You’re right, Mary Ellen! Other children can be great motivators!

I’ve found the same thing, Jennifer, that sibs love being “teachers!” I think you also make an important point about family preferences. Letting families know that it’s a-ok for sibs to be involved then letting them make the decision about how the visits work is very appropriate for family-centered services!

I do also have some parents that despite my assuring them that the older sibling(s) are fine, and encouraging the parent to allow them to stay and interact, I have also found that some families are more comfortable with the older sibling playing on the computer, with another family member, etc, as it is oftentimes the only time that the parent can focus on the youngest child one on one. Despite talking about involving the older sibling in visits, I think it’s also important that we realize that some families prefer it this way, and that we can work with that too….mentioning and talking about strategies that can be used during the week when the older sibling is there of course 🙂

Hey, we all have these stories! What’s important is what we learn from them, right? For one of my very first families, I actually brought an whole second toy bag for the older sibling, to keep him entertained. Yes, that’s 2 bags! Yeesh, I agree with the power of hindsight! Now I can imagine all of the learning opportunities I probably missed by not including both children in the intervention!