Having a Sibling that is Disabled

In bringing home our little one, one question we get asked is what about our other kids. To be honest I feel like this is a crazy question but at the same time I understand not many people have been close to a child with a severe special need. If you have not been close to a child with a sever special need you wouldn't understand.

I know from working with many special kiddos in the past that what it will do for my kids is teach them something beyond incredible that they couldn't learn any other way. They will soon learn a love like they have never know and so much more.

I was reading a blog this morning and I loved how they put it:

 A child with a disabled sibling is anything but typical. I have borrowed (and adopted) the term “typically developing child” from my good friend John Knight. It is clear and accurate language in the proper context. But the more time I spend with siblings in families touched by disability, the more I realize these kids are anything but typical (per se). I have watched in awe as siblings have stepped into difficult situations rivaling the heroic status of soldiers, firefighters and police officers. I have seen awkward, backward teenagers discover their extraordinary gift and calling as compassionate caregivers. And many times when I began to feel pity towards one of these typical siblings I have felt the faint nudge of the Lord scold me with, “Pay attention, I’m doing something incredible in the life of this child as I conform them into the image of my Son.”

No school, public or private, can teach the deep lessons of life like the school of disability. I can say without hesitation that my sons will be better men because of their relationship with their disabled brother. Living with Jake has not only prepared them for the worst of trials, it has equipped them with a profound sensitivity to recognize the intentional hand of God in the smallest, most unsuspecting, details of life.


What an extraordinary gift their brother has been!


These lessons are not even close to being exhaustive. They are ongoing and ever developing all around us. The desperate search and refreshing discovery of each nugget of wisdom brings strength to our family and equips us to be poured out into the lives of others.


If you are reading this and happen to be new to the community of disability, welcome to the family! It is a wonderful, glorious, breathtaking journey that will open your eyes to the most precious things in life as it draws you closer and closer to the most precious truth for eternity.

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