Disabled Books

Excellent source for parents of teens transitioning into adulthood and independence. Great tips for school meetings.

Learning Disabilities do not have to be a giant neon sign blinking "I can't" over ones head - they can be overcome just like any other disability. "Guiding Teens with Learning Disabilities: Navigating the Transition from High School to Adulthood" is a comprehensive guide for guidance counselors and others responsible for assisting these individuals onto the next stages of their life. Advice on understanding the transition planning process under the IDEA of 2004, how to accept these individuals more, and how to prepare them for their life long careers. "Guiding Teens with Learning Disabilities: Navigating the Transition from High School to Adulthood" is a must have for any educator in charge of these special needs students and for community library education shelves.

Dr. Roffman has thankfully written exactly the guide book I needed as my Down Syndrome son turned 16. As a parent, I had no training in how to think about transitioning my son to adulthood. He has been in an inclusion school environment all his life, from infant day care to high school. But the transition to the wide-open space of adulthood, when the structures of schooling were gone, was a complete mystery to me. How could I prepare? How could my son be best prepared during his final few years of secondary education?

Roffman's guide is a step-by-step roadmap for parents, of what to do, what to ask, who to ask, and when to ask. It is also useful for anyone on the service side of transitioning learning disabled teens. The book seems most specifically addressed to the parents and service providers of children with more common learning disabilities than Down Syndrome. Yet it helped me to raise my hopes and standards of what to expect for outcomes of my son's transition as well. For example, with proper preparation, perhaps my son could attend a community college or build a more advanced skill set toward future employment than I was thinking previously.

When I attended his 10th grade IEP review meeting, I felt completely prepared, and for the first time, I knew what I wanted to have happen during the meeting, and it did! This book made the difference. I have recommended Roffman's book to everyone in our school district's SPED PAC, to those who work with my son in the high school, and to members of the school committee. I no longer feel like "the blind leading the blind." Instead, I feel confident that I will be able to support my son's transition with confidence, even if I don't know all the answers yet. Now I know how to ask the questions, of both my son and his service providers, in time for us to figure out the best answers together. If you are parenting a learning disabled teen, or providing services for ld teens, I highly recommend you get a copy of this book. You'll be glad that you did.

This book is organized well. It explains what you need to do in a step by step fashion. It has tables, and checklists. It pulls in essential information that you need in reference like style that is easy to go back to.

Other books on this topic, which I've obtained, review, and returned because they read like a story book because they were difficult to reference later on. This one is not a story book, by an emotional author. Its written with facts, objective recommendation and suggestions that you can apply to your own situation as you see fit or as you need.

This is a concise, well-written, very understandable guidebook for parents and teens with LD facing a challenging time in their lives. Most delightfully, this book is very positive (while realistic) in its tone and suggestions. For a small book, it is simply packed with practical strategies (with emphatic finger-pointing bullets!) and guidance. The timetable is an easy to use resource for those with attention challenges! Dr. Roffman intersperses case vignettes to show the human side of these issues, and she shows what the individuals can and did do to deal with the challenges. Very good role models for success! All in all, an excellent book. I'll keep this copy on hand to show parents and will certainly recommend it to staff and patients. It's a must read roadmap for families who find themselves at this intersection.

Jerome J. Schultz, Ph.D.
Clinical Neuropsychologist
Director, Center for Child and Adolescent Development
Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School

Neither cheap nor a light read, but just what it says - a definitive summary of the state-of-the-art in knowledge about autism and the other pervasive developmental disorders. Everything you need to know is in here.

As a parent of an Autistic child, I purchased this book when my son was first diagnosed. It has a wealth of information and helped me better understand the few treatments available and the state of research on the disorder. It is a technical book, and not for all parents, but it is dog-eared in many sections from my use. I hope there is an update in the near future.

This is an very comprehensive manual on autism and pervasive develomental disorders. Latest research data is included, providing professionals with updated information that can assist them in conducting differential diagnosis. I feel this book goes a long ways towards increasing knowledge in the world of autism

The editors of this 2nd edition have selected an outstanding group of authorities to present a balanced and authoritative text of this disorder. It's timing is perfect, since autism has changed from a shunned and "hopeless" diagnosis to an often treatable condition. A must for medical libraries and state departments of health and education.

