January 'Ask the Experts' Info

[Guest guest]

Here's some background info submitted by our Experts scheduled for

January 8 thru 12th:

Siblings play an important role in the lives of their brother or

sister with a developmental disability. However, siblings have been

traditionally overlooked by parents, professionals and researchers

as a group with support needs. Tamar Heller, PhD, has a sister with

a DD and has been focusing much of her work on sibs. She is the

director of the Institute on Disability and Human Development at the

University of Illinois at Chicago. Also, as the director of the

Center on Aging with Developmental Disabilities, she is an expert in

family future planning and has recognized the importance of

including siblings in the future planning process. Kramer, MA,

is a doctoral candidate working with Tamar on sibling research and

future planning that includes siblings. has two brothers with

disabilities. Keiling is also working with Tamar on her

Masters thesis exploring the experience of siblings who have a

brother or sister with a disability. has a sister with a DD.

With Tamar's leadership, extensive research has been done with

siblings and two conferences have been held for siblings. Most

recently, they have been building a network of sibling leaders and

advocates across the United States called the Sibling Leadership

Network.

Tamar, and are happy to answer questions about the

following:

*Research that includes siblings

*Planning for the future with siblings

*The newly developed Sibling Leadership Network

*Resources for siblings and families