Sharing magic moments with other siblings like me

Angel, age 9, is always looking forward to our next virtual adventure! She’s been playing Dungeons and Dragons with Sense Siblings sessions for over a year. Angel tells us a bit about that time and the new friends she’s made along the way.

I like playing games and connecting with different people. Games are good for me and my brother, Dylan. We do board games together and play on the Nintendo switch. I think our favourite is a cooking game where we have to race against the clock to make different recipes.

My brother has autism and we don’t always want to play the same things. I’ve been on the Sense Siblings programme for nearly a year now. It’s been nice to meet other children who have disabled siblings.

We went from being shy to having dance parties

At first, I was quite shy with the group. But then as soon as we started playing Dungeons and Dragons it all changed! I love it and when it gets to the sessions, I drop everything – I can’t wait to play!

In D and D, we all make our own characters. My character is Bet, she’s a Pixie. She really likes being in the forest and has made friends with all the woodland animals. Before, she was in the circus and when they kicked her out, she went to the forest.

There’s other stuff to do apart from gaming. Like, on Wednesday night we’re learning braille which is exciting. And I love having a dance party, too!

New friendships

I have a new friend, Inara, who I met through Sense and who also loves D and D. We talk about it all the time!

We both have brothers who have autism. Every disabled person is different but there are some things we all know about. Like some of our siblings face big bullies and that’s really hard for them. I look out for my brother and it’s nice being with children who are in the same situation as me.

Because Inara and I make each other laugh so much, Sense said we should become Buddies. We live a long way from each other but hang out online a lot.

I want to say a massive thank you to Sense, because they introduced me to other siblings and helped me on the way too.