Disabled Books

I'm a former public school music teacher and private piano instructor, now teaching at 2 colleges. This semester, for the first time, I have 2 piano students who are dyslexic, one severely and the other slightly. This book provides a wealth of helpful information on the scientific background of dyslexia, its potential impacts on musical learning, and strategies for helping dyslexics be successful in this area. It is well-written, easy to understand, and encouraging. Its suggestions would be also helpful for music teachers in general. The author's thought-provoking question is, "If they can't learn the way you teach, can you teach the way they learn?" This book shows the way to do that; I highly recommend it!

EXCELLENT book!!!! A good book for those going into the social service field!!!! Easily understood. Gives good examples!!!!

I am very biased in reviewing this book because I know the author personally. She is in my metaphysical/paranormal discussion group in southern Oregon. I've known her for 3 years, and I have been impressed by her intellligence and kindness - she has achieved a balance between left brain and right brain abilities, and her book on labyrinths gives teachers and parents, for whom the book is written, excellent yet simple ways to develop both skills in children using the techniques she has developed and tested.

Joseph Campbell, the great mythologist, became famous posthumously for his saying, "follow your bliss." Lani's passion is labyrinths, for sure. As she states in the introduction, she "has focused her entire career trying to answer questions about how children learn, what motivates children to learn...and what makes an activity fun and successful." I can remember a number of times in our discussion group Lani discussing with infectious enthusiasm, her love of labyrinths and how she has used them in teaching children, especially children with handicaps, which she has been involved with for many years. Yet labyrinths are also very useful for children who are not handicapped. Lani also makes the important distinction between mazes, which are often a bit too challenging to figure out, vs. labyrinths, which are always well-defined, and whose destination is always easy to attain.

Lani and her husband toured the US in the summer of 2000 and if she knew there was a labyrinth in the area she was visiting, they stopped there!

The author, in a very easy to understand, thorough, and straightforward manner, shows the reader the various kinds of labyrinths as well as the skills used and developed in learning how to create them. She starts with very simple, basic patterns, and shows how to create 3-path, 7-path, 11-path, and 15-path labyrinths, as well as how to create double labyrinths. She then gives lists of many different kinds of materials that can be used to create these figures. She discusses how to "walk" a drawn labyrinth. Books and web sites are also provided at the end of the book.

Finally, there is an appendix that shows the basic patterns for labyriths, and then (of course) a second appendix with some beautiful labyrinths the author and her students have created from various materials, as well as interesting and fun drawings of labyrinths by Lani's students and not unexpectantly, her grandchildren!

If you have young children, I highly recommend Lani's book, her passion, to you!

This book helps tell "where it's all falling apart" in understanding for students with special needs (i.e., those with language disorders who may also be classified as learning disabled or emotionally/behaviorally disordered, students in ESL, lower functioning general education students). With sections on "what part of ___ don't you understand" addressing question comprehension, figurative language, transitional phrases and conjunction, complex sentence structure, and complex vocabulary, it's easier to see where we, as teachers, sometimes "lose" students in our instructional discourse. This book is especially helpful for speech-language pathologists, ESL teachers, and special education teachers.

Helpful tables are included as are sample lesson plans for the concept introduced in the tables. Tables included address:
Stages of Children's Metalinguistic Ability
Selected Variables Influencing Language Intervention Decisions
Oral to Literate Transition
Narrative Development
Story Grammar
Event-Chain Development of Causality
Everyday and Instructional Discourse Differences
Characteristics of Narrative Types (e.g., Expository, Fictional,
Drama, Poetry/Rhyming)
Comprehension Strategies (Syntactic, Semantic, Inferential)

For example, one table lists (in developmental order) necessary elements for comprehension of a speaker's cohesive devices such as :
References (e.g., pronouns and their referents)
Lexical (e.g., synonyms--multiple labels for people and things)
Conjunctions and transitional phrases(more complicated ones like "yet, then, otherwise, after all, therefore, thus, more over, nevertheless")
Ellipsis (e.g., "Who's eating? I am (eating)"

We, as adults, take our instructional and directive speech for granted. This book helps educational personnel analyse their own discourse to break it down further and thus, make it more understandable for students. After all, language is the medium through which we impart knowledge. To be as clear as possible in our use of language, to match our level of discourse to the student population with whom we are working, and then checking and rechecking for understanding; all these skills will help us increase student comprehension of our instruction.

A definitive work on this subject!

This book is an absolute "must have" for all Special Education teachers. It breaks down specific Measureable Goals with specific benchmarks. Ideal for the new IEPs. This is only one book in a series and they range from elementary to highschool. Goals include listening skills, self-advocacy, behavioral, and many,many more. An ideal investment for any ESE department. I recommend it enthusiastically!!!!!!

Very informative and eye opening. If you are the parent of or work with children with LD I definitely recommend reading this book.

I have some questions that I'd very much like to ask Mr. Greene concerning learning disabilities. I would appreciate any help anyone can offer in locating Mr. Greene. Thank you.

Learning Disabilities Explained is just what the doctor ordered. This volume brings a new level of understanding to a very complex problem.A clear presentation of the major problems, with sources of help and answers to some of the more common questions are provided. While the material is presented in sufficient depth to satisfy the needs of professionals in the field, it is written in a manner which addresses the needs of parents for "plain english" explanations.

This review appeared in Learning A Living; A Guide to Planning Your Career and Finding A Job for People with Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Dyslexia;

A compendium of academic papers related to literacy and adults. Inclues information on employment, screening and assessment, instructional strategies, and future trends.

well written, in the language of a "regular person". Samples and charts were extremely beneficial. Will use this book in the future as a reference.