Disabled Books

I'm glad to see this book come back in print. I will use it in teaching beginning sign language.

This book is written for you as the teacher, with guidelines for helping a special needs kid become a true member of the classroom, and using the resources of parents, the paraprofessional and resource specialists to help you teach to all students in your class, including those with specail needs. This is an excellent book for parents to read and share during IEP's and full inclusion discussions. The focus is finding ways for the classroom teacher to directly teach the student, rather than isolating the student off in the corner with a paraprofessional who tries to be his teacher. We're using these ideas with our middle school son.

Should be mandatory reading for all parents even if they don't have children with disabilities. Life is hard enough when you know what you're doing. When you feel like the first person on the moon it is next to impossible. Both Dr. Thompson's books are practical guides to get us parents over the hard times. The advice is down to earth without all that doctor talk that no one really understands.

I rushed from a first read to report back on this extraordinary collection. I have ordered a number of books on the topics of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Reading Disability (RD) and have been disappointed to find a lack of even-handed treatment of the topics, a lack of consideration for various perspectives.

I must disclaim my review with one comment about what I was looking for: help in truly understanding why it is that I have trouble reading. A partially proven hypothesis wouldn't have been satisfactory for me. A book that provides moral support, though helpful on many occasions, was not my interest. I've been focused on wanting to know why, with the hope in mind that if I understand why I'll be better equipped to find a solution for myself.

Hartmann's books, ADD Success Stories and Healing ADD, are nice reads and supportive, but they left me without the confidence I sought about truly understanding ADD and without the confidence that Hartmann had done the hard research required to be sure he understood it himself.

Another title, The ADD Brain by Monroe A. Gross, promised a rigorous and clinical approach, but it turned out to be a not-fully-credible argument that depression is actually caused by ADD. Gross argues that the primary action of SSRI's like Prozac is not to address the underlying causes of depression but rather to address the underlying causes of ADD. Solving ADD, he argues, is the hidden mechanism by which SSRI's end up solving depression. Interesting theory, but Monroe's need to prove the validity of this iconoclastic brainchild is palpable in every paragraph. I found the "proof" ... to be sloppy.

Reading and Attention Disorders: Neurobiological correlates, edited by Drake D. Duane, is a compilation of legitimate research. To be sure, it is academic in nature. Concrete therapies that come out of the read are few. The first read leaves you stimulated and better educated ... but knowing that you'll have to return to the material to really understand everything.

The chapters are as follows:

(1) DIx Genes, the Striatal Subventricular Zone, and the Development of Neocortical Interneurons by Stewart A. Anderson.

(2) Colorado Twin Study of Reading Disability by DeFries, Knopik, and Wadsworth

(3) Structural and Functional Neuroanatomy in Reading Disorder by Filipek, Pennington (author of Diagnosing Learning Disorders), Simon, et al.

(4) Klinefelter's Syndrome: A Genetic Model for Learning Disabilities in the Verbal and Frontal--Attentional Domains by Geschwind and Boone

(5) The Magnocellular/Parietal System and Visual Symptoms in Dyslexia by Maragaret Livingstone

(6) Moving Research from the Laboratory to Clinics and Classrooms by Tallal, Merzenich, Jenkins, and Miller

(7) Dyslexia: From Epidemiology to Neurobiology by Shaywitz and Shwaywitz

(8) Functional Neuroanatomy of Dyslexic Subtypes by Frank Wood and Lynn Flowers

(9) Linkages Between Attention Deficit Disorders and Reading Disability by Schulte, Conners, and Osborne

(10) Neurological Factors Underlying the Comorbidity of Attentional Dysfunction and Dyslexia by Kytja Voeller

(11) The Abilities of Those with Reading Disabilities: Focusing on the Talents of People with Dyslexia

Each chapter includes an up-front summary by the author/researcher, a concluding-remarks section by the author/researcher, and an easily understood "Editors Comments" passage written by Drake Duane who summarizes the chapter.

If (a) you've really been trying to sink your teeth into the problems of reading disability and ADD, (b) you've wondered what the connection between the two might be, and (c) you're not afraid to tackle analytical material to get to the bottom of it, this will be one of the best sources you discover. It's the latest research. You'll know you're not missing anything.

This book is full of perspectives from those who are non-dyslexic. Those who must live with more than one person with dyslexia need all the support we can get. The family experiences written about confirm the fact that we are not dealing with this in isolation. It also gives the reader hope.

If you buy one book on the practical side of developing an awareness of RtI and facilitating implementation, this is it! Well organized and user friendly, even to those who are not clear on how it will be used in their setting. From one principal to another - this book is a must as you move through the 3 tiers.

Barr and William H. Parrett's SAVING OUR STUDENTS, SAVING OUR SCHOOLS: 50 PROVEN STRATEGIES FOR HELPING UNDERACHIEVING STUDENTS AND IMPROVING SCHOOLS packs in details on improvement programs that work. From establishing learning priorities and creating a classroom atmosphere of respect to support them to developing high expectations for academic performance and working with parents, this is a highly recommended, top pick for any active teaching environment.

This book is not only an important piece of research but also a great story of gifted teachers and unique learners. This book is beyond throught-provoking...it is ground-breaking. Those who read it will learn much about possibilities for people with disabilities and their teachers and for schooling itself.

This is THE book anybody with a disability--and our parents---must read before selecting a college. It officially mentions learning disabilities, but I found much of the material would also be adaptable to other kinds of disabilities. It clearly explains how college accommodations processes legally differ from those which a student currently receives in their high school special education program.

And even better, it clarifies that the student themselves must be the proactive advocate for obtaining their accommodation services. Regardless of an intended major or extracurricular interests, college students with disabilities can't expect others to procure accommodations for them.

Self-advocacy isn't about becoming a young so-and-so, it's about becoming a responsible adult. Even the larger college disability support offices are not going to remind enrolled students to come and visit them. We have to do this ourselves, or go without services.

Because it's never too early to start self-advocacy, the author explicitly recomends the student assume responsibility for their education while still in public school. This is another awesome suggestion which I have not seen in so many other books purporting to 'help' people with disabilities. It's your education, take charge of it immediately!

He then takes issue with 'helicopter parents'. These parents who don't know when to let go of their children, particularly those with a disability. This too is a subject area which hit very close to home to my own college experiences.

My parents generally had encouraged me to understand and exercise my legal rights. Yet, while trying to navigate a very-hastily put together state standardized test program, I ultimately learned my dad was in fact a helicopter parent, who had difficulty recognizing me as an independent adult. Having been the first in his immediate biological family to attend college further gave dad the false sense of entitlement: He was going to 'direct' my college experience to 'protect' me!

He would boast to me that he had spent hours on the phone with administrators--yet, could not produce anything constructive for those efforts. The results were hardly suprising, but they did not enhance my popularity with the professors whose classes I attended. Some of my own college professors actually appeared disgusted when recounting they had received a phone call from him. It was difficult convincing them that he had actually attended college.

Contrasting, my own research and action not only effectively solved my dilemma, but inadvertently ended that same problem for other college students with disabilities. I had effectively made my case as an adult who could and did effectively take care of her own affairs. This is another strategy again recomended by this book.

Finally, it avoids making any misleading recommendations about where to apply. Reiff understands that people with disabilities are free to attend college anywhere in 21st century America. So, this is a great gift for the college-interested student with disabilities.

It is often difficult to find meaningful resources for teaching children and adults with multiple exceptionalities. So you can sense my utter relief and joy when I stumbled upon Longhorn's book at the library. Her enthusiasm and dedication for "very special people" is evident in her writing and creativity. I would definately recommend this book to any educator, even parent, of a "very special child".