Below are notes and emails from parents of participants--current and former!

Attending Sibshops once a month is proving to be one of the highlights in our daughter's life.  She loves having a place that is just for her where her feelings are validated and her friends understand and appreciate her empathy as well.  Thank you for creating such a safe and loving environment for our "normal" children!

Allison & Kinnon McDonell
parents to Chloe, 8 and Parker, 5, ASD

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We are so grateful to have this opportunity for our daughter.  Her brother has Down syndrome. She was three when he was born. There have been so many blessings that having a special needs brother have brought to our entire family, but there have also been a lot of sacrifices.  Her brother didn't walk until he was 41/2.  This meant there were so many activities we could not do easily as a family.  Many things were just easier to avoid.  Having something that is just for her - Sibshops - has given her a great sense of value and importance.  Her brother has therapies and dr. appointments, and surgeries, and this is something she can count on, look forward to, have fun, and just be around others who can relate!

Thanks you so much!
The Coe family!

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My son has participated in Sibshops for four years now.  We have been so grateful for this resource!  It is has been one of the few things that my son GETS to do because he has a sibling with a disability, as opposed to the many things he DOESN’T get to do because of his brother’s severe disability.  He always seems to have a lot of fun and I think he has really benefited from getting to spend times with other kids that are “in the same boat” as he is.  I can’t thank you enough for giving us this opportunity.

Nancy Rosenberg

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My 11-year-old daughter has a twin brother who has suffered from kidney disease since he was less than 20 months old.  First, my stepson, 7 years their senior, attended Sibshops in Seattle at Children’s Hospital until he was about 13 years old.

More recently, my daughter has attended.  She had been lobbying to participate since she was 3 or 4 and aware of what her brother was doing. I think she started when she was 6, maybe 5 with a dispensation to start a little early.  She is extremely happy to have a place all her own, which is separate from her twin brother and which earlier hosted her demi-deity big brother. 

Being a twin seems to have magnified the stress of her brother’s illness in worrisome ways. When we didn’t take her to clinic and hospital, she was furious about being excluded.  Then, when we included her more, she was overcome with worry about her brother.

Lately she has learned that she can hate the disease without losing her love for her buddy.  Sibshops has been extremely helpful in the process.  She seems to bond especially well with the facilitators, and loves the part about shopping for snacks at the cafeteria within her Sibshop budget.  Otherwise, she doesn’t choose to talk much about it, but always wants to attend, even at the cost of a friend’s birthday party, and keeps track of the bimonthly calendar.

I sincerely believe that the creation of Sibshops was the work of genius.  It is particularly strengthened by including facilitators who are sibs.

Joanne Lipson, Seattle, Washington

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Our daughter Frances, now 9, is in her fourth year (!) of participating in Sibshops Seattle.  Through all the changes and struggles, Sibshops has been there for her.  She always looks forward to each session – and prefers the 9.30 a.m. slot because she gets lunch!  And although she rarely gives much detail to the “so what did you guys talk about?” question, I know she is getting “filled up” with positive messages about herself and her life-role as a sister of a disabled brother.

It’s also been a comfort to her parents to be able to “delegate” one of the million (it seems) extras required of families living with disability. The need to offer Frances a place to learn from others who are in similar situations is something we would struggle to offer.  If it weren’t for Sibshops in fact it would I’m sure it would still be on the “to do” list.

So thank you Don – from all of us here at the Guetlich Household!

Mark, Ann, Hans and Frances!!

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Thank you, Don, for envisioning such an important haven for sibs.  We read about the Seattle Sibshop program while living overseas after our son was born.  Our daughters, now 10 and 9, are excited about their fourth year of Sibshop at Children's Hospital in Seattle.  They no longer feel alone in their experience.  I am reminded of the main reason we chose to return to our home country: so that ALL our children have access to the best care and resources. We feel very fortunate. THANKS, Don!

Jennifer and Brian Gabert
Federal Way, WA

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Don:

Where does the time go???

Congratulations from one of the (nearly) founding “Fathers” of the fathers group. When Elizabeth (Liz) was born 28 long years ago I had no clue as to what impact that event would have on our family. In our search for answers and guidance, we stumbled onto the fledgling group of newly minted fathers of infants who had what the medical profession labeled as a “mental handicap”. We had no idea what that meant or what it would demand from us as fathers and in a larger sense from our families.

As facilitator for the group – I to this day have no idea how you wound up in that role as you were not even a father at that time, much less the father of a special needs child – you provided a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak, by bringing us together if only for a few minutes on Saturday mornings to share experiences and conversation that ultimately helped each of us come to grips with the newly required change in course in our lives and for that of our families.

This camaraderie was occasionally broadened to include the whole family, which also aided in grounding us as fathers and establishing our direction.

Out of this experience came the concept for a place where the siblings of our special needs children could get together to share their experiences and feelings and to help them cope with their unique situation. This concept evolved into what we now know as a “Sibshop.”  Since I wasn’t invited to the Sibshop itself, I can only surmise the benefits my other daughter gleaned from this experience, but whether she knew (knows) it or not, I am confident that she gained an outlook from that experience that has made her more prepared to deal with her role as the big sister for Liz.

Keep up the good work and know that your efforts are appreciated by those whom you serve--as well as our immediate and extended families and the next generation that will ultimately have many of the same questions we had and need to know that others of their generation also have the same questions.

Once again, thanks for the commitment, effort and the energy you put in to do what you do.
 
Best Regards

Mike and Linda Muma and family

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I think the greatest gift to my daughter was the awareness that she was not alone and that there are so many other children who feel the way she does.  Sibshops validated her every time she attended, plus it was soooo much fun for her!  The projects and games were a treat.  She felt very understood.  Thank you doing this. Keep up the great work!
 
Noelle Bortfeld
Tacoma, WA

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