Second book I read when trying to figure out whether my son had autism/PDD. Not for the parent who is faint of heart, but excellent, balanced, and objective resource for the parent who wants a deeper understanding of the research literature. Depending on your educational background, some chapters may be incomprehensible (e.g., the chapter on neurochemicals), but almost all are accessible to the well-educated and attentive layperson.

The daughter of social psychologist and mental retardation services advocate Barbara Munster suffered brain damage in a brief childhood illness. How The Lilies Grow: Considering The Needs Of A Developmentally Disabled Child is the compelling story of Barbara's experiences in dealing with all of the guilt, anger, exhaustion, and despair when dealing with the behavioral health-care system of the 1960s. This is also the inspiring story of her emerging vision of equipping communities by changing perspectives and practices nation wide in order to both give to, and receive from, disabled community members like her daughter. How The Lilies Grow is especially recommended reading for care-givers having to deal with developmental disabled within their own families and communities.

The daughter of social psychologist and mental retardation services advocate Barbara Munster suffered brain damage in a brief childhood illness. How The Lilies Grow: Considering The Needs Of A Developmentally Disabled Child is the compelling story of Barbara's experiences in dealing with all of the guilt, anger, exhaustion, and despair when dealing with the behavioral health-care system of the 1960s. This is also the inspiring story of her emerging vision of equipping communities by changing perspectives and practices nation wide in order to both give to, and receive from, disabled community members like her daughter. How The Lilies Grow is especially recommended reading for care-givers having to deal with developmental disabled within their own families and communities.

The daughter of social psychologist and mental retardation services advocate Barbara Munster suffered brain damage in a brief childhood illness. How The Lilies Grow: Considering The Needs Of A Developmentally Disabled Child is the compelling story of Barbara's experiences in dealing with all of the guilt, anger, exhaustion, and despair when dealing with the behavioral health-care system of the 1960s. This is also the inspiring story of her emerging vision of equipping communities by changing perspectives and practices nation wide in order to both give to, and receive from, disabled community members like her daughter. How The Lilies Grow is especially recommended reading for care-givers having to deal with developmental disabled within their own families and communities.

Whether or not a parent is raising a developmentally disabled child, this wonderful book contains the theme of helping children find their God-given purpose in life. The author also provides the formula for encouragement, empowerment, and a proven program for children. In addition, the poignant story about the author's disabled daughter Lori covers the issues of experiencing guilt, anger, exhaustion, despair, and eventual hope. The author's writing style and life is a superlative quest. She was featured on national TV and reviewed in 16 magazines including "People." The photographs and the lilies metaphor add realism to this true story.

The daughter of social psychologist and mental retardation services advocate Barbara Munster suffered brain damage in a brief childhood illness. How The Lilies Grow: Considering The Needs Of A Developmentally Disabled Child is the compelling story of Barbara's experiences in dealing with all of the guilt, anger, exhaustion, and despair when dealing with the behavioral health-care system of the 1960s. This is also the inspiring story of her emerging vision of equipping communities by changing perspectives and practices nation wide in order to both give to, and receive from, disabled community members like her daughter. How The Lilies Grow is especially recommended reading for care-givers having to deal with developmental disabled within their own families and communities.

All parents of an autistic child in the public school system need this book. Very imformative and offers great strategies to build a good relationship with the school system.

I used this while preparing for my autistic son's transition to kindergarten IEP meeting. I feel that it provides a good base on the things parents need to concentrate on to ensure their child is getting the most of his/her education. Though each state has different guidelines, the templates in this book are a very valuable resource to draw from and I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the IEP process better.

It realy outlines step by step what an IEP should focus on and say from the first page to the goals and measures. It really was a good book to have along side knowing the laws and rights that other books focus on- it helps you understand how to truly make and IEP individual for your child (very ASD focused). Good for parents and administrators.

