Siblings and Disability: A Study on Social Attitudes toward Disabled Brothers and Sisters

The purpose of this study was the exploration of attitudes toward disabled brothers/sisters in 140 typically developed siblings (13-18 years) with brothers or sisters with Down syndrome (DS), autism (AUT), or intellectual disability (ID). Results showed that siblings of brothers/sisters with DS thought that they could “be entered into the world of work” and “achieve personal autonomy”; siblings of brothers/sisters with ID and AUT assumed that they could be “unfortunate persons”, “marginalized by other people”, and “putting a strain on the siblings”. Siblings of brothers/sisters with AUT considered that 1) they could be “incomprehensible individuals”, “persons with difficulty in social integration”, “a limit for their own family”, and “not leading a normal life”; 2) they felt “displeasure”, “anger”, and “personal fulfilment for the improvements achieved by disable people”; 3) inclusion at school is “a useful project but not always feasible” and “an experience feasible only in a special context”. In addition, siblings of brothers/sisters with AUT expressed more negative representation of self-concept than the others. These results suggest the necessity to realize supporting actions on the whole family for managing of disabled siblings