The Special Needs Sibling Podcast

14. Adverse Life Experiences and Going to Therapy

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Sometimes expectations are meant to be shattered, and other times expectations can make us feel worse in a situation than it really is. Feeling seen, heard, and understood is so important to siblings and yet we forget that, or maybe don't learn it until much later on in life.

Going through adversity has up sides, but there are also downsides too that can have long lasting effects. Talking to someone, whether in therapy or not, can be so helpful in just learning how to process information. Check out this conversation with Meghan to hear her story.


In this episode we talk about:

  • About Meghan’s family and brother with autism
  • Changing relationships over time
  • A little more back story with Meghan’s brother when he was younger
  • Making the adjustment from going to a more “normal” sibling relationship to more of a caretaking relationship
  • Meghan’s mom and how she interacted with Meghan and her brother
  • Meghan’s relationship with her brother now and how he inspired her current research and work
  • Expectations, diagnosis, and how our siblings interact now
  • The sneakiness of special needs kids
  • Charlene’s non verbal communication with her sister
  • Eye contact over video calls and talking over phones
  • Being the oldest sibling and what Meghan has learned in her research about it
  • Parentification and resentment
  • Charlene being involved in disability 
  • Siblings sharing their experiences and normalization of feelings
  • A conversation Meghan had with another sibling that changed her perspective
  • Feeling truly seen, heard, and understood
  • Feeling validated with other siblings because it’s lonely when people don’t understand
  • Resilience due to our siblings
  • It can be a negative experience for siblings and there could be trauma
  • As siblings we had (and continue to have) an adverse life experience, and it’s hard
  • Talking about it can be healing — go to therapy (wink wink nudge nudge)
  • Having things to share with your sibling and your family
  • Laughing at our siblings — if you know you know
  • Meghan’s encouragement to fellow siblings


    • - Check out the blog and contact Charlene here: https://thespecialneedssiblingpodcast.com/

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    Music by:

    • AlexGrohl from Pixabay
    • QubeSounds from Pixabay
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      The Special Needs Sibling PodcastBy The Special Needs Sibling Podcast