Who is this for: Adult Siblings of Autistic People

Cost: Free

Booking: Support group for adult siblings of autistic people - Sibs

Sibs is the only UK charity for children and adults who are growing up with or have grown up with a disabled brother or sister. We provide information, support and training on sibling issues for adult siblings, young siblings, parents and professionals

Being a sibling to an autistic person can bring a whole range of experiences, feelings and complexity to your life that it can be hard for others to relate to. Connecting with others who just ‘get’ what sibling life is like can help you to feel more confident and less isolated in your sibling role.

Who can join this group?

The group mainly focuses on siblings of autistic people who are verbal and who might need support in some areas of life, but not others. That’s because this is a specific experience that differs from other disabilities or neurodivergent conditions.

All sessions take place online.

Today’s Topic - Mental Capacity is NOT a one size fits all label

A lot of decisions about our brothers’ and sisters’ care depend on whether to not they “have mental capacity” for making certain types of decisions.

In order to get a deputyship, guardianship, or controllership, for example, you have to show that someone cannot make financial and/or healthcare decisions for themself.

For our autistic brothers and sisters with ’spiky’ profiles, however, questions of what they do and do not have mental capacity for can be a much more complicated conversation.

Let’s chat about the difficulties getting social services, support staff, or our families to recognise where our sisters and brothers need support or lack capacity to make their own decisions — especially if they are able to do other things independently or they make important choices without a clear understanding of cause and effect.