Appendix 6: Siblings and peers
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As discussed in the introduction, the Look2Talk project found that siblings were keen to be involved and their involvement was highly motivating to the learner.
This appendix expands a little on our experiences. Much of what is discussed would apply both to older learners and to peer involvement.
Siblings can be fun, naughty, annoying – the list goes on! They therefore provide a wonderful source of conversation. After a particularly mad game banging balloons, one girl in the project requested her communication book and said...
...communicating quite clearly that she likes being silly with her brother!
Siblings offer a different style of play and communication for the learner than we do. All of the siblings muscled into the play scenarios at various times and in so doing, sometimes offered ideas that the learner went on to use themselves. They also give the learner a degree of independence and the parent / guardian a well-earned break!
VIDEO: Jake and his sister happily colour together with Jake in charge of the colours and Ella doing the colouring (this video was also shown at Stage One).
All the siblings in the project had their own existing ways of communicating with the learner. Often it was by offering choices. Allowing the learner a little more control over the conversation wasn’t easy for them and introducing them to reading eye-pointing necessitated the sibling changing how they responded. They also needed to learn to watch the learner’s eyes carefully.
VIDEO: Alex has drawn his own version of an eye pointing communication page for Sophie. Sophie patiently holds her eyes in position while he works out what she is looking at.
VIDEO: Milly’s brother is just learning to read her eye pointing. With Milly’s perseverance, he begins to get the idea.
While the project only worked with a few siblings so we should be wary of generalising too much, it did seem the sooner symbol communication was introduced, the more natural and fun it became.
VIDEO: Brandon is 18 months old and is having a fantastic time playing with Tamsin and his Mum.
In short, siblings often have to stand back as the child with complex needs has varying degrees of attention. It’s often not clear to them why they are excluded. One sibling in the project announced one day, “But you never come and play with just me!”
Involving them has only benefits. It sometimes makes things run a little less smoothly but always injects an element of fun, unpredictability and spontaneity. This in turn enriches communication in many ways.
