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Sibshop Memories from Participants
I went to some of the very first Sibshops at the EEU. I remember bouncing around the gym on bouncy balls, helping make pizza and listening to other kids talk about their sibs. There was one little girl who said her sibling was autistic. I remember thinking, "Artistic? That's not a disability, is it?" It was in the days before autism was a common diagnosis.
My mom tells me now that I was happiest and most well-adjusted in the days right after a Sibshop. They helped me get through some pretty challenging things in childhood. After I graduated from college, I Googled Sibshops and was thrilled to find they're still going. For the past four or five years, I've been a facilitator at a Seattle Sibshop, and I love it!
THANK YOU, DON.
Kris Gilroy Higginson
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Hi,
This is David Rosenberg. Sibshops has been really fun and I'm glad I did it. The best time I have had there was when we got to swim in the heated pool and we played basketball. Then we had pizza. It was really awesome.
David
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Hi Don!
Wow, this really brought back memories for me.
As an adult, a wife, now a mother, an adult family home provider for young adults with developmental disabilities, as well as a sibling to Toni, I really believe that my experience as a young person with Sibshops made a huge impression on who I am. It allowed me at a young age (7 I think) to know that I wasn’t alone and it helped me become confident about having a sibling with a disability. Many times when I meet a young family one of my first questions is to ask if the siblings are part of a Sibshop because that is how important I think it is. I am thankful for the work that you have done and feel blessed that I was part of the group.
My parents, Pat and Julie say hello :)
Here’s a link to my home: http://web.mac.com/amysummers
Amy Summers
Rose House
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I hope I'm in the right place -- to say a million thank yous, Don, for spearheading this fabulous network of networks that has spurred me -- to think about my situation, given me a forum to discuss the very difficult things that inevitably come along, allowed me to offer my two cents and engage in the energetic conversations that proliferate every day. In short, thank you for devoting your working life to bringing people together over one of the most important subjects there is, the problem and challenge, the sometimes joy, of caring for our siblings.
Bravo, Don!!
with much appreciation and gratitude,
Susan Hamovitch
Brooklyn, New York
