Specific Disabilities Books

This book has been quite helpful with resources and with thinking positively about the prognosis for our NLD child.

This book really describes my daughter. It's very specific and yet easy to read. For the first time, I've found a book which makes sense of my daughter's lifelong behavior. I'm grateful to have found it.

This is a good book. It has practical tips that can be immediately utilized. It also goes into how you can help your child at school with IEPs, etc. I would recommend it as a supplemental book for parents with children having this problem.

I hope when you read this book you endure through the first 63 pages of tedious technical differential diagnosis to make it to page 64. It is on pages 64 and 65 when this book paints in vivid colors the NLD and AS experience, as if you could briefly experience it yourself. Ms. Stewart explains what some have called "rigidity" in affected invididuals as their preference for generating "scripts" [essentially memorized responses] and interacting with life through their "scripts". Many parents and teachers make the mistake of trying to 'light fires' under NLD/AS children, but Ms. Stewart explains their slow processing speed as a need to translate the world into their own organized system before they can respond. I have given this book the highest rating - 5 stars - because author Stewart's look into the process of the NLD/AS mind is enthralling insight.

The book promises more than it can deliver. Six dense chapters follow the insights presented on page 63 and 64, but only on pages 126-127 "Practice Activities" do I find practical ideas that might make a difference. And too much of the book is devoted to school success concerns and too little on assisting NLD/AS children to developing lives outside school. Some suggestions seem almost silly: buy a watch for your child. list key words in assignments. These aren't deep insights, the suggestions should have been limited to ideas that are distinctly different than helping any child without NLD or AS.

It seems like this book just copied information from earlier books on the subject and rushed to capitalize on the increase of AS diagnoses. Atwood's book is far more interesting, informative and original. I've seen this woman speak as well, and she seems a bit unclear.

My sister, ever since I lent her "Geek Love," is really into books set in carnivals, circuses, or with sideshow characters. This book, my first foray into nonfiction, was definitely something different.

I was surprised to see upon shipping that it is actually more like a textbook than a paperback novel. It is larger in order to show more details in the photos, and like other reviewers mentioned, some of the photos are extremely graphic. This book is not appropriate for children. Also, the narrative is somewhat lacking. The writing is fine, especially because it humanizes sideshow folk, but the photos often don't match up to what is being said on that page, and sometimes photos don't have back story within the text.

That said, my sister loved it. She liked getting the real story about these real people, and how they interacted with others and amongst themselves. It was a great birthday present, and I'm glad I chose it for her!

this book is an ok read. not enough pictures of the characters he refers to. pictures are of random freaks. x-rated if you are thinking of this for a child. makes you wonder if you dare to have children!

The pictures are extremely graphic. Very interesting book though, but felt guilt for getting entertainment from their oddities.

Originally released in 1976, 'Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others' is a bit dated in that many of the people mentioned have since passed on. When first released, the book was quickly pulled for reasons I can only guess at, foremost it probably being too graphic for the times. Its large size and many pictures more than make up for its slimness (only 120 pages).

Author Daniel Mannix gives us and inside and personal look at the old-fashioned "Ten-In-One" show: the Freak Show. Mannix worked in the carnival business and personally knew many of the people he speaks about, such as Pricilla The Monkey Girl and Emmett The Alligator Man (who were happily married). Before "political correctness" and phrases like "Differently Abled" came along, the Ten-In-One was often a haven and a home for those born with birth defects.

Midgets, dwarves, giants, obese folk, "the human skeleton", bearded women, co-joined twins, those born without arms or legs, pinheads, hermaphrodites, skin conditions, the double-jointed, and deformities - all were welcomed at the Ten-In-One and many made a great deal of money at it. This isn't a book making fun of these oddities, its book that celebrates their differences, their lives, and their ability to love.

Mannix's prose is informative and conversational, the stories are true (though he admits a few have questionable roots), and the many pictures are captivating, graphic, and ... well, freakish. I found the book so absorbing that I read it through in one sitting. There's a lot of history addressed, from the court jesters of historic kings to an intimate look at the most famous Siamese twins Chang and Eng, to the reasons why its an insult to call a dwarf a midget or a midget a dwarf. Mannix keeps the book thoughtful and respectful while giving insight into the origin and history of the Freak Show.

Whether curious or simply researching, this is one of the best books ever written about the old-fashioned sideshows. If your interested in the subject, then don't miss out on this informative and graphic story of a group of amazing people living in the amazing world of the carnival. Enjoy!

