Individuals with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) struggle most with social cues and interactions. This social deficit negatively impacts their ability to comprehend emotions, empathy, and develop and maintain meaningful relationships. Due to its unique lifetime duration, it is especially crucial for dyads that include an individual with ASD, as these individuals frequently require continuing family assistance due to deficiencies in adaptive functioning, or adaptive behaviour, that persist throughout the lifespan (Rosen et al., 2021). Thus, family, specifically siblings can act as the most available resource for developing social skills.
According to McHale et al. (2016), siblings can form profound and distinct understandings of one another due to their shared past, and they can stay steadfast in each other's lives throughout their lifetimes as sources of affection and apathy, rivalry and hostility, or security and support.
Ben-Itzchak et al. (2018), mentioned that the presence of an older sibling influences how well a younger sibling develops their cognitive talents, including their linguistic, intellectual, and theory of mind development. Being able to take lead and facilitate engagement in social activities like play and discourse, exposes children with ASD to different social contexts and varying emotions. Thus, Ben-Itzhcak et al., (2018), strongly believes in the benefit of having a sibling. Similarly, Rosen eat al. (2021), demonstrated through their study that individuals who had one or more siblings experienced an accelerated growth rate of adaptive behaviour trajectories. This suggests that siblings play a crucial role in both verbal and non-verbal social communication skills.
Despite the positive effects of having a sibling, there are also unfortunately some possible negative influences siblings can have too. For instance, McHale et al. (2016), suggested that although having a sibling can guide children with ASD through social cues like conflict resolution, siblings can also engage in a pattern of negatively reinforcing them too (e.g. giving in often). Enabling a child with ASD to continue behaving inappropriately without barring consequences or learning appropriate behaviour can reinforce undesirable behaviour. Hence, it is crucial to inform and encourage siblings to learn what are some behaviours they should or should not reinforce.
While research thus far has not concluded a strong stance on whether having a sibling is solely a positive for developing social skills, most studies do point towards that direction, so it is hopeful that siblings can aid the social growth for children with ASD.
References
Ben-Itzchak, E., Nachshon, N., & Zachor, D. A. (2018). Having siblings is associated with better social functioning in autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47(5), 921–931. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0473-z
McHale, S. M., Updegraff, K. A., & Feinberg, M. E. (2015). Siblings of youth with autism spectrum disorders: Theoretical perspectives on sibling relationships and individual adjustment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(2), 589–602. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2611-6
Rosen, N. E., McCauley, J. B., & Lord, C. (2021). Influence of siblings on adaptive behavior trajectories in autism spectrum disorder. Autism, 26(1), 135–145. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613211024096
Picture Reference
Annie Spratt from Pixabay, [Children walking on the road] [Photograph]
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