Sibling Roles in Family–School Partnerships for Students With Disabilities During Transition Planning

Abstract

Strong family–school partnerships are crucial throughout K–12 education as they enable the development and implementation of meaningful educational programs for students with disabilities. This is especially true during transition planning. In many families, youth with disabilities have siblings that are a core part of the family unit, are likely to have the longest relationships with their sibling with disabilities, and may take over supporter roles as parents age. However, siblings are frequently neglected members of family–school partnerships. Siblings of students with disabilities have many unique insights to offer, particularly during the transition planning. This article describes benefits of including siblings of students with disabilities in family–school partnerships and offers school professionals suggestions on how to include siblings during transition planning.

Keywords

siblings students with disabilities family–school partnerships transition planning

A high school special education teacher, Mr. Spencer, understands the importance of establishing strong family–school partnerships to support positive school and postschool outcomes for students with disabilities. He is always looking for ways to make his partnerships with families stronger and more creative. Sam, one of his students, is a sophomore. He is social, enjoys interacting with his peers, and wants to get a job where he can talk with people. He also has support needs in multiple domains of life associated with his diagnosis of intellectual disability. One area that Sam is currently receiving individualized supports is in the area of transition planning. Sam has participated in career interest inventories and job shadowing opportunities but is still struggling—as are many youth with and without disabilities—to narrow down the type of career he wants and the secondary and postsecondary education opportunities that might help him prepare for a career aligned with his goals. Sam has a sibling, David, who is a senior attending the same high school. When Mr. Spencer saw the two brothers smiling and talking to each other in the cafeteria one day, he wondered, “Why don’t I ask David if he has any suggestions about Sam’s career interests? I wonder if it would help if David joins our discussion about jobs in the community and about postsecondary education, since David is thinking about similar issues?”

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) defines transition services as a coordinated set of activities for students with disabilities that enable students to achieve postsecondary education, employment, or community participation goals. Transition services should be “based on the individual child’s needs, taking into account the child’s strengths, preferences, and interests” (IDEA, 34 CFR 300.43(a)). Moreover, systematic transition planning has been shown to have a positive impact on postschool outcomes for students with disabilities (Test et al., 2009). Therefore, engaging in meaningful and appropriate transition planning is essential. Transition assessments can inform postsecondary goals for students with disabilities during transition planning. And assessment information should be gathered from all stakeholders, including students with disabilities, their family members, teachers, and related service providers. This promotes understanding of the strengths, preferences, interests, and support needs of individual students with disabilities as IDEA mandates. Researchers have recommended that to enable effective transition planning, family involvement must be emphasized (Kellems & Morningstar, 2010). Teachers can use a variety of strategies to collect information to learn about students, their families, and their circumstances, and involve families as active participants of any transition process. Not only parents and guardians but also other family members, including siblings of students with disabilities, should be empowered to provide information for transition and to learn about transition-related topics and issues. However, rarely are siblings of students with disabilities asked to provide input, not only for transition assessments, but also for overall transition planning (Sibling Leadership Network, 2013). For example, Chambers, Hughes, and Carter (2004) attempted to examine perceptions of siblings toward their sister or brother with disabilities in transition planning, but found siblings were rarely involved in transition planning even though siblings reported valuing supporting postsecondary transition outcomes of their sister or brother with disabilities.

According to Family Systems Theory, siblings are considered a family subsystem and often carry out essential roles within a family (Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin, Soodak, & Shogren, 2015). Siblings can “offer valuable perspectives on how to include their brother or sister with a disability in school and other activities,” and they can act as “conduit of information between the school and their parents” (Turnbull et al., 2015, p. 44). Siblings often have the longest-lasting family relationships with their brothers or sisters with disabilities (Hodapp, Sanderson, Meskis, & Casale, 2017) and support overall growth and social-emotional development for their sister or brother with disabilities across the lifespan (McHale, Updegraff, & Feinberg, 2016). In later years, 60% of siblings expect to fulfill primary support provision roles (Sibling Leadership Network, 2013). Siblings’ participation in family–school partnerships has the potential to enhance overall understanding of family background and values as siblings share “a common family heritage, both genetically and experientially” (Seltzer, Greenberg, Orsmond, & Lounds, 2005, p. 354). Furthermore, as a closer age-peer, sibling can provide unique insight into culturally and contextually valued postschool outcomes. However, siblings are often neglected as information sources and excluded from family–school partnerships (Reynolds, St. John, & Gotto, 2012). Therefore, creating opportunities to include siblings as part of family–school partnerships is one of the important roles for school professionals. As siblings naturally think about the future and the ongoing quality of life for themselves and their sister or brother with disabilities, it is beneficial for siblings to participate in transition planning to learn how to negotiate the system and begin to advocate for a more inclusive postsecondary life for their sister or brother with disabilities (Turnbull et al., 2015).

