Sibshop Saturday

Working with kids has been something I've wanted to do for the longest time. I don't know when it started. I'm the oldest child in my family but it's Definitely Not my siblings who made me want to be around kids. (No offence guys!) Anywho, I looked up some volunteer opportunities in my area that involved working with children and I was lucky enough to find one thing!

Just last weekend, I volunteered for a "Sibshop" hosted by the Children's Therapy Service in Barrie this past weekend. This was the first ever "Sibshop", a workshop for children who have siblings with developmental disabilities, that they were holding. Our crew was quite small: just me, two high school student volunteers and the woman leading the session from the Children's Therapy Service. 10 children from ages 6-10 joined us for some games and group discussion that afternoon and it was lots of fun! I was literally playing games with children for an afternoon. =)

I'm happy that they thought to host this sort of workshop. Often times we focus on the well-being of children with disabilities, and we may not think/feel that we are in a position/have the resources to help the people around them. Whether it be the parents of these children, or their siblings and other close loved ones. I enjoyed having fun and playing games with the children but it was even more insightful to hear about their sibling dynamics and feelings they had about their siblings. Kids are very willing to share their thoughts and emotions once you've had fun with them! Some children warmed up to the group discussion quite quickly, while there were some that remained a tad shy throughout the session, but all of them were happy to participate and talk!

One activity was pulling a question/phrase out of an egg (that they got to keep if they wanted to. Kids dig free stuff... Who Doesn't?!), reading it out loud and sharing their response with the group. The children discussed their answers to phrases such as "A time that my sibling with a disability made me laugh/feel embarrassed/made me mad etc." or "If I could tell anyone one thing about my sibling with a disability it would be...". The issues and emotions that were brought up aren't that different from issues that we might have with our siblings or friends! I guess the main difference is that they need to frame their approach in resolving or reconciling the issue in a way that accommodates for their sibling's disability. It's hard to understand put oneself in another's shoe or find an avenue to express your complex feelings when you're just in grade one!! (It can definitely be hard for me to express my complex emotions sometimes, let alone a six year old!) All in all, I think these Sibshops are a great idea and definitely something that I can see OTs getting involved in! =)