What your other children without Down syndrome are thinking
What your other children without Down syndrome are thinking
Sibling Issues for Parents
Through a series of interactive exercises, parents will explore what questions, needs, and concerns are often raised by children who have a brother or sister with Down syndrome. Parents will come away with practical answers to commonly raised questions. This presentation draws upon Brian Skotko and Sue Levine’s publication in American Journal of Medical Genetics and their new book, Fasten Your Seatbelt: A Crash Course on Down Syndrome for Brothers and Sisters. This workshop is also available on YouTube and online for free.
Presenters
Dr Brian Skotko
Emma Campbell Endowed Chair on Down Syndrome
Director, Down Syndrome Program
Medical Geneticist, Massachusetts General Hospital Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Susan Levine
MA, CSW, is a co-founder and social worker at Family Resource Associates, Inc., a private, non-profit agency serving individuals with disabilities and their families in central New Jersey.
Biographies
Dr Brian Skotko
A Board-certified medical geneticist, Dr Skotko is the Emma Campbell Endowed Chair on Down Syndrome at Massachusetts General Hospital. As the Director of the hospital’s Down Syndrome Program, he has dedicated his professional energies toward children with cognitive and development disabilities. He co-authored the national award-winning books, Common Threads: Celebrating Life with Down Syndrome and Fasten Your Seatbelt: A Crash Course on Down Syndrome for Brothers and Sisters. He is a graduate of Duke University, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard Kennedy School, and he is currently an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr Skotko is a leader on clinical and translational research about Down syndrome. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The L.A. Times, NPR’s “On Point,” and ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Dr Skotko has a sister with Down syndrome and serves on the Honorary Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.
Susan Levine
Susan earned a BA degree in psychology from Bucknell University and an MA degree in Child Development and Family Relations from the University of Connecticut. Susan has spent her entire professional career working with children with disabilities and their families. She has conducted support programs for parents and siblings of children with differing abilities for the past 30 years. Among those programs, Susan has coordinated support groups specifically for parents of children with Down syndrome. She has presented on the needs of siblings at national and regional conferences on Down syndrome, spina bifida, and Rett syndrome, as well as for New Jersey school system parent groups. Additionally, she has written quarterly newsletters for brothers and sisters (For Siblings Only, for children aged 4-9, and Sibling Forum, for children aged 10 through teen) which are available on the web at the agency website www.frainc.org.
She also co-authored the book, Fasten Your Seatbelt: A Crash Course on Down Syndrome for Brothers and Sisters.
Theme: Siblings
Audience: Parents. Professionals and whānau are welcome.