Our project: Siblings
Giving a voice
to those who grow alongside
Being a brother or sister of a child with a disability means living an intense, complex, and sometimes invisible experience.
It is a daily life in which expectations, questions, and attention may be directed elsewhere; but it is also a chance to grow, developing empathy and resilience early on. With the Siblings Project, active since 2015, the Orizzonte Autonomia Foundation ETS chooses to put them at the center: the siblings, as protagonists of the family story.
Through dedicated days, expressive workshops, nature experiences, and guided discussion moments led by professionals, the project offers an authentic space to share one’s story, exchange experiences, and feel acknowledged. Here, brothers and sisters can speak freely about their experiences without filters. They can laugh, cry, and explore emotions that sometimes do not find the time—or the courage—to surface in the daily hustle.
The coordination is entrusted to Dr. Rachele Recanatini, a psychotherapist with many years of experience in the field of disability. Alongside her, an educational team designs shared pathways where peer interaction becomes an opportunity for growth, recognition, and validation of one’s role. Because growing up alongside someone in need is not only a challenge, but also a possibility: an opportunity to develop inner resources that will last a lifetime.
The project has also engaged the local community through public events, readings, testimonies, workshops, conferences, and the celebrations of the International Siblings Day. Opportunities to shift perspectives, to assert that every sibling brings relational, human, and emotional richness that deserves to be heard, acknowledged, and nurtured.
In the looks of the participants, in the words whispered, in the drawings left at the end of each session, lies the most authentic testimony of how necessary this space is. It is a gesture of educational justice and emotional equity. Because even those who ask for nothing need to feel seen.
During International Siblings Day or on other occasions, the Foundation organizes public events with the goal of raising awareness about the reality of siblings and the resources they contribute to society. Conferences, workshops, and public moments are not meant to highlight a ‘problem,’ but to bring to light a wealth of human skills that is often underestimated.
It is about building a community that knows how to recognize and value all forms of intelligence and sensitivity, including those that arise from the experience of diversity.
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