she can do and celebrates it with her. There are still those brother/sister moments when she has his toy and he wants it back, but to him, this is all "normal". He hasn't figured out that his other friends little sisters are miles ahead of Sissy developmentally, even though she is older than most of them. He says things like "when Sissy starts walking, she can..." and it makes me so proud to be his Mother. He doesn't understand odds and milestones and what if. He only knows what is going on right now.
I've been doing a little research on siblings of children with special needs and have found that siblings of children with special needs often develop empathy for others, dependability, and loyalty. I already see these qualities emerging in Brother. I've mentioned before that sometimes I feel like I expect so much more from him being the big brother to a little sister with special needs. I think this is ok though. Maybe all parents should expect more from their children in regards to seeing everyone fairly. Remember the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matthew 7:12)? Simple, but yet still a hard lesson to teach our children. Or maybe it's difficult because we never really learned the lesson ourselves?
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