October Screenings of "Rachel Is" by sibling Charlotte Glynn

Join us for a screening of Rachel is, by filmmaker and sibling Charlotte Glynn!

Manhattan: October 7, 6 p.m.
Anthology Film Archives (2nd Street and 2nd Ave.)
This screening will be followed by a brief discussion organized by YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities.

Westchester: October 14, 6 p.m.
The Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville
This screening will be followed by a discussion organized by the Westchester Arc.

Rachel is - an honest, heartbreaking and funny film about disability, family ties and the universal struggle for happiness.

In her feature directorial debut, Charlotte Glynn moves home to chronicle the last year of school for her sister, Rachel. Rachel has a developmental disability. Rachel is mysterious, funny, difficult and full of contradictions. Without the skills to comfortably inhabit adult life, and with limited services to help her develop them, Rachel and her family don’t know what she will do when she finishes school. Yet what Rachel longs for most is what most people her age want – greater independence – a seemingly impossible dream that is taking its toll on her family relationships.

Rachel is moves past the safety of political correctness and into the most intimate and honest moments in one family's life as a sibling searches to understand how her sister with a disability sees the world and how the world sees her.

www.rachelis.com

Sibling Leadership Network Response to the Passing of Senator Edward Kennedy

The following is a statement by Dr. Tamar Heller, Professor and Head of the Department of Disability and Human Development in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Heller is a member of the Steering Committee of the Sibling Leadership Network (SLN). For those of you who may not be aware, she and several siblings from the SLN met with Senator Kennedy at our first conference in 2007 and had a chance to talk to him about the importance of siblings to people with disabilities.

It is indeed a sad day with this country losing such a strong advocate for people with disabilities as Senator Kennedy. I treasure the time that I and a small group of us had the opportunity to meet with him in his office to discuss the needs and concerns of siblings of people with intellectual disabilities. As a brother of a sister with intellectual disabilities he expressed a passionate interest in the topic, emphasizing his commitment to addressing this issue and his interest in our nascent Sibling Leadership Network, which was having its first national meeting that week in DC. With his charm and glistening blue eyes, he graciously gave us his attention and beckoned his photographer to snap some pictures of us with him. I think we will all remember the excitement we felt at that meeting and mourn the loss of this great statesman.

-Tamar Heller, Ph.D.

Great Sibling Article

This article captures many aspects of the sibling experience and quotes some national experts - definitely check it out! http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Life_is_tough_when_sibling_has_disability.html

sibsNY.org Update

I am happy to report that we managed to update our still-new Web site http://sibsny.org to make it more comprehensive.

Many folks are writing in to inquire about services in their local areas, especially upstate. I encourage everyone who is looking to connect with or start sibling services in their local community to post on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sibsNYcommunity/ because people in your community are the best sources of information on local resources.

Moving Forward Statewide

It has been too long since my last post - where is the summer going and why is it movnig so fast?

As you can see from the photos below, our May 7 Sibling Day at the YAI Conference was wonderful. Don Meyer was an insightful, funny and fabulous presenter and we were thrilled to have him with us.

During our sibling day, in addition to the wonderful presentations, a number of siblings and professionals who work with siblings from across NY State met to discuss sibs' concerns, priorities, and needs for information and resources to help their brothers and sisters with disabilities enjoy the highest quality of life -- while enabling themselves to do the same. We identified five key areas of need:

• Outreach and training for young siblings (e.g. through Sibshops)
• Service system navigation
• Connecting with other siblings in person and online
• Future planning
• Advocacy

Moving forward, we hope to be able to connect with siblings and service providers across the state to create a comprehensive network of resources for siblings. If you are interested in being part of this, please let me know.

Sibling Support on TV Thursday May 28!

Don't miss a special episode of "A Place of Our Own" on your local PBS station on Thursday, May 28. The episode, "Supporting a Parent and Sibling of a Child with Special Needs" features Don Meyer, Director of the Sibling Support Project, and Sibshops. For more information and local listings, visit http://aplaceofourown.org/schedule.php.

"Thicker than Water" - Great New Collection of Sibling Essays!

I am so excited to share this great new collection of 39 essays written by adult siblings of individuals with developmental disabilities and edited by Don Meyer. It's called "Thicker than Water" and it incorporates a variety of perspectives on so many different topics pertaining to having a sibling with a disability. The authors (myself included, I have to confess) range in age, geographic location and background. No two voices are the same, which makes for a truly delightful read. I am learning so much about my co-contributors, many of whom I have met and now know in a whole different way, and about different takes on the sibling experience. Siblings, parents and professionals will enjoy this book and learn a lot. All proceeds benefit the Sibling Support Project and you can help even more by ordering through the Sibling Support Project store at Amazon. Read this and enjoy!