This book is the end all best collection of sideshow anomalies that includes both people with congenital deformities and just those with special talents. The book provides graphic pictures, detailed explanation of defects (and talents) and personal stories about famed "freaks" that are blessed (or suffer) from their uniqueness. There are more pictures then anything else and it can be quite vivid for certain ages. The book includes midgets, giants, conjoined twins, parasitic twins, bearded women, dog faced boys, rare skin condition, lobster limbs, missing limbs, fossilized bodies, those with half bodies, hermaphrodites, and many other curiosities.
The book is very easy to follow, the infomation is thorough, and it contains rare photography that I have not seen in any other book or website (such as freque.com). I am not going to be crude, but I respect people's differences and like to see what the lure was of these people in their heyday, so this book was incredibly engrossing. This definately may not be for everyone, but it is a great book on a unique subject.

Very impressed with the current information found in this book - there are many adult ADD books on my shelf, but this is in my top 3 books for everyday referals...worth purchasing!

Murphy's "Out of the Fog" was published in 1995 -- that's 11 years behind the times! While he might include some informative and interesting stuff here, ADD/ADHD research is piling up with new insights and implications for personal and social-political use.

The very best new work out there, as of 2006, is Thomas E. Brown's "Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults." Brown, a psychiatry prof at Yale's School of Medicine and the associate director of the Yale Clinic for Attention and Related Disorders, hasn't written a self-help guide here; instead, he's crafted the best overview of current thinking about ADD. He answers doubters -- and, refreshingly, discusses why a number of doubts about the very existence of ADD exist.

If you really want to know about ADD, this is the book.

After completing this review, I realized that if you have ADHD (like me), you may need to take a break in order to make it through to the end.
I am experienced reader of books on the subject of ADHD. The first thing I noticed about the book was the small font and paragraphs which extended very close to the edge of the pages. This is not ADHD-friendly. That said, an effort is made to use summary paragraphs. However, as most all ADHD books feature blocking information, summarizing, and reviewing. I tend to expect this rather than appreciate it. Another feature of the book which threw me off (repeatedly): randomly placed (long and winding) case studies (e.g. "Amy had just been diagnosed ...).
Per the DSM IV, "ADHD" is the proper term and covers three sub-types. The term ADD is no longer used (it's a sub-type under "ADHD"). The author explains this and then, states: "In the interest of simplicity, we will use the term ADD to refer to all three forms." I stopped and scratched my head ... does he believe his reader base to be so inattentive as to render them unable to deal with an extra letter to describe the very condition about which the book is written? That leads to the second question, does simplicity really call for the incorrect labeling of the subject matter of you book? Lastly, even before the DSM IV change, "ADD" as a label leaves out hyperactivity (and combined) - making it simple, but wrong. Why not refer to it properly and in doing so, encompass the entirety of those with the DSM IV's definition of ADHD?
Okay, this guy is old school and wants to save "H" for "simplicity" of reading. I moved on. Shortly thereafter, I got the sensation that I needeed to break out the pom-poms. I don't read about my ADHD to learn all the "wonderful" things I can accomplish despite my condition. At this point, I was becoming impatient. I flipped to the front of the book and noted it is still on the first version which is dated 1995. I knew the medication chapter should make for some useless reading. I had to flip to the chapter covering medication to find out just how useless. As expected, the chapter is pitifully outdated. Without getting specific, I will just let you know that the chapter spends most of its time on Ritalin as the AD(H)D medication and Prozac as a good anti-depressant. Don't waste your time. "Scattered Minds" by Adler (2006) offers medication information to such a greater extent, that fact alone would justify choosing "Scattered Minds" over "Out of the Fog" if you had only once choice.
So, why the 3 stars - kinda high based on my gripes, huh? I set aside my "ADD" label annoyance, worked through the small font and crammed pages, long and winding case studies, and woefully outdated medicaion infomation. What I found is this book offers very useful coping strategies for Adult ADHD. The book also does an excellent job of identifying problems ADHD creates (which leads to the coping advice). The author knows the subject very well. In this regard, the book is better than average.
I have to mention the book's information regarding how to cope with everyday life. You need to take advantage of technology's cutting edge equipment: "computers, fax machines, calculators, and voicemail." Wow. The calculator? It sure is an improvement over that time-intensive abacus.
Those with ADHD will find the layout of this book poor to the point to classify it as a non-starter. If you desire to understand a loved-one's condition, you would certainly benefit from the information (except medication and technology) provided. If you are looking to get your ADHD life under control, I suggest "10 Simple Solution to Adult ADD" (Sarkis, 2005) because it is laid out with the intended audience in mind. It is a quick hitting, information intensive read. (Yes, Sarkis also calls it ADD - oh well.)