This is the best book I have seen yet relating to IEPs for children with autism. The authors focus heavily on creating measurable goals and objectives...something I have not found in other IEP books I have read. I highly recommend this book for any parent of a child with ASD who has an upcoming IEP.

This comprehensive, well-researched and practical guide to developing an IEP that will optimize service delivery to your child exceeded my expectations on all levels. Although useful for any parent or teacher trying to gain a better grasp of the workings of the IEP, it is especially useful for those of us dealing with autism, since the authors chose to focus on this baffling and challenging condition due to their knowledge of the subject and the many difficulties it presents to writers of IEPs. The book also discusses key legal issues associated with IEPs.

Here is a sampling of some of the areas covered in the book: A detailed, insightful discussion of each of the components of an IEP and the relationship of the components to each other; the elements necessary to prepare an effective Present Levels of Performance (PLP), which forms the basis for generating annual goals and represents a baseline against which to judge progress; why specifying underlying conditions clearly is so important; the relationship between clearly written objectives and appropriate methodology; knowledge of ASD and the way in which it affects the student who manifests it as the most basic building block of appropriate IEP development; why IEPs should specify prompt levels in the objectives as well as a system for fading them back; discussion of a "prompt hierarchy"; the need to build generalization strategies right into the objectives so the child learns a skill across a variety of settings, people, activities, etc., right from the start; breaking down multi-dimensional behavior such as "crossing the street" into its basic components so that behavior progress can be measured; how not to confuse a process with a product outcome (e.g. developing understanding vs. demonstrating understanding); the difference between accommodations and modifications (the latter reduce the standard and result in lowered educational outcomes); guidelines for prioritizing needs and sample IEPs covering such content areas as concept development, critical thinking, making inferences, etc. The above list is only a sampling of the issues covered. This book is written from a highly-informed, sensible and practical perspective. Having read this book, I feel like I'm in control of the IEP process and not vice-versa. Highly recommended.

I highly recommend this book. If you are someone with a learning disability or just know (young or old) someone with an LD it is one of the best books you could purchase. It is very insightful and I was able to lock-in on many of the items discussed by Harry. Since I have a processing LD, this book, in particular, proved invaluable. I have learned so much about my own LD just from reading it and I know that it could prove just as beneficial to others. To go along with this book I also recommend Samantha Abeels book "My Thirteenth Winter: A Memoir.

Harry Sylvester has taken a subject that professionals have completed years of education to comprehend and puts it into a personal narrative about real people, including himself.
It's one thing to overcome or learn to live with a learning disability as a child. Discovering you have a learning disability as an adult is like solving a puzzle you've been assembling for decades.
As a professional working with adults who live various physical and mental challenges, I now have a new resource for understanding so that I may better serve my clients.
Harry takes us into his world of pain, struggle and self-discovery from his early school days to middle adulthood.
If we can take our own experience and turn it into solutions for others, we have doubled our self-discovery. Harry has done that. This is a book that will be used as a text of learning for years to come.

Professionally narrated by Dale Hill, Legacy Of The Blue Heron: Living With Learning Disabilities by Harry Sylvester is an audiobook presentation of his personal life experience of overcoming serious learning disability challenges in an ultimately successful pursuit of success as a mechanical engineer, business owner, and even boat-builder. Written by a dyslexic who became a president of the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Legacy Of The Blue Heron offers personal insight into a life with unexpected obstacles and triumphs. A welcome addition to any community library audiobook collection, Legacy Of The Blue Heron is especially recommended for anyone having to deal with a learning disability within themselves or within their family.

Harry Sylvester's struggle with learning disabilities is written in easy to understand and hard to forget language. The Legacy of the Blue Heron chronicles Harry's devastating educational experiences, his diagnosis of a learning disability and the incredible work he has done from that pivotal moment. Best of all Harry offers hope for anyone facing these difficulties. Harry also provides many solutions from someone who's been there and understands. Harry's work as an advocate for others has changed many lives for the better. Harry's story is an inspiration, one that must be shared. If you know of anyone with a learning disability or are planning on working or marrying anyone with a learning disability or just want a fantastic read this is the book.

