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Why The “Glass Children” Narrative Is Toxic For Autistics
It centres the experiences of neurotypical family members and disregards the Autistic child’s experience
I came across the term glass child for the first time recently on a Facebook ad for one of those parental courses for “challenging” behaviour of Autistic children. That should give you some idea of where this is going.
What is a Glass Child?
The term is used to identify a non-disabled child (or someone who used to be one) who has grown up with a sibling who is disabled. Glass Children believe their disabled sibling received a disproportionate amount of parental attention at their expense.
Proponents of the term are quick to point out that they’re not glass because they’re fragile but because their parents look right through their needs to the demands of the disabled sibling. That’s right, the Glass Child has needs, while their disabled sibling has demands.
It turns out there are people who identify as Glass Children and do TED talks and amass huge followings of like-minded siblings of disabled children. One of those is Alecia Maples who “lost her brother to the world of autism” according to the blurb introducing her talk.