After completing this review, I realized that if you have ADHD (like me), you may need to take a break in order to make it through to the end.
I am experienced reader of books on the subject of ADHD. The first thing I noticed about the book was the small font and paragraphs which extended very close to the edge of the pages. There is an effort made to do use summary paragraphs so that the ADHD reader can stay focused. Most all ADHD books feature blocking information, summarizing, and reviewing. I tend to expect this rather than appreciate it. Another feature of the book which threw me off (repeatedly): the randomly placed (and long and winding) case studies ("Amy had just been diagnosed ...). There are too many of them and they are too long. Remember your audience.
Per the DSM IV, "ADHD" is the proper term and covers three sub-types. The term ADD is no longer used (it's a sub-type under "ADHD"). The author explains this and then, states: "In the interest of simplicity, we will use the term ADD to refer to all three forms." I stopped and scratched my head ... does he believe his reader base to be so on short concentration we will be unable to deal with an extra letter to describe the very condition about which the book is written? That leads to the second question, does simplicity really call for the incorrect labeling of the subject matter of you book? Lastly, "ADD" as a label leaves out hyperactivity - making it simple, but wrong. Why not refer to it properly and in doing so, encompass the entirety of those with the DSM IV's definition of ADHD?
Okay, this guy is old school and wants to save "H" for "simplicity" of reading. I moved on. Shortly thereafter, I got the sensation that I needeed to break out the pom-poms. I don't read about my ADHD to learn all the "wonderful" things I can accomplish despite my condition. At this point, I was becoming impatient. I flipped to the front of the book and noted it is still on the first version which is dated 1995. I knew the medication chapter should make for some useless reading. I had to flip to the chapter covering medication to find out just how useless. As expected, the chapter is pitifully outdated. Without getting specific, I will just let you know that the chapter spends most of its time on Ritalin as the AD(H)D medication and Prozac as a good anti-depressant. Don't waste your time. "Scattered Minds" by Adler (2006) offers medication information to such a greater extent, that fact alone would justify choosing "Scattered Minds" over "Out of the Fog" if you had only once choice.
So, why the 3 stars - kinda high based on my gripes, huh? I set aside my "ADD" label annoyance, worked through the small font and crammed pages, long and winding case studies, and woefully outdated medicaion and technology infomation. What I found is this book offers very useful coping strategies for Adult ADHD. The book also does an excellent job of identifying problems ADHD creates (which leads to the coping advice). The author knows the subject very well. In this regard, the book is better than average.
I have to mention the book's information regarding how to cope with everyday life. You need to take advantage of technology's cutting edge equipment: "computers, fax machines, calculators, and voicemail." Wow. The calculator? It sure is an improvement over that time-intensive abacus.
Those with ADHD will find the layout of this book poor to the point to classify it as a non-starter. If you desire to understand a loved-one's condition, you would certainly benefit from the information (except medication and technology) provided. If you are looking to get your ADHD life under control, I suggest "10 Simple Solution to Adult ADD" (Sarkis, 2005) because it is laid out very well for those who struggle to keep focus. It is a quick hitting, information intensive read. (Yes, Sarkis also calls it ADD - oh well.)

This book has been very helpful so far. It is giving me new ways to think about old problems. I'm only half-way through, but am trying to get a handle on the time management/organizational problems with the help of one of the strategies suggested. I would imagine that most of this information would seem very obvious to the "normal" person, but to those of us who are "in the fog", it is invaluable. Thanks for writing this book Dr. Murphy!

R. Simmons, St. Charles, MO.

I'm sure this book is very useful for adults with Asperger Syndrome as well as kids with AS and parents with AS children! The main reason is that this work is quite easy to understand and practical. Although I'm still single, I can see that raising AS and/or autistic children has been very stressful for their parents. Ordinary parenting doesn't always work when it comes to dealing with people with AS and other developmental disabilities. I think it is because this is exactly what ordinary people have never experienced before, which makes them harder to cope with. Certainly, most developmentally challenged people seem or look almost the same as any other people around them. However, they have been feeling different and distant from ordinary people, which is likely to lead to social inferiority and low self-confidence. I'm not the exception because I was diagnosed as ADHD and PDD(=Pervasive Developmental Disorder) when I was 34.
That's why I strongly feel that Parenting a Child With Asperger Syndrome: 200 Tips and Strategies will apply to my daily life. I know it is so difficult to carry out 100% of what is written in this book. But I'll try my best to cope with my difficulties in my life by comprehending gradually what she is driving at.

