Thinking Person's Guide to Autism
Edited by Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Jennifer Byde Myers, Liz Ditz, Emily Willingham, and Carol Greenburg; 355 pages. Subtitle: What You Really Need to Know About Autism: From Autistics, Parents, and Professionals
Bottom Line: Designed as an advice-alternative for parents starting out on their autism journey, this guide offers practical tips and an overall message of acceptance and possibility. Rather than one single authority leading you through, it uses essays by parents, professionals, and autistic adults to give a varied, experienced, and long-range view.More »
Tiny Titan
By Ann Yurcek; 470 pages. From the Cover: "Ann Yurcek, the mother of eleven children, takes you on a rare and wonderful journey of wholeness in parenting a critically ill child and adopting a family with extraordinary needs."Bottom Line: For all its length, I blew through this book in a weekend. It's the kind of read where you strap yourself in and hang on for dear life as it pulls you through episodes of incredible grief, struggle, challenge, triumph, tragedy, risk and reward. If it was a novel, you'd never believe it, but it's one family's true story. And what a family.
More »
To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with Disabilities
By Katherine Schneider; 121 pages. From the Book Cover: "Disabilties can be more than adjusted to; they can be mined for pearls and Kathie shares some of hers with you."Bottom Line: If you've been slogging through serious books about dealing with your child's disability and accepting the different path your child will follow, this book will be a light, quick treat. Written with humor and self-deprecation, it's a friendly tour of life with disabilities from one who's living it and getting along quite nicely, thanks.
More »
Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach
By Howard Glasser, MA, and Jennifer Easley, MA; 272 pages. Subtitle: Shifting the Intense Child to New Patterns of Success and Strengthening All Children on the Inside.Bottom Line: If you've heard of "positive discipline" but wondered how on earth to do it, this is the book that can show you. The Nurtured Heart Approach involves bombarding kids with positive statements, while treating misbehavior with unemotional time-outs. A credit system adds more positive feedback. You may be surprised how well it works.
More »
Transforming the Difficult Child: True Stories of Triumph
By Jennifer Easley and Howard Glasser; 244 pages. From the Back Cover: "We hope these 'Nurtured Heart' success stories move you -- stir your excitement, bring you great joy, and inspire you to either transform your own difficult child or greatly appreciate what you have already achieved with the Nurtured Heart Approach.Bottom Line: I'm a big fan of the Nurtured Heart Approach, as outlined in the authors' book Transforming the Difficult Child. You'd have to be to get much out of this book. It's 244 pages of preaching to the choir, but if you're looking for inspiration, you may find it here.
More »