Why should we form groups of deafblind or multidisabled persons´

siblings?

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Every family has to face different problems in different moments of their lives

When parents face a disability in their daughter or son, their whole lives turns into a new direction

But brothers and sisters also go through many uncertainties in our lives

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My name is Julieta Picasso Cazón and these are my sisters: Fátima, with 37 years old and Pia, who is 30.

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Fátima is deafblind person and to build a relationship, to understand her and to understand myself as being her sister was a long path that just in adult life is beginning to develop

Not every sibiling needs to go through this path. But my history, my pain and my joy, and above everything, the love I have for my sister, led me to think about forming groups of deafblind sibilings

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In 2009 I travelled to Guatemala, where I met the Bonilla family and FUNDAL, with whom I

workedFirst meeting Second meeting

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That experience made me realize that:

Sharing between sibilings•Heals•Comforts•Strengthens•Relationship with our sibilings is consolidated

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Thanks to the Perkins International Program and the DB and MD persons´ parents association form Argentina the sibiling´s goups began to grow

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First Argentina Meeting of Siblings (2009)

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Achievements

• We consolidated quickly the group to begin working

• We shared easily personal experiences, expressing things that we like or dislike from our siblings, parents or family in general

• We have a plan of activities• We worked on a Blog• Some members are still

working together

Obstacles

The distance was a hindrance for mantaining the group working together

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I realized then that the path was going to be really long and hard

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New strategy

Make workshops to motivate and guide sibilings to form groups on their own.This way, we aim to create a network of integrated groups that can work in an autonomous way

The first members of this network are:

Provincia de Buenos Aires -Yolanda Ramos- Córdoba -Aurea Soza-

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Sibiling´s meetingJune 2012, Córdoba, Sullai

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How are we building the network?

• Proposals will be sent to each member of the group in Córdoba

• Continue with meetings in schools in Buenos Aires• Continue updating the Blog • Motivate each group to cultivate comunication via

Facebook.• Simultaneously, time we are developing the

meetings between siblings of FATIMA school´s pupils

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2009

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Since 2010, toghether with Silvia Sola (Psychologist), who works as a volunteer, we aim to develop a space of activities that works with more continuity

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2011

July December

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2012

September October• We will open FATIMA for

the siblings to invite them to share a day with the pupils and learn the activities and modes of comunication they developed

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One last proposal• Siblings from 0 to 9 years

old: develop more tools for communication to motivate conjoint activities

• Sibilings from 9 to 18: The same as the prevous group, adding activities that involve the exchange of experiences

• Sibilings from 18 and up: The same as the previous group, adding more complex affective exchanges (problems in relationships, differences with parents regarding siblilings, the future of our siblings,, etc.)

• There will be also activities with siblings of all ages

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¨ The brothers are united, because that is the law of the soul¨

Martín Fierro

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