However, there is a lack of experimental research showing effective interventions to empower families in the transition process (Rowe & Hirano, 2015). The research and practice literature on effectively engaging siblings is even more limited. For this reason, the purpose of this article is to provide suggestions and examples of ways to encourage siblings’ participation in family–school partnerships during transition planning for students with disabilities based on the principles of partnership (Turnbull et al., 2015) and the interdisciplinary research findings related to sibling relationships. Suggestions focus on Turnbull and colleagues’ seven principles of effective family-professional partnerships: (a) communication, (b) professional competence, (c) respect, (d) commitment, (e) equality, (f) advocacy, and (g) trust. These principles were identified in a series of focus groups with families (Blue-Banning, Summers, Frankland, Nelson, & Beegle, 2004) and provide a foundation for families and school professionals, especially special education teachers, to include siblings in partnerships.

Communication

Establishing effective communication requires being open, clear, and honest (Blue-Banning et al., 2004). Professionals who are effective communicators listen and provide meaningful information to families, taking into consideration what is said and how it is said (Turnbull et al., 2015). In the context of sibling participation, special educators can encourage sibling voices be heard by making efforts to learn about family beliefs and values regarding the extent of sibling participation. Student with disabilities should also be involved in making decisions about sibling participation, for example, students can be provided an opportunity to decide if it is all right for one or more of their siblings to participate in transition planning with the school and family. If the student with a disability and their family agree and are open to sibling participation in transition planning, teachers can also ask the family and student how much and in what ways they may want siblings to be involved in transition planning for students with disabilities. It is also important to discuss participation preferences directly with siblings. Siblings may have different preferences regarding their involvement with daily activities of their sister or brother with disabilities. It will also be important to think about reciprocal relationships and ensuring that siblings not only are engaging in helping relationships but also have space and support to focus on other typical sibling roles. Teachers need to be sensitive about siblings’ willingness to participate and the degree of their participation and focus on age and contextual factors that influence participation. In the beginning of the year, Mr. Spencer asked the Halls, if they wanted Sam’s siblings to participate to his transition planning activities. When the Halls told him about David being a good role model and emotional support to Sam, Mr. Spencer asked the parents what would be the best way to include him during Sam’s individualized education program (IEP) meetings and transition planning. The parents promised they would ask David about his preferences and get back to Mr. Spencer. They also promised to consider ways that Sam supported David and how Sam could be supported to engage in typical sibling roles.

Professional Competence

Competent special educators consider the whole child or family (Blue-Banning et al., 2004), appropriately provide supports and services for each student, and set high expectations for all (Turnbull et al., 2015). In the context of sibling participation, special educators use their skills and knowledge to focus on family and sibling’s strengths and interests so that siblings feel empowered with their participation. Teachers also look for ways to incorporate siblings’ strengths and preferences in ways that are meaningful for all members of the family. It is also important to make sure that sibling participation in family–school partnerships will be meaningful for both a student with disabilities and their siblings, and increase school performance/outcomes for all. Furthermore, teachers should ask for feedback from students with disabilities and their family members (including siblings), about outcomes of family–school partnerships when siblings have participated and should change how to include siblings accordingly. After learning about David’s preferences and confirming their appropriateness with Sam and Mr. and Mrs. Hall, Mr. Spencer planned for Sam’s next transition planning meeting. When Mr. Spencer sent an invitation and a short parent survey home, he also sent an age-appropriate survey for David (see Figure 1) to fill out to solicit his perspectives on Sam’s strengths, interests, and preferences. The survey included questions about short-term and long-term goals that David saw meaningful for Sam to achieve. David completed the survey, and it was returned to school with other documents that the parents filled out.

Figure 1.

