In her master's thesis, the author seeks to an answer of a research question ‘which aspects or concepts can explain the adolescent's experience of having a brother or sister with special needs’. She used the method of grounded theory in her research. Empirical data for the research were obtained through in-depth interviews conducted with siblings of adolescents who have experience with living in a family with a child with special needs. Through the process of open and axial coding, the author formed four main categories: family in the process of accepting a child with SN, family and social relations, sibling's experience of living in a family with a child with SN, sibling's aspect of a child with SN. She describes individual categories with the corresponding sub-categories, where she compares the experience of siblings in the case of a sibling relationship with a child with SN with existing research and theories that helps to understand their experience. In the study, she finds that siblings of children with SN face difficult emotions that affect the formation of their personality and overall development. She also finds that some siblings experience the relationship with a child with SN more easily, while others find it harder to cope with the challenges in their lives. An important finding of the author is that adolescent siblings generally do not yet have developed strategies that would allow them to cope with feelings of excessive responsibility, ageing attitude towards a sibling with SN, guilt, neglect and similar. Based on the insight into the experience of siblings, the author comes to the conclusion that the need to support siblings in families with a child with SN, based on their description of the experience, is so strong that it cannot be overlooked.
The master's thesis is a contribution to the transfer of knowledge related to the model of relational family therapy. The field of sibling relations in families with children with SN has been researched in Slovenia by several authors, but they do not focus on the depth of experience of siblings, which influences their development and the formation of later life. Results of empirical work provide important information to the population dealing with siblings of children with SN. Insight into the depth of the siblings' experience offers others opportunities to design and provide appropriate support and help in formulating strategies for coping with difficult feelings.
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