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IC Students Start Group for Siblings of Children with Disabilities
Attention in such families is frequently very heavily focused on the needs of the child with disabilities, and there is often a support structure for the parents. "I have always been struck by the thought that other children in these families might somehow get short-changed," says Twardowski. "After I read a book called Sibshops: Workshops for Siblings of Children with Special Needs by Donald Meyer and Patricia Vadasy, I thought a program for siblings would be excellent to bring to the Ithaca community." So, along with Alberts and Lovell, who were her Dana interns this summer, she started investigating ways to make it possible. They launched their series in September. The five-session programs, designed for children age 6 to 13, encompassed games, crafts, meal preparation, and educational components. The project was funded by Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca and the Rotary Club of Ithaca, with gifts in kind from many other businesses in the Ithaca area. "It’s exciting to see it up and running," says Twardowski. "We hope it will continue with the support of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance and these and other organizations and businesses." Photo by Mamta Popat/Courtesy of the Ithaca Journal |
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A. Ozolins, Ithaca College Office of Publications, 21. Mar. 2002
Here’s
a classic example of how higher education and community service can collaborate
effectively with the help of corporate sponsorship: assistant professor
of occupational therapy Donna Twardowski and her students Lauren Alberts
and Eliesha Lovell, seniors majoring in OT, have started a series of Saturday
morning "sibshops" for siblings of children with disabilities.
The idea behind the sessions came to them after they’d worked with children
with disabilities and their families and heard about success with similar
programs around the country.