Optimización de la imagen en escala de grises para el estudio ocular.

Apart from the average responsibilities (e.g. cleaning their rooms, feeding pets, etc.) most responsibilities that participants mentioned had to do with protecting, taking care of, and teaching their brothers. These different roles are discussed separately.

4.3.3.1 Sibling as Carer

One participant said: "I have to see to it that [younger brother] and [brother with ASD] does

not fight, and that [younger brother] sleeps when he is supposed to. And further it is just to make sure those two [brothers] don't do anything wrong." Another participant talked about

her role as carer for her brother. She said: "I don't really want anything to happen to me

because I know him more than anybody on this planet does."

Most parents reported that the siblings often share care-giving responsibilities with the parents. Siblings are often expected to help their brothers (e.g. make cereal, bath, dress them) and to look after them. One parent reported: "She [sibling] has to look after him if they

go to the park, even though he is the oldest." Another parent reported that the sibling took on

the responsibilities of "mothering" and "calming" her brother.

This was also found in studies by Orsmond and Seltzer (2007a) and Tsibidaki and Tsamparli (2009). Refer to section 2.4.4 for a discussion on the roles and responsibilities of siblings.

4.3.3.2 Sibling as Protector

It was found that children with ASD often are the victims of bullying and teasing. Thus, the participants often had to protect their brothers. This section can be linked to section 4.3.6.1 on Bullying.

Whether siblings are younger or older than their brothers with ASD, they are the ones to protect them. Only two participants were younger than their brothers with ASD. One of these said: "Sometimes I protect him; he doesn't protect me because he doesn't know how to

protect me." The other younger participant said: "Mostly I have to protect him. When he tries to attack the other one, he is stronger than [brother's name], then I have to protect him."

Another participant described herself as a protector in various ways: "I'm like a cat and he

[the bully] is the dog and then we fight", later she also described herself as "a bull", and at

another time as "almost like a mother lion and her cub which I take care of". This participant even followed her brother with ASD when he went for a bicycle ride to make sure no-one hurt him; she said: "When he goes for a bike ride I secretly follow him to see what they [the

other children/bullies] do."

As the protector, one participant took the blame on behalf of her brothers with ASD when there was a fight. She said: "Then I said, [brother's name] go, go, run to the house … and I

Siblings even saw this role as protector as one of their responsibilities. One participant gave the following reply when the researcher asked what would happen if she did not protect him:

"Then he will get hurt [her voice was trembling as though she wanted to cry], bad things will happen to him." Another participant, however, said that "nothing will happen" if he did not

protect his brother, he said: "Then my mom will just see to it that they don't fight". Thus, he didn't feel pressured to take on this responsibility.

However, from parent reports, it appeared that parents were not always aware of this role taken on by the siblings. There were some inconsistencies in parent reports and interviews with siblings in this regard. While one participant spoke extensively about her responsibility to protect her brother, and how she sometimes got involved in fights in order to do so, her mother reported that she sometimes "bullies" her brother and was impatient with him.

Although previous studies have investigated bullying amongst children with ASD (Humphrey & Symes, 2010; Van Roekel, Scholte & Didden, 2010) no studies regarding the role of the sibling of the child with ASD in situations where bullying occurs were found.

4.3.3.3 Sibling as Teacher

The role of the participant as teacher was mentioned in many interviews as well as parent reports. A parent reported that "She [sibling] is the main person in his [brother with ASD] life,

from whom he learns and watch". A participant said that it was her responsibility "to respect"

her brother "and to teach him". A parent reported that the sibling would help with her brother's "tutoring". Furthermore, one participant said that she "had to be an example for

[brother's name]".

In the literature on peer tutoring, it is reported that, when siblings teach their brothers or sisters with ASD, it can have a positive effect on both the sibling and the child with ASD (Carothers & Taylor, 2004; Jones, 2007; Robinson, 2007). Thus, according to the literature, siblings play an important role in the development of their brothers with ASD.

4.3.3.4 Pressure of responsibilities on siblings

These roles often were taken on by the siblings themselves. While some siblings enjoy these roles, others feel that it puts pressure on them. This depends on the personality of the sibling. Many parents reported that the siblings were extremely responsible and took on roles which were not expected of them. One parent reported that the sibling had an

"overactive sense of responsibility" and "that he automatically took responsibility since he was only 2 years old." Another parent reported: "She takes the lead herself, because she

likes to be in charge anyway." One participant mentioned that he enjoyed being the one to

take care of his brothers. He said:

"It's actually quite fun, because when [younger brother's name], he's hyperactive which means he's very wild, jumps on [brother with ASD] then I can use one of my moves [wrestling], because I'm strong, so then I catch him before he can jump on [brother with ASD]."

Another participant, however, mentioned how it puts pressure on her to be an example for her brother. She said: "If I think about it too much it's a lot of pressure, like should I do this,

should I not do this? So I just forget about it." Another participant said that she is "always scared of messing up". She provided an example of when she feels this way. She said: "for example if someone counts on you a lot then I feel scared that I'll mess it up". After exploring

further why she felt there was pressure on her in the sense that she might be letting someone down, she said: "I think it's actually just me putting pressure on myself."

A parent reported that she explained the purpose of responsibilities to her daughter in the following way:

"Life has ups and downs, nothing is fair and one has to take responsibility for one's actions – the good and the bad. Life is a balance. You want, you must work for it!"

In some cases, however, siblings are expected to help because parents feel the entire family is "in this together" and thus everyone has to help. A parent reported: "The family didn't ask

for Autism, why us? But we are all in this together."

Yeal Barak-Levy et al. (2010) reported that parents might have excessive expectations of siblings with regard to assisting parents, which might lead to siblings maturing prematurely (Abrams, 2009; Aronson, 2009).