Great book to have for moms of high functioning ASD kids. Much easier to read and more straight forward than other books. Good useful tips. Highly recommend it.

As a parent of a 7 year old with Asperger's, this was my first book purchase on the subject. This book has enlightened me so much and has made me more patient of his "quirks". They are such complex individuals who need to be treated with understanding and respect. This book taught me many ways to do that while still being firm with discipline. I highly recommend this book to any parent who has a child with Asperger's.

This is excellent as it is written from the viewpoint of an Asperger's person, gives an explanation, and relates situations which we all find ourselves in when we are involved with this syndrome. I'm a grandparent and purchased this book for my granddaughters as their brother has Asperger's. I read it first, gave it to my son and his wife to read, before passing it on to the grandkids. We all learned from this book, even though we have been working with professionals and educators for years. This is a must read!!!

I loved this book. It reinforced what I already knew about AS, and added a wealth of knowledge that I have found invaluable. The strategies and tips are great. I've used them many times now...and they work!!! It was such a relief when I read this book and learned that other parents go through the exact same thing I have been going through with my son. This author really knows what she is writing about, and you can tell it is from her own personal experiences. I recommend this book to anyone who has a child they even suspect of having some type of developmental disorder.

This is a great book on dealing with ADD. It is easy to read and full of useful information for dealing with loved ones with this disorder.


The ironic thing is, though...if you actually suffer from ADD you will probably not be able to get through this book.


So I suppose this book would be best for people who don't actually have ADD.


Wait, I got it!!


Make this a "books on tape". That would work!

This book is useful for parents looking to get a good understanding of the mechanics of ADHD and some ideas on how best to tackle it. The book is very technical in places but it offers some practical advice.

Great book for medical professionals and those who have some background in ADHD. Good for others, but can be a bit more complicated. Personally I found it very informative.

This book is one of the top three in my ADHD library, which is rather extensive!

Read the editorial reviews above, from some of the field's top experts, to see how highly Brown's colleagues regard his work and this book.

Having attended Dr. Brown's lectures many times over the years, I was glad to see that this printed presentation is just as engaging and clear as his lectures.

Highly recommended!

Gina Pera, author, advocate
Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.? Stoppingthe Roller Coaster When Someone You Love Has Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHDRollerCoaster.com

This book is excellent and a must-read for any one interested in the effects of ADD on not only learning and academic achievement, but intepersonal dynamics, management of finances, and advancement in the workplace. Rather than providing either excuses or stigmatizing explanations, Brown provides scientific and anecdotal evidence for a complex, neurobehavioral profile of the executive functioning difficulties for those persons with ADD.

and I put down after only a few pages before. This time I started it I read the whole thing. The last part of the book had the deepest meeting for me. I am glad I gave it another chance. I have read her fictional story called "Sister" some time ago so I was familiar with the author. I also read the book "Read this and tell me what it means" another book by the author that book is a short story collection. I am glad I gave this book another chance. :)

There are those who easily turn to their religion to find comfort in the midst of nearly any difficulty. Then there are those who REFUSE to do so and who are able to find their way through the pain anyway.
Ansay falls into the latter group (and I want to be clear here,...I'm not saying one viewpoint is better than the other, only pointing out the facts).
She is quite honest about her unwillingness (or inability) to make that choice for herself. She is faced with a mysterious illness and no guarantee of recovery. She may be in a wheelchair all her life. She is young.
THe result? A book about how she comes to grips with all of this WITHOUT insisting on finding "meaning" or a sense that she was destined for this or that there is some deeper significance or spiritual pattern in her illness.
If you know someone in a similar circumstance, someone for whom religion is not an easy comfort and who wonders how others have coped, this would be a perfect choice. It is also worth reading by just about anyone who wonders "What if?" or "How would I handle this?". Honest, detailed and unflinching.

