Holding a symposium to support troubled “siblings” Utsunomiya

Did you know that people who have siblings who are sick or disabled are referred to as “siblings”?

A symposium was held in Utsunomiya City to expand support for troubled "siblings".

Do you know "Kyoudai"?

"Siblings" who have siblings who are sick or have disabilities, from an early age, their parents are busy taking care of their sick siblings, and they feel lonely because they can't pay attention to themselves. You may have unique worries, such as feeling embarrassed by the gaze of others.

I can't confirm the incident...

In order to expand support for these "siblings", a symposium was held in Utsunomiya City on the 19th, and about 70 people, including those involved and supporters, participated and reported on the movement of support in Tochigi Prefecture. .

A representative of the group that hosted it explained that there was an incident in the prefecture in January in which a brother was indicted for murdering his sister.

In response to the police investigation, the older brother stated, "Just before the incident, I got into an argument and strangled my neck." ” and so on.

Regarding this, the representative of the group said, ``The incident cannot be affirmed, but it is happening in the same prefecture and can never be taken as a single incident.''

"I can't get enough of my brother's story"

Ms. Tomoe Soma, who participated in the symposium, has a younger brother with intellectual disabilities, and has established a group of siblings and supporters and serves as its representative.

Her Soma-san said that she said her younger brother sometimes violently went on a rampage in front of her family, and given the occurrence of her incident, her family alone supports people with disabilities. I pointed out the difficulty.

On top of that, she said, "Even if I wanted to talk to welfare facilities about my younger brother, if my parents were still alive, that priority would be given to them, and they wouldn't listen to what my siblings had to say. We need a place,” he said.

“There are few places to receive it” “Administrative support is also necessary”

In addition, Kaito Nakata, who is the representative of a support group made up of people in a similar position to his older sister who has a mental illness, said, ``A place that can serve as a receptacle when the family is tired, such as a group home where people with disabilities live. I also searched around and finally found it, but if my siblings don't do their best, family ties and ties will continue to follow."

And she called out, "It is difficult for a non-corporation of a non-corporation to provide escort-type support, so in addition to administrative assistance and support, we would appreciate it if we could also provide private support, which is not available in current welfare services."

Some of the participants at the venue wanted to start a new support for the siblings, and they wanted to recruit collaborators.

“Many people have feelings for their siblings…”

It is said that there are cases where “siblings” have worries not only when they are children, but also at each life stage, such as going on to higher education, getting a job, getting married, or after a parent dies.

Mayu Takishima, representative of the support group SHAMS, which hosted the event, said, "It is assumed that people with illnesses and disabilities are supported by their families, but we need to change the way this society is. I realized that they were thinking about what they could do for their siblings, so I hope there will be more momentum to comprehensively support families, including siblings."