Hi all, I'm new to this board...

[amarantha]

Greetings,

I was wondering how many members here have siblings with autism? My older sister is 42 years old (though she looks like a 16 yr. old), she has the mentality of a 10 year old. I love her dearly & assist in her care (she lives with my mom and stepdad. Things have gotten difficult for her since she's also developed diabetes late last year. She is to fall into my care once my parents are gone. Is anyone else here facing similiar prospects w/their sibling? Sometimes I feel I can handle this...sometimes not. I am troubled by my doubts & feel terribly guilty about them. I just want to know if anyone there is in a similiar situation to mine...actually, any kind of feedback would be welcome.

[laurie]

[QUOTE=amarantha]Greetings,

I was wondering how many members here have siblings with autism? My older sister is 42 years old (though she looks like a 16 yr. old), she has the mentality of a 10 year old. I love her dearly & assist in her care (she lives with my mom and stepdad. Things have gotten difficult for her since she's also developed diabetes late last year. She is to fall into my care once my parents are gone. Is anyone else here facing similiar prospects w/their sibling? Sometimes I feel I can handle this...sometimes not. I am troubled by my doubts & feel terribly guilty about them. I just want to know if anyone there is in a similiar situation to mine...actually, any kind of feedback would be welcome.[/QUOTE]

[laurie]

welcome , i hope you can find some answers here,,,,, if nothing else you will find suport its a great forum goodluck

[AutMom]

Hello amarantha, This is a huge responsibility you're committing to - so try not to feel guilty about having doubts.


What about other supports for your sister?
Does she have a day program or staff to assist?
Is she on a waiting list for housing?
Is there an agency involved?
Do you already attend meetings?
If supports are lacking, maybe you can assist now in helping get some set up to make things easier and more secure in the future.

[amarantha]

Hi, thank u all for the kind responses...I'll try and answer your questions.

What about other supports for your sister?
--Support falls solely on immediate family members. When my other sister & her family moved away things have gotten more challenging (because of less support & assistance).

Does she have a day program or staff to assist?
--she attends a day program. we are still working on finding a personal assistant for her.

Is she on a waiting list for housing?
--She's not independent enough to live in housing. She has barely any speech, can't read nor write, which makes her very vulnerable. The last time we had her in a private facility she was sexually assaulted & contracted a venereal disease, as a result. I find it difficult to think of putting her in any group home.

Is there an agency involved?
--She has a case worker that assists us through the Regional Center of the East Bay.

Do you already attend meetings?
--No, I'm not aware of any support meetings for someone in my situation, at least not anywhere near my area (east bay, San Francisco).

[AutMom]

[QUOTE=amarantha]
Do you already attend meetings?
--No, I'm not aware of any support meetings for someone in my situation, at least not anywhere near my area (east bay, San Francisco).[/QUOTE]

Actually I meant meetings with the agency/people involved - Team meetings that your case worker would set up.
We have monthly meetings for my son.

[amarantha]

Oh, if you are refering to IEP meetings...yes, my sister's caseworker arranges meetings (about 2 per year or more depending on her needs). And I always meet with the people involved. I've been attending the meetings w/my mom for the past several years. I even have her caseworker's cellphone number and email address so I can contact her (which I've done a few times).