Invitation letter and survey to siblings.

Respect

Recognizing the cultural context of sibling relationships through the life cycle gives a larger perspective for understanding individual needs (Watson & McGoldrick, 2011). Respectful special educators appreciate cultural diversity, value strengths, and positively interact with students and families, including siblings (Turnbull et al., 2015). Through effective communication with families, special educators can learn about strengths and cultural values, and embed them within students’ education. It is also crucial to recognize not only families’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds but also family structure (i.e., adoptive family, foster family, step family, single parent family, and lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, and queer parents) is part of family characteristics (McGuire & Shanahan, 2010). Furthermore, parenting styles can vary from household to household (Turnbull et al., 2015) and within households. However, siblings can offer different insights from parents because they share unique family history and characteristics with their brother or sister (Abrams, 2009). Siblings, given that they are closer in age and share more experiences in school and in the community, can provide useful insight. Special educators demonstrating respect also accept family preferences for participation. If siblings do not want to be involved in their sister or brother’s educational planning, special educators should respect such a wish and focus on other ways to build meaningful sibling relationships and supports. In this case, teachers can still acknowledge the valuable role of siblings by listening to students with disabilities talking about siblings or by greeting siblings in the hallway if in the same school. Upon confirming David’s agreement to participate in the transition planning meeting along with his parents and Sam, Mr. Spencer reached out to David via school email to thank him for his willingness to participate and let him know that his presence and input would be respected. He also told David that if he had questions or concerns, he would be happy to meet with him prior to the meeting, and asked where he would feel comfortable sitting at the meeting.

Commitment

Committed teachers are sensitive to emotional needs and translate this attitude into action by being available and accessible (Blue-Banning et al., 2004; Turnbull et al., 2015). In the context of sibling supports, special educators demonstrate their commitment to empowering siblings. Committed teachers make ongoing efforts to include siblings as appropriate and are sensitive to siblings’ emotional needs. Siblings might have different experiences related to having a sibling with a disability. Some siblings might experience some emotional toll as a sister or brother of a person with disabilities (Davis & Salkin, 2005) particularly if they witness their sister or brother being bullied since students with disabilities are more likely to be victims of bullying than students without disabilities (Blake, Lund, Zhou, Kwok, & Benz, 2012). Therefore, if necessary, teachers should seek out and share information on school and community resources with families that can provide various forms of emotional support for students with disabilities and their siblings. Other siblings may struggle with barriers to inclusive education and activities. However, other siblings may experience significant growth and reciprocal benefits from their relationship with their sibling with a disability. Therefore, it is important for teachers to understand the sibling relationship and sensitively respond to not only students with disabilities’ but also siblings’ emotional needs, have ongoing conversations with students about appreciating individual differences, and create a safe school environment for students with and without disabilities. Moreover, committed special education teachers can make continuous, ongoing efforts to involve siblings in partnerships based on their participation preferences, not just at IEP meetings or conference times. Communicating with siblings’ teachers for possible collaboration can be one way to start extending siblings’ involvement of school life for students with disabilities. Mr. Spencer contacted David’s history teacher to explain that David would miss the class period to participate in the Sam’s meeting. The history teacher was not aware that David was Sam’s sibling, so she appreciated that Mr. Spencer shared this information and made sure that David would not be marked as absent. This also created ongoing opportunities to educate David’s history teacher about inclusive education and the importance of integrating the experiences of people with disabilities throughout history lessons.

Equality

Teachers who are aware of equality collaborate with, share responsibilities with, and empower family members, including siblings. Siblings might be the youngest participants in the partnership; however, it is essential to treat them as equal members even as teachers make sure students with disabilities are at the center of transition planning. Communicating the plan to involve willing siblings to other team members, including school administrators, other special and general education teachers, and related service providers is crucial to create a welcoming atmosphere. Being creative and flexible when creating options for sibling participation is also essential so that they can contribute their input based on their readiness and preferences. Prior to the meeting, Mr. Spencer makes sure to introduce David to other team members and lets everyone know David is there to share his unique insights as Sam’s sibling and to contribute to the decision-making process. During the meeting, he created opportunities for David to share his insights by mentioning his survey responses and highlighting his unique perspective as an age-peer and sibling that understands the environmental demands that Sam faces.