This book provides a very realistic and easily read view of the school experience through the eyes of someone who was intelligent yet did not truly fit in the school model he endured. Harry certainly has proven his level of capabilities through his attainment of a college degree in engineering, state level advocacy and efforts leading to being elected as the President of the internationally known Learning Disabilities Association of America.

Harry's tender touch throughout the self exploration process makes the reader feel the emotions through his determination to find answers for himself. He then turns that new found energy into advocacy efforts for individuals with learning disabilities. His methods include reaching out to persons with substance abuse problems, juvenile offenders, and individuals struggling with underachievement.

One of his most important contributions through this book is the impact he has on future teachers and practicing educators. This book is not a textbook format but a humanistic challenge to rethink educational planning and support of students who learn differently. Harry challenges us to look at the social cost of failing to make changes.

Over 1/3 of the book is dedicated to solutions...solutions that are for persons like Harry who have the strength to look at their struggles but also for the wider audience of anyone who cares about education and empowering students to recognize their intelligence. Look around you and you will find someone who needs to feel supported by Harry's message. While you are at it, is there an educator you know that needs to hear this message?

My 3 yr old son is hyperlexic. We realized he could read almost as soon as he first began to talk at 27 months old. Once our therapist informed us about hyperlexia we bought this book right away. It was so helpful. There are not many resources out there for us parents dealing with this issue. If you have a hyperlexic child (or suspect it) you have no choice but to read this book right away!

Living in the 3rd world makes you wonder how can you help your child, if nobody heard of hyperlexic children, well this book is a good one it touchs almost everything in your life and suggest possible ways to solve your problems to help your child.
Good luck.

As a mom with a Hyperlexic child, I found this book a true assest to my life. It gave me insight to things that I didn't understand. And as my son is very young at this point, is showed me things that I am instore for. There are hints and tips for parents and teachers as well. Anyone dealing with Hyperlexia should have this book.

This book explains it - describes my son perfectly, down to the last detail. Great methods for identifying, reaching and teaching the child with hyperlexia. Good resource section in the back.

The best source for information on the learning disability of hyperlexia, the precocious ability to read coupled with language delay and poor social skills.

I am so impressed with this book! It is so educational and informative. I especially love the strategies to use in the classroom. This is a MUST read for any teacher or therapist working with aspergers kids or kids with motor, communicative, or social delays. I feel enlightened and empowered. I am purchasing books for all of my staff members!

Child/adolescent psychologist Stephan M. Silverman, Ph.D. and educational advocate for gifted children with learning difficulties Rich Weinfeld pool their talents in School Success for Kids with Asperger's Syndrome, a no-nonsense guide for parents and teachers to helping children with Asperger's Syndrome, or AS (a mild form of autism spectrum disorder that affects language and social skills) rise to their full potential. Chapters discuss how to recognize and diagnose AS, effective classroom strategies, ideal practices for parenting with AS, preparing young people with AS for college, work, and independent living, and much more. "Children with AS frequently feel affection but do not know how to appropriately express those feelings. They need to have guidelines as to who is an appropriate recipient of affection and under which conditions. They need to know when someone is a friend or an acquaintance and when intimacy is appropriate." A reader-friendly, tell-it-like-it-is guide enthusiastically recommended for parents, caretakers and educators responsible for young people with AS.

As a clinician with patients who have children diagnosed with Asperger's, I found this book a wealth of information in both diagnosis and treatment. The book emphasizes a strength based approach, with accomodations made to allow these kids to add their special talents to the learning environment of their "normal" peers. I highly recommend it to other clinicians, teachers, parents and friends of these special kids.
Katie Ivey, L.C.S.W.

This informed and useful book is a MUST for educators and parents alike. It provides information about the ever-growing diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome, and gives a wealth of information for best practices for the special or general education classroom. Finally! A REAL practical guide!