In "Limbo," a memoir by A. Manette Ansay, the author remembers growing up in the sixties and seventies, for the most part, with fondness. Although Ann's traditional Catholic upbringing gave her nightmares on more than one occasion, the strict rules and routines that governed her life made her feel secure. When her parents took her to Wisconsin, she got to know her large extended family, which included sixty-seven cousins. As a youngster, Ann enjoyed physical activity of any sort. She loved to run, jump, and wrestle, and she even did sit-ups and push-ups when she was in elementary school.

One of the great loves of Ann's life was music. She took piano lessons for years and practiced for hours each day. She became so proficient that she was eventually admitted to the prestigious Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Tragically, her promising musical career was cut short when physical symptoms that she had been battling for years suddenly grew worse. She suffered from intense pain in her arms and legs, and the doctors she consulted could not agree on a diagnosis. She tried cortisone shots, anti-inflammatory drugs, splints, braces, surgery, hypnosis, and many other treatments. Nothing cured her, although there were times when she could walk under her own power for short distances. However, because of the pain in her arms, Ann knew that she had to give up her dream of becoming a concert pianist. After much soul searching, she eventually turned to writing.

"Limbo" is an episodic memoir that goes back and forth in time. The shifts are sometimes too sudden and they give the book a choppy feel. In addition, it is a bit confusing when Ansay uses the present tense to describe events long past. However, her descriptive writing is vivid, lyrical, and evocative. She uses creative imagery to depict the people she has known and the experiences that have shaped her life. The author includes in her memoir engrossing anecdotes about a wide variety of topics, including her troubled Grandmother Ansay, the way that Chaim Potok's novel, "The Chosen" changed her view of the world, her ambivalence about religion, and her childhood worries and escapades.

The book is most affecting when Ann talks about her illness and how it transformed her. She attended and completed college, even though she was unable to take notes or written exams. Strangers stared and pointed at her in her wheelchair or made rude comments about her disability, such as, "You've got it easy--the rest of us have to walk." However, the illness brought Ann closer to her parents, especially her mother, who was an invaluable asset to her sick daughter. In 1986, Ann's mother took her on a seven-hour drive to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota every six weeks for treatments.

Today, Ansay is a successful writer, and she has come to terms with her condition. She says, "It's a good life, made up of the people I love, the novels I've written and those I plan to write . . . ." Her persistence, determination, and resilience are inspiring, and I recommend "Limbo" for those who are interested in a true story of courage and grace under pressure.

"The abyss opens beneath our feet, and we leap it,
*not* because we are particularly brave, but simply
because we must. We land in a whole new country. We
put on its clothing, learn its customs, begin again .
. . ."

This book is the saga of one person's approach to the
abyss, her eventual leap, and the long process of
resettlement in the "whole new country" -- a locale in
which she resides with grace and wisdom.

The book is also a succinct autobiography,
selective in its particulars. While it begins and ends with the author's transition to chronic disability, its substantial midsection constitutes one long flashback to her most
formative years. In these pages, she allows us ever so gradually past the periphery and closer to the essence of her active, exploratory childhood and her "good-girl" adolescence in the small community of Port Washington, Wisconsin.

Especially subtle and well-crafted
are the evolving portraits of the most influential
people in her life: the feisty, sometimes fiery
immigrant grandparents; the mother who drives long
distances (often through the chilliest northern landscapes, in an unheated car) to deliver the author
to the best available music lessons; perhaps most endearing, in the end, the taciturn breadwinner-father
-- for it is her father's story, once his speech begins to flow in the face of his daughter's suffering, that ultimately anchors, even permits the telling of, her own story. As Ansay flowers into full personhood, becoming ever more accessible and sympathetic to the reader -- so does he: a man whose life was,likewise, disrupted and derailed by serious illness in his youth. They share a certain resigned if sorrowful firsthand knowledge, as well as a deep camaraderie, borne of their historical social isolation and gratuitous suffering

As the author recounts her life, she mentions almost in passing -- confessing to what she seems to
consider an amateurish avocation -- that she has written some poetry early on. However modest she herself may consider those early efforts, a fine poetic sensibility is evident throughout the description of her odyssey to the edge
of the abyss and beyond: the rhythmic flow and careful patterning of her prose, her well-honed capacity for understatement and nuance.

