Announcing:

NEW opportunity for children under age 18 who have a sibling with disabilities!

Be Your Best Scholarship

The Fox Valley Sibling Support Network is honored to announce the Be Your Best Scholarship.  The award covers tuition and equipment for training at Soto’s Martial Arts America.  The Be Your Best Foundation offers this opportunity to siblings in the Fox Valley area to help develop self-confidence and leadership through martial arts training. 

 To be eligible, a child must be under age 18, have a sibling with a disability, and not have had more than 30 days of previous martial arts training.  The deadline for application is July 31, 2009. Training begins in Fall 2009. 

Click here to download an application or click on BeYourBest to email a request for an application.

  Young Siblings

Christiana's story: At age 7, Christiana had already learned much about taking care of her four-year-old brother who had physical and cognitive disabilities. She had learned that he wasn't learning the skills to become independent like the sisters and brothers of her friends. One day as she was playing soccer with her brother and mom (she helped him balance in his walker and move his leg to kick the ball), she lifted her head and asked her mom, "When you and Daddy die, will I be taking care of Phillip?"

Most likely she will. It is estimated that over 60 percent of today's children who have a brother or sister with a disability expect to care for their sibling as adults, many caring for them in their own home at the expense of their own family and career goals. Advances in medical care have dramatically increased the life expectancies of people with disabilities so that most of these individuals will outlive their parents.

 For example, only half the children with Down syndrome born in 1968 survived past their first birthday. By 1997, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the median age of death had risen to 49 years. Together with state and federal support decreasing and waiting lists for services increasing, adult siblings will likely assume at least the financial, emotional and social responsibilities of their brother or sister, if not also their physical care and housing.


Acknowledging siblings' many unique opportunities is not to view their experience from Pollyanna's perspective--many of these benefits are hard-earned.

One method of addressing these concerns is to utilize models specifically designed for brothers and sisters of children with special needs. One model, Sibshops, was developed at the University of Washington's Child Development and Mental Retardation Center by Don Meyer, M.Ed., director of the Sibling Support Project.

The Sibling Support Project, located at headquarters of the Arc of the United States, provides training and technical assistance to agencies wishing to create peer support and education programs for brothers and sisters throughout the U.S. In addition to providing awareness training and developing awareness and curricular materials, the Sibling Support Project provides specific training on the Sibshop model.
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  Young sibs have a great time at SibDays of Summer 2007

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Fox Valley Sibling Support Network
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