Stephen Silverman and Rich Weinfeld combine their expertise in the fields of psychology and special education to create a valuable resource for parents, teachers, and clinicians who service kids with Asperger's Syndrome. Their book presents complex information in a straightforward, reader friendly manner that highlights every aspect of AS. Beginning with an interesting historical overview of the syndrome, the authors go on to describe diagnostic characteristics as well as outline in detail specific strategies that have proven to be successful in dealing with AS kids in the classroom. As a teacher and administrator in the field of special education for over thirty years, I found these suggestions to be extremely practical tools that make sense and would be a tremendous support to a teacher working with kids who have Asperger's Syndrome. The authors meticulously define state of the art best practices for teachers and parents and particulary highlight a strengths based approach. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has the pleasure of working with children who have AS.

This book was excellent. It focuses on sensory peculiarities as being the likely cause of outward autistic behavior. Instead of focusing on general problems (Triad of Impairments) and common behavior of individuals on the spectrum, this book looks at how an individual's sensory experiences can CAUSE a lot of the behavior associated with autism. It may also offer an explanation for why autism is very much an individual experience - why no two people's experiences of the condition are the same.

Olga Bogdashina provides an in depth but easy to read explanation of hyper and hyposensitivities of the senses, and of how some individuals can only use one sensory channel at a time making it difficult to interpret the environment. Many examples have been provided by individual's with autism and the emphasis is very much on needing to understand the cause of a certain behavior BEFORE trying to 'normalize' or adjust that behavior. Olga suggests that much of the behavior displayed by autistic individual's is necessary in spite of 'normal' people's views that such behavior must be stopped or corrected.
Whilst similar theories were identified around thirty years ago, Olga's own research brings together current findings and beliefs about autism and sensory functioning.
The book also includes a sensory questionnaire and chart which helps identify an individual's 'personal' sensory profile.
Well worth buying if you are researching this area or if you are a parent trying to understand unusual behavior such as why your autistic child likes switching lights on and off or only wears certain clothes or any number of other behaviors which are not given an adequate explanation by the 'Triad of Impairments' model.

a MUST read for those who work/live with people with autism/Asperger syndrome

I read this book from start to finish in one sitting.

I found it to be a very compelling, insightful and readable book. Instead of focusing on external behaviors, it looks at autism from the inside experience. It has been a step in the de-mystification of autism (for me).

For the first time I started to see 'into' the world of autism after reading Olga Bogdashina's book 'Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome'.
The book gives a very clear picture of the different ways people with ASD perceive the world. I now look at the children I work with in a different light - I am beginning to understand why certain things cause them such distress. The book is an eye-opener!

This is a great book. There are so many books on the market where experts presume to know better than autistic people themselves and disregard autistic peoples own accounts of what it feels like to be autistic, but this one breaks that mould. It is not only packed with factual information about how the brain and the senses work, it explores the autistic experience with an open and enquiring mind, while still tying all this in with conventional explanations of autism and results from existing studies. This book has a great potential to be useful, not just to parents and autistic people themselves who are looking for information and understanding, but to educators and service providers, whom it could inspire and advise. Interesting and accessible, I sat down today and read it the whole way through.

As an educator for children with autism, I read A LOT of books because my job is to learn skills and strategies in order to train people. One of the most requested things that teachers need help with is how to teach social skills to their students on the spectrum. This is by far the best social skills training manual that I have gotten my hands on. It gives examples of what to say to the child and why that skill is important. A lot of times, social skills books will contain great programs that you can implement, but not everyone is proficient enough to actually get them started because the instructions are not very clear. All I have to say is, you need to get this book for yourself if you work with children with special needs!

Teach Me Language really zeros in on the areas of difficulty which our children with Autism and related disorders are up against. As a mother and educational advocate of a son with "high-functioning autism," I was thrilled to find this user-friendly educational tool that helps our kids "fill in the blanks." It provides a wonderful curriculum that can be used in collaboration by teacher/speech pathologist and parent, thereby offering our kids a very solid program. I've found the suggested instruction/therapy schedules (similar to lesson plans) particulary helpful.

