Sibling Roles in Family-School Partnerships for Students With Disabilities During Transition Planning

Strong family-school partnerships are crucial throughout K-12 education as they enable the development and implementation of meaningful educational programs for students with disabilities. This is especially true during transition planning. In many families, youth with disabilities have siblings that are a core part of the family unit, are likely to have the longest relationships with their sibling with disabilities, and may take over supporter roles as parents age. However, siblings are frequently neglected members of family-school partnerships. Siblings of students with disabilities have many unique insights to offer, particularly during the transition planning. This article describes benefits of including siblings of students with disabilities in family-school partnerships and offers school professionals suggestions on how to include siblings during transition planning.