Advocacy

One of the important roles of special educators is to advocate for the educational needs of students with disabilities with other professionals (Blue-Banning et al., 2004). Special educators can form alliances with all parties in the family–school partnership, including siblings, because establishing a strong circle of support around the student is part of professional commitment (Turnbull et al., 2015). In particular, one way for teachers to appropriately support sibling participation is to observe how students with disabilities interact with their siblings to discover strengths that their sibling relationships can bring to the family–school partnerships and focusing on supporting reciprocal sibling roles. For example, how does the sibling with disabilities positively impact their sibling without disabilities. Also, describing the unique contributions of siblings might be effective to set up a welcoming family–school partnership environment. Furthermore, siblings’ participation in the partnerships can be a means for siblings to become better advocates for their sister or brother with disabilities and themselves and strengthen the sibling relationship. Along with the importance of peer-mediated supports and interventions (Carter et al., 2016), it is critical to talk about how to facilitate active and meaningful participation of siblings in family–school partnerships, educational planning, academic and social interventions as advocates, and role-models. This planning should be discussed with individual students with disabilities and their families to brainstorm the best ways to welcome and engage siblings in the planning process. A focus on sibling relationships and supports can also be used to leverage more integration of disability related issues in the curriculum of all students, further enhancing the knowledge of all age-peers of disability as a form of diversity in the school context. One of David’s survey responses was that he thought Sam would want to go to college like David was planning upon his high school graduation because Sam showed a great interest and asked questions every time David went to a college tour. But David told the team that Sam was unsure if going to college was even an option for him, something Sam had not shared with anyone else. Although this was news to Sam’s parents and teachers, they asked Sam if he wanted to explore more about going to college, and he agreed. Therefore, the team decided to look into ways to support Sam to pursue this postsecondary goal.

Trust

Teachers build trust with students, families, and siblings through reliability, competence, and confidentiality (Blue-Banning et al., 2004; Turnbull et al., 2015). Trust is the cornerstone principle of the family–school partnership, and all other principles are dependent upon it (Turnbull et al., 2015). Special educators can garner trust from siblings by acting in the best interest of siblings, such as sharing resources that recognize siblings’ needs (e.g., Sibshops, Sibling Leadership Network). Sibshops are designed for siblings of sister or brother with disabilities to meet other siblings and receive peer support and education in a recreational setting (Meyer & Vadasy, 2007). Even if siblings do not participate in educational planning, teachers can provide resources and information for families and siblings related to postsecondary education, community living, and guardianship options and foster other means for siblings to interact around these issues. In addition, to embed family cultural values and preferences in education planning, teachers should identify unique preferences, beliefs, and values held by the family, including siblings. Through family–school partnerships that value cultural reciprocity, teachers can incorporate unique cultural preferences into transition planning. In doing so, special educators value diversity, promoting feelings of respect, equality, and trust. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Spencer thanked David for his contributions. He also shared information on a local Sibshop chapter with family because David showed an interest to get to know other siblings of his age to learn about other sibling relationships. Even after the meeting, Mr. Spencer uses ongoing communication with Sam’s family to prevent problems of misusing or overusing David’s willingness to participate. For example, he asked all the participating members, including Sam, David, and their parents what went well and what could have been improved. Overall, Sam’s family liked having each other’s support during the meeting, and David felt his participation was worthwhile and showed an interest to attend a meeting again.

When special educators like Mr. Spencer consider sibling relationships and take steps to support participation of siblings in family–school partnerships using Turnbull et al.’s (2015) principles of partnership, their efforts at partnerships will be enhanced. The insight that siblings bring to transition planning might open up educational teams to new and important information that enriches the team’s decision-making process and well as benefit the siblings with and without disabilities in their relationships. Moreover, considering that individual quality of life can affect family quality of life (Park et al., 2003), promoting siblings’ participation can enhance quality of life for the entire family. If siblings are empowered to participate in their siblings’ transition planning through family–school partnerships, siblings may be learning key skills to support the quality of life for their sister or brother with disabilities throughout the life course. Therefore, it is important to understand siblings’ preferences and interests related to the extent of their participation in educational planning, especially transition planning and create opportunities to include siblings in the family–school partnerships.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Mayumi Hagiwara

Karrie A. Shogren

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