One of the toddlers, a male, was playing on the equipment with a male caregiver. While he was successfully navigating the obstacles, he did so with assistance from his caregiver. The adult would hold his hand as he attempted to climb the stairs and steadied him as he walked through obstacles. When the young man slid down the slide, the adult …show more content…
Siblings often serve as the first extended social interaction with other children (Venatsanou & Kambas, 2010). Children with siblings are found to have more opportunities for social interactions as well as more mature play partners, while only children may be less prepared to manage conflicts with their peers (Newman & Newman, 2015). Alfred Adler even took it one step further and theorized that birth order of siblings greatly influences how they see the world. The position one occupies in a family can impact how one interacts with others (Corey, 2013). Clearly, siblings can have a profound influence on the development of a …show more content…
Students may display behaviors that are tied to their birth order, and it might could be information that would help inform my work with a client. While I don’t think every person fits Adler’s mold exactly, I do think that his framework gives a starting point to think about and investigate where behavior is originating from in the context of sibling relationships.
It is imperative that I take sibling relationships into account when counseling children. Disruptions in the lives of siblings can cause disruptions in the life of my client, and it is important to investigate all aspects of a client’s family in order to best help them. In my initial intake with students, it may be beneficial to gather information about the structure of the child’s family so that I can be better informed and prepared. As I found in my research, having siblings can influence everything from motor skills to social skills, and it is an aspect of children’s lives that should not be