: there are many factors which can impact our personality. I find myself being an admirer of Alfred Adler and I admire his concept of The Question (which I explored in a previous post), but I am uncomfortable with the concept of birth order determining our personalities. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to me that when I, the oldest child, developed a physical disability as an adult with three children of her own, my mother began treating my younger sister as the oldest child. Responsibilities which had been mine to shoulder alone, i.e. helping my parents with their transportation needs, for example, were suddenly shifted onto my sister’s shoulders even though I can still drive. I must admit that as a first-born child success and achievement were things I always strived for and they seem to be built into my personality. Watching other people suddenly treat me as “less than” because of my disability is hard to take. Striving for success and achievement with a physical disability is requiring finding a way to be successful despite the disability and that may very well be the reason behind my motivation for taking my Masters Degree in counselling psychology. If you live with a disability, how does your birth order impact the way you approach that disability?