Emily Holl, director of the Sibling Support Project, will discuss “Siblings: Concerns, Opportunities and Effective Support Strategies” on Tuesday, Nov. 16, beginning at noon CT. Her online talk is sponsored by the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center.
Please register in advance for the virtual event.
The Sibling Support Project is a national program dedicated to the concerns of the siblings of people with special developmental, health and mental health concerns. Throughout their lives, siblings share many of the same concerns as parents of children with disabilities as well as issues that are uniquely theirs. Siblings typically experience these issues for longer than any other family member, as the sibling relationship can easily exceed 65 years.
Because of the important role siblings play in the lives of their brothers and sisters with special needs, supporting them can contribute to lasting positive outcomes for children with disabilities and their entire families. This session will explore siblings’ concerns and opportunities and effective support strategies for parents.
About the speaker
In addition to her role as director of the Sibling Support Project, Holl is a social worker, author, trainer and sibling. Since 2003, she has worked in the disability field and has facilitated workshops, trainings and groups for siblings, families and individuals with disabilities.
Holl earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Massachusetts, a master of fine arts from Columbia University and a master of social work from Hunter College at the City University of New York. Upon completion of her M.S.W., she was a social worker in New York City serving families of young children with disabilities.
She has served as a board member of the national Sibling Leadership Network, and she founded sibsNY, the New York state chapter of the SLN. Holl has written about her own sibling experiences in blogs, magazines and books, such as Thicker than Water. She was an author and a co-editor of The Sibling Survival Guide: Indispensable Information for Adult Brothers and Sisters of People with Disabilities, published by Woodbine House in 2014.
