My name is Doireann O’Brien. I am a postgraduate student in the School of Education, Queens University Belfast. I am studying an MSc in Autistic Spectrum Disorders. My dissertation project will be an examination of the perception and experience of parents/siblings of people who have been diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The choice for this project reflects my own experience as a sibling of a person with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and the lack of research in this important area.