No doubt her writing has also been influenced by her
long and rigorous training in music. Until she is
stricken by the still-undiagnosed (demyelinating?)
disorder that forces her to leave the Peabody
Conservatory and abandon her longtime dream -- a career as a concert pianist -- music is her daily regimen, even obsession. It becomes her spiritual sustenance as well: "the purest language I knew, the bridge between what I was supposed to believe and what I knew in my heart to be true." The transition to a whole new language -- to literature and the writing of novels -- becomes her ultimate redemption and salvation; inevitably, her first language informs her second.

It is that first and dearest language -- the hours of grueling piano practice -- the push for a better instrument, a better instructor, a scholarship -- that carries her safely through the Port Washington years. Even in childhood, though, we see evidence of other strengths, such as her keen observational powers, her sensitivity to sensory input. We see through her young eyes the lush checkerboard of Wisconsin farmland, viewed from a child's perch on a bicylcle -- the squares reflecting the whole ordered lifestyle of immigrant farmers, the clearly delineated boundaries of their industrious and God-fearing moral code. We come to know, too, through the author's neurons and receptors, the omnipresence of Lake Michigan in its many moods; at a certain season, mentally strolling its beaches beside her, we can almost inhale the rich rankness of the alewives.

We also come to see how asphyxiating a small community can be in terms of its moral strictures -- its church-bound preoccupations -- and we catch glimpses of its predictably sinister underbelly. Ansay writes of growing up amid a vast, extended Catholic family, primarily originating in Luxembourg and Germany. The somewhat monolithic family, the insular and even xenophobic community (its first Jewish family arrives during Ansay's eighties-childhood, but soon returns to the city) impresses upon her relentlessly the obligation not to make waves, never to stand out too noticeably or think too highly of oneself.

Thus, as she navigates an adolescence both gifted and
repressed, it seems somewhat inevitable that resentful classmates take to terrorizing
her -- threatening gross punishments (assault, even rape) for her alleged aloofness or visible self-regard; bringing her to fear she may not even make it to graduation before she is annihilated. Her descriptions of the high school sociopaths who lurk in the shadows, of the horrifying notes slipped anonymously into her locker, will ring true for everyone who has ever been bullied in school -- for every woman or girl who has dared not to apologize for intellectual excellence or
outstanding achievment.

In fact, though she doesn't say so explicitly,
the creepy two-bit persecution Ansay recounts from her high school years is probably good preparation for her later encounters with adult-aged creeps and insensates -- with the whole gallery of unthinking, gaping, sometimes reproving or sermonizing strangers who tend to assail a visibly disabled person wherever she goes, intruding on her privacy and dignity with their endless repertoire of bizarre questions and surreal remarks.

By the time Ansay reaches her twenties -- an
expatriate Catholic with severe new medical limitations,
reconciling herself to assistive devices such as wheel
chairs and power scooters -- she seems eminently well
equipped to deal with such individuals. She dispatches
them with a wonderful, dry, ironic sense of humor that
had me laughing and reading passages out loud to those
few people in my own life who might understand. The
smarmy, patronizing salesman; the man in the cultish
pain management program whose hand she would rather
not be holding during Twelve-Step-esque vespers; the
intrusive evangelist who speaks to her of throwing away her wheel chair -- all are fair game for Ansay's droll, subtle, devastating wit.

This memoir properly belongs to the genre of
such outstanding works as Nancy Mairs's *Waist-High in
the World,* Oliver Sacks's *A Leg to Stand On,* and
the wonderful New Yorker piece by Laura Hillenbrand
(author of *Seabiscuit*), "A Sudden Illness -- How My
Life Changed.* It might be read especially
appropriately as a complement to the fine expository
volume and research study *When Walking Fails* by Lisa
Iezzoni, a distinguished Harvard health researcher and
veteran of MS.

All refugees -- abyss-leapers, entrants into the
wilderness -- must typically limit their luggage
severely, settling on a few spare, precious remnants
they will transport into that whole new country.

This spare, poetic, insightful memoir --
marked up in black ballpoint and yellow highlighter,
extruding additional notes and comments on multiple
rainbow-Post-Its -- elegantly truthful, no matter how
hard the truths -- calmly, sometimes delightfully companionable in its recounting of familiar interpersonal misunderstandings at once horrific and hilarious -- is definitely one of my own essentials, to be tucked into my specially lightweight backpack or that small, handy storage space just under the seat of my walker.

