The Glass Siblings

This documentary explores the experiences of siblings who have a brother or sister with a moderate to severe intellectual disability. It features intimate discussions on their identity as a sibling, as well as challenges such as care-taking roles they’ve had to take on, public reactions to their disabled sibling, feelings of isolation, and worries about the future. This project was inspired by my own experience as a sibling of an older sister with Down syndrome. ‘Glass children’ is a term that has been used to refer to the siblings of people with a disability. The ‘glass’ metaphor depicts how we tend to see right through them and focus only on the person with the disability. When we speak of disability issues, the perspective of the typically developing sibling is often overlooked. This documentary has given ‘glass siblings’ a platform to reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings and I hope it becomes a resource of support for other siblings.