Siblings Facing the "Real World"

On Monday, Dec. 24, 2007 Amy Lennard Goehner wrote the article "Autistic Kids: The Sibling Problem" describing the reality that autistic siblings face everyday with their siblings.(http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1698128-1,00.html). Autism is a development disorder that doesn't allow the child or person with the disorder to interact with others socially or in any way of communication, and can only do a certain limited amount of activities, has very few interests in other things, and has a repition of certain movements. This disorder is noticable the fisrt few years of life and the reason for which it occurrs is unkown. Goehner goes on and writes how the siblings of autism have to deal with their siblings in everyday type of situations and goes on to question and answers that normally come up with kids that have autism. Like how a parent should explain to the other siblings the disorder thier siblings have and how they should interact with one another to create less conflict, because the autsim kids can get aggressive or frustrated easily or may not play with thier other siblings at all. They should also explain that if they do take care of their disabled siblings that they are not the parents, espcially if they are younger because they are kids too and it's not up to them to be in charge of them that they still have thier childhood to live, but that once they become older and the situation has been talked about that they will beome the parents of their disabled sibling, but by then it would be completely up to the sibling to take on that responsiblity, but most do, according to the Autism Society of America. Also it is encouraged for the siblings of autism to attend sibworkshops to interact with other kids with the same problem to realize that they aren't the only ones who go through this and that in a way that what they fell like depression, sadness, and envy are normal, and that they shouldn't be ashamed of thier siblings because they are different, even though majority of the siblings will just laugh at the embarrising things thier siblings will do and will even defend them.

Clarification: Is having a autsim sibling anything you should be ashamed of?

Application: If you had an autism child as a sibling would you be any different than you are now?