Specific Disabilities Books

This is a great book-helps you understand what people with Ushers Syndrome go through. The author is very real and honest. Once you start, can't put it down!

When my middle child was eight years' old, the head of the Learning Disorders unit of a major hospital told him he didn't have to worry anymore about the troubles he had in school because, when he was sixteen, he could quit and get a job in a supermarket. Neither he (now a lawyer) nor I have ever forgotten that awful moment.

If my son's anguish, and mine for him after that traumatic incident, touch anything in your own experience as a parent, as a teacher, as a professional in the field, then you will find Parenting Children with Learning Disabilities an important book. The authors, Jane Utley Adelizzi and Diane B. Goss, face head on the anguish and the challenges of learning differences, bringing to the subject the wisdom of psychology, the stamina of experience (they are both experts in the field, working at the renowned PAL center at Curry College), and the intensity of faith.

All three approaches are essential to move people beyond the roadblocks in the classroom, in the family, and in daily life. The thesis of the book is a humane one: that if parents can be patient with themselves and with their children, even when the wounds inflicted by learning differences seem intractable, they will prevail. Adelizzi and Goss give the reader is a roadmap out of the classroom when a student is humiliated into silence and the living room when anger and frustration overwhelm hope. Their goal for the reader is a sense of self and of empowerment over learning difficulties. The terrain, of course, is full of thorns and barbed wire. There are still those who don't believe in learning differences or who equate them with stupidity or laziness; and there are well-intentioned parents and teachers who believe that the appropriate response is a kind of academic tough love. This is not to say that Adelizzi and Goss skirt the daunting issues of self-esteem and motivation, or what has come to be called "learned helplessness." But their book is meant to heal, not to punish or harangue.

They begin at the beginning with what is known about the origins of learning differences and how these differences can be diagnosed. Then they draw in realistic but still poignant detail the social and emotional impact of learning differences. But it is in the main section of the book, where they describe what parents can do to help their children learn, that much valuable material is set in a new context. They connect specific problems to a variety of solutions (including technology) in the processes of writing, reading, speaking, and the ability to do math. Their advice, as they put themselves in the shoes of parents, is clear, practical, and honest: hard work will pay off.

The most useful aspect of this valuable book is that Adelizzi and Goss give the reader a way out of the darkness. That they locate the source of power in the quality of the relationship between parent and child gives us all something more than hope: things we can do to make it better. It may be hard to read of some of the experiences and limitations described in this book, but the writers know their subject thoroughly and have an irresistible urge to communicate. In some families and in some classrooms, this book will revive spirits and save lives.

I THOUGHT THIS BOOK WAS NEAT BECAUSE IT TALKED ABOUT FEELINGS AND QUESTIONS THAT I HAD AS A SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD. THIS BOOK WOULD BE GOOD FOR FAMILIES WHO HAVE KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS BECAUSE IT WILL HELP PARENTS UNDERSTAND THEIR KIDS FEELINGS AND FRUSTRATIONS.
A SPECIAL OLYMPIAN

This work represents an expanded management approach, occurring over three years, for special education students with multiple disabilities. As senior author of both 1st edition (1987) and 2nd edition (1990), I noted dramatic improvements in technology; however, surgical (orthopaedic) procedures were reported as unchanged. While the underlying philosophy of this book remains valid, technical aspects now may be regarded as a "walk through history." Beverly A. Fraser, PhD

I loved this book.

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.

Kim Nielsen's Radical Lives Of Helen Keller is part of the New York University Press "The History of Disability" series and provides a powerful social, political and literary biography of Helen Keller's life based on research into both literary sources and FBI files and military intelligence. The result is an unusual focus on Keller's involvement in disability rights and activism a focus which has been lost in other concentrations on her blindness and literary achievements. Radical Lives thus is an important, essential guide for any who would receive a well-rounded survey of her life.

Of all the books I had to read in college on literacy, this one is the most helpful and the only one I keep in my classroom as a reference. It clearly explains normal literacy development and disects the problems that arise. PRACTICAL strategies to help struggling readers and writers and abundant. It's not a quick read, but if you work with struggling readers and writers, you'll learn a lot from this book.

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.