Elizabeth Rasche Gonzalez
Medical/Legal Writing & Editorial Services
Chicago, Illinois
Email: poetryperson@sbcglobal.net

The author is a longtime medical writer and midlife law graduate (admitted to the bar in 1994). Since 1997, she has been disabled by defective spinal hardware, surgically implanted to correct scoliosis. In the past five years, she has undergone six additional spinal revision surgeries. Elizabeth owns and manages a 488-member forum for other adults with scoliosis who are coping with ongoing problems arising from Harrington rod instrumentation: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeistyScolioFlatbackers

Since writing my own memoir, BABY CATCHER: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife (Scribner 2002), I have been studying the style of other memorists. I found Ansay's prose lyrical, mesmerizing, and almost poetic throughout this beautiful book. To be able to write about her losses as a result of a still-mysterious illness similar to MS, with calmness and lack of hyperbole, is admirable and enviable. From the very beginning you know this story doesn't have a happy outcome, but at no time did I feel depressed. On some level, I rejoiced for this author, for her own successes and insight and hope and the joy in small gains, small triumphs over her difficulties. Limbo is a love story, an admirable one. I wish this author lived next door to me. I would sit at her feet in awe and bake her cookies and bread at every opportunity. May she continue to write and write and write.

I found this book extremely helpful. My 15 year old daughter was recently diagnosed with NLD so I am playing "catch up". For years we thought she had ADD and more recently, mental illness. She was fine socially until middle school and then she just couldn't "keep up" with her friends.
Everything in the book from personal care to academics is so accurate for her. She is however athletic, and, contrary to what the book says, can hit a softball. Just like the author's daughter my daughter is also musical. This is a must read for all parents.

I wish I had this book when my child was younger. However, even now it is helpful in understanding more about what he struggles with and how I can help. It's nice to have a book where you don't have to read it cover to cover but rather can turn to a page to answer your current concern.

This book has provided me with very needed insight into the issues my son has been experiencing and can't express. It explained alot of what we have been going through for years. What we thought was an attitude & disciplinary issue has actually been a learning disability.

My son was diagnosed in August '07 with high functioning Asperger's & NLD. He is 11 years old. I have had so much difficulty finding support & knowledge. This book was a good start!

I find this title's subject refreshing but its approach problematic.

The book doesn't address the overall issues and problems with disabled children. You need to FIRST get a handle, an overview, of how you and your disabled child will fit into the modern world. This book is too myopic, too focused, and although that's its intent, without a context to use it in, you will not succeed as much as you otherwise would.

FIRST, get the Big Picture. Learn how society will SEEK TO HARM YOUR CHILD so you can take immediate action to protect your precious one. That means get an understanding of the true disabilities picture from a book such as Disabling America: The Unintended Consequences of the Government's Protection of the Handicapped and THEN you'll have a context in which to raise your child in a healthy environment.

Teachers, consultants, ADA advocates, and lawyers all want their paws on your little one. Don't let them do that! Love and protect and guard your precious ones and learn the dangers of today's almost-draconian approach to children with disabilities.

I know, I know, it sounds HARSH. It is! But only once you know what your little one will face in society, not from peers but from those who seek to profit from her or him, only then can you have the proper framework to raise your little one with the best chance at success possible.

Recently our teenager was diagnosed with NLD. This book was recommended to us by a psychologist. We found the book to be extremely helpful in explaining NLD (in plain English) and helping us understand how to deal with the NLD child. The book addresses the needs of parents with either young or adolencent children with NLD. I highly recommend this book as a starting point for parents and educators in learning about NLD.

My son is 11 with NLD and this book will clearly help me in explaining to the middle school guidance department what exactly he needs to receive in order to succeed. Well-written and concise.

This book is so helpful! I can't believe how much this book described our son. We were able to help ourselves become better, more understanding parents - and we helped the school with ideas to help him there as well.

If you are struggling with how to help your NLD child, then this book will be an excellent resource. The author uses clear, concise illustrations to help the reader understand the disorder and more importantly, what it's like to be a kid with NLD.

Included are some very practical and easy to implement suggestions to help the NLD child with math and writing. We've used a couple of the suggestions and had incredible results. Not only did our son complete the work correctly, but his success with these tools made him realize that he can do the work; he just needs the material presented to him in a way that he can understand. The cost of the book < $30...having your child realize they are capable...PRICELESS!

