The Sibling Support Project of the Arc of the United States is pleased
to announce SibNet and SibKids.  SibNet and SibKids are the Internet's
only listservs for and about brothers and sisters of people with special
health, developmental, and emotional needs.

Both SibKids (for younger brothers and sisters) and SibNet (for older
siblings) allow brothers and sisters an opportunity to connect with
their peers from around the world.  Both listservs have members from the
US, Canada, Australia, England, Japan and elsewhere.  SibNet (started in
1996) and SibKids (started in 1997) are remarkably warm, thoughtful, and
informative communities where young and adult brothers and sisters share
information and discuss issues of common interest.

Anyone who has email can subscribe to SibKids and SibNet.  For a no-cost
subscription and to learn more about SibKids and SibNet, please visit
the Sibling Support Project's Web Page (see address below).  Finally, if
you have further questions about SibKids, SibNet, our Sibshops or the
work of the Sibling Support Project, please contact:

Don Meyer, Director
Sibling Support Project of the Arc of the United States
6512 23rd Ave NW
#213
Seattle, WA 98117
206-297-6368
donmeyer@siblingsupport.org
www.thearc.org/siblingsupport/
<http://www.seattlechildrens.org/sibsupp/>

_________________________________________

Workshops on Sibling Issues and Training on the Sibshop Model

The Sibling Support Project is pleased to announce that we are now
scheduling workshops for 2004.  Please share this announcement with
families you know and training directors, conference planners,
coordinators of family services from appropriate agencies.

Many agencies wisely value the families they serve and are committed to
providing family-centered care and services.  However, even the most
family-friendly agencies often overlook brothers and sisters.  Brothers
and sisters are too important to ignore, if for only these reasons:

*Siblings will be in the lives of family members with special needs
longer than anyone.  Brothers and sisters will be there after parents
are gone and special education services are a distant memory.  If they
are provided with support and information, they can help their sibs live
dignified lives from childhood to their senior years.

*Throughout their lives, brothers and sisters share many of the concerns
that parents of children with special needs experience, including
isolation, a need for information, guilt, concerns about the future, and
caregiving demands.  Brothers and sisters also face issues that are
uniquely theirs including resentment, peer issues, embarrassment, and
pressure to achieve.

*No classmate in an inclusive classroom will have a greater impact on
the social development of a child with a disability than brothers and
sisters will.  They will be their siblings' life-long "typically
developing role models."

The Sibling Support Project is the United States' only national project
dedicated to the concerns of brothers and sisters of people with special
health, developmental and mental health concerns.  We specialize in
providing lively, family-friendly, and highly rated workshops on sibling
(and father and grandparent!) issues to audiences of parents, service
providers, university staff and students, and siblings of all ages.

We've conducted workshops on sibling issues in all 50 states, Canada,
Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, and England and have helped establish over
200 replications of our award-winning
<http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?q=Sibshop*+%22Sib+shop%22+%22Sib
+shops%22&kl=XX&pg=q&Translate=on&search.x=31&search.y=16#Sibshop>
Sibshop program in eight countries.  Our books for families include
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1557661693/qid=981224290/sr=1-1/
ref=sc_b_1/107-8353851-4551735#Sibshops> Sibshops,
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0933149980/ref=sim_books/107-835
3851-4551735#Views from Our Shoes> Views from Our Shoes,
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0295975474/ref=sim_books/107-835
3851-4551735#View from Our Shoes> Living with a Brother or Sister with
Special Needs, and
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0933149689/ref=sim_books/107-835
3851-4551735#Uncommon Fathers> Uncommon Fathers.  And our work and
publications have been featured in newspapers (Washington Post, New York
Times), magazines (Exceptional Parent, Sesame Street Parent, Reader's
Digest), professional publications (JASH, Journal of Pediatric
Psychology, The American Academy of Pediatrics News), and television
(Brazelton on Parenting) across the United States.

We'd welcome an opportunity to present at your agency or your next
conference or training event.  We'll show you how parents and providers
can decrease siblings' concerns and increase their opportunities, how to
create "sibling friendly" services, and even how to start your own
Sibshop.

Addressing siblings' concerns benefits everyone: brothers, sisters,
parents, agencies, taxpayers and especially the family member who has
special needs.  In many important ways, brothers and sisters ARE the
future--and are too important to ignore.

If you would like to learn more about our workshops, seminars, and
keynotes please call or contact us by email and we'd be happy to send
you more information.  Our schedule is beginning to fill up, but we
still have openings.

Don Meyer, Director
Sibling Support Project of the Arc of the United States
6512 23rd Ave NW, #213
Seattle, WA 98117
206-297-6368
donmeyer@siblingsupport.org
www.thearc.org/siblingsupport/
our online training calendar: www.calsnet.net/sibshop