A Real Winner! This book is an excellent resource for parents and therapists who teach language to children with autism, Asperger's syndrome, and other related developmental disorders. Instructional friendly explanations, games, and cards teach language skills used in school and in life. The key feature that I really like about this book is that all information is very visual and structured. This book targets the areas of social language, general and functional knowledge, grammar and syntax, written expression, and academic concepts such as sequencing, problem-solving, time and money. Once a child has some basic vocabulary and can answer simple "what" and "where" questions, this book should be in your hands! Activities in this book are practical with children from kindergarten through the teenage years.

When I discovered how expensive speech/language therapy cost for my 9-year-old son with autism, I began looking for resources and ways that I could improve his language in our home. I came across this book and it has been invaluable.

'Teach Me Language' is for children who have done some preliminary language work and have a fairly good foundation in labeling objects as well as pre-reading skills. The exercises are based on written words instead of pictures, so you will want to make sure your child is ready for that step.

The Manual features exercises on a variety of topics - everything from reading and comprehension skills to grammar basics to lifeskills like telling time and dealing with money to understanding emotions. In other words, the book features every area with which my son struggles. There is also an excellent chapter on social language and how to teach reciprocal conversations.

I found the layout of the manual to be just a bit confusing because it is not linear but that actually makes sense because the way our children learn isn't linear! Some children with autism or asperger's may be particularly strong in certain areas and weak in others.

Chapter 7 in the manual explains how to set up a language schedule for your particular child and you then go through the exercises and decide which ones to teach.

For parents, this book is easy to read, understand and implement. I highly recommend it, especially for children with autism who have emerging language and reading (decoding) skills.

This manual provides a tremendously useful resource for anyone involved in teaching conversational skills to individuals with language-based disabilities. There are pre-requisite skills a student must have, so this is probably not going to be the first book you start with if the student has few verbal skills. It is, however, the book that you will build up to and use extensively during that "middle" ground on the way to completely fluent conversational and language skills.

This book is easy, excellent reading for teachers, youth leaders and parents who come into contact with kids who have attentional or behavioral issues. The author makes no secret of his belief that medication is the first and most important step in treatment. Whether you agree with that or not, there is a wealth of information on recognizing the signs of the condition and on how to respond to and guide kids with these symptoms/behaviors. Take it heart and you'll minimize conflict and maximize accomplishment. The book is WELL worth the read. The title is accurate - I ended up with a feeling that I understand the kids I interact with much better than I did before.

This book is the best book on ADHD that I have seen (and I have read several of them). Its easy to read and tells you everything you need to know about ADHD, from basic stuff to advanced knowledge. It explores ADHD from every aspect and offers solutions and speculations.

I highly recommend it. This is a life saver for any ADHD parent and makes you realize that having a child with ADHD doesnt have to mean the end of the world. With this book in hand you have everything you need to face this challenge.

I have read many books about ADHD since my child was diagnosed a few months ago. This is by far the best book I've have read about the subject. Not only is it comprehensive about medications and causes, it addresses real behavior problems with practicality and humor. I read the whole book in one night, and came out of it with a new understanding of my son. It's comforting to know he's not the only one "acting like this". I highly recommend it to anyone working with an ADHD child or adult.

The paediatrician who eventually diagnosed my son recommended this book to me. I read it straight through, in one sitting, cried, laughed and came out the other end with a totally different view of my son. He was 10 and regularly said he wanted to kill himself. All his teachers just said he was badly behaved and disruptive but I knew there was something wrong. A year later and on Ritalin he is a different child. I have now bought at least 12 copies of this book (it has a different name here in England) to give to everyone who has any contact with an ADHD child. If you only buy one book, buy this one. Even my teenage daughters, who had no sympathy for their younger brother have read this and actually enjoyed it!

I found this book to be a comprehensive and extremely helpful resource for parents and teachers of children with ADHD. As a Learning Consultant in a public school I have lent this book to many parents. It provides practical ideas on how to motivate, discipline, encourage, and manage children with ADHD. If you are a parent or teacher of children with ADHD I believe this to be one of the most helpful books on the topics.