I am so happy with this book. It totally describes my daughter to a "T" and has been so helpful to me and all of her educators.
I always have it close at hand to refer to when we are struggling with homework or learning something new in school. I have taken all of the ideas on how to teach certain subjects, photocopied them and made a handy desk refrence for all of her teachers.
I also bought one for her school to have.
I wish though, that it had more insight on how to teach multiplication to these kids. This is one area that my 7th grader just can not get a handle on!
This book is great, it is easy to read, and it clearly tells the world that your child or student with NVld can learn everything if it is just taught the best way for them and the disability is all encompassing in their lives not just academically. The social issues are a huge part of it all!
Thank you so much for such a great refrence through every step of our lives!

As a school psychologist sometimes I need to have something from what to draw information - I have so much data and need words to define what I see. This book does a wonderful job of summarizing the types of behaviors and concerns that teachers bring to me. Being able to share this resource with them and draw from it as I attempt to assist parents and teachers with a student's learning profile is a joy. Thanks for all of the tremendous effort!

Many Touretters will say that Tourette's gives rhythm to not only movement and speech, but thought and life as well. This book, with its energetic, pulsing, and sometimes explosive rhythm, certainly seems to bear that out.

The author, who has Tourette's syndrome himself, describes the way Tourette's interplays with and shapes his life, in an integrated way even when he sees it as an interference. He meets people with varying kinds and degrees of Tourette's, along with Oliver Sacks, a famous neurologist who studies people with Tourette's.

As a person whose tics are too mild for me to really consider them a part of me, I found it interesting to see what life is like with tics that integrate themselves into every part of a person's life. I noticed parallels between the attitudes of some Touretters toward Tourette's and the attitude of many autistic people toward autism, where there's not as much of a line to be drawn between a condition and a person's personality as a purely medical/disease model would make it sound. This book was both interesting and genuinely enjoyable to read.

Taken from the perspective of an author who lives with Tourette's Syndrome, Lowell Handler provides one of the most vivid everyday observances to a most uncontrollable disorder. What most people have little grasp on, Handler often uses humility and humor to set examples of how only one living with this handicap can describe.

Tourette's Syndrome is usually spotted early before the age of eighteen, found to impair males more than females (almost three to one). Tourette's creates involuntary movements and tics that usually cannot be controlled by the person. Vocally, inappropriate language and animal sounds is the most common dysfunction towards the disorder's spontaneous combustion.

Twitch & Shout gives an inspirational account of a man that survives triumphantly, documenting the good and the bad as an author, photographer and moviemaker, on top of personal and love interest. People with Tourette's lead normal and healthy lives, but the journey sometimes is not. Feeling comfortable means comprehending the diagnoses. Handler evokes a great deal of self into the findings of this book.

SIDENOTE
Handler filmed a documentary also called Twitch & Shout before the book was published. This can be found at select local libraries on a VHS format. The video shows some different perspectives that the book cannot illustrate. VERY RECOMMENDED.

Twitch and Shout is a fascinating, moving, and informative account of an artistic young man (the author) who confronts his Tourette Syndrome head on, deliberately living at full tilt in defiance of the much misunderstood disorder.

Moments of transcendent prose alternate with hilarious and sometimes sad memoir.

As an artist and advocate of mastery, I appreciated how the author's challenges shaped his journey, bringing him numerous triumphs, as photographer, author, friend and lover. With objectivity and grace, he discovered that Tourette informed part of who he was, and acted almost as a language or culture, at times a heightened state.

I was moved by this perspective, and aspire to its message, that we should not only accept our rough edges, but see them as the parameters of our genius.

I was so impressed with the frankness and openess of this book. Handler allows its reader into a world that there are not many doors for those without TS. He helps the reader explore the humor of TS, the complexity of TS and the comradery between Touretters. This book is profoundly honest. It is a must read for those readers interested in Tourette Syndrome.

I was very disappointed that the author spent so much time using TS as an excuse for his immoral lifestyle. I'd rather not have read about his sex life & drug use.

The book almost seemed to give the impression that all of us who have TS (yes, that means me too) go around living this way.

The book actually did have a few pages that were worth reading so I gave it two stars rather than one.

Very touching story of parents realizing that it is ok to have a deaf daughter and that she is no less of a person than her older brother. Many of the misconceptions are brought out in the story of their wanting nothing but the best for their daughter. Highly recommend this book for anybody that has a hearing impaired child or know of parents who are struggling with this in their family.

This book, the true-life story of parents who struggle to do the best they can for their deaf child, is one of the most concise and important books ever written on this subject.

The book doesn't tell hearing parents what decisions they should make for their deaf child, but instead tells this family's story in an easy to read and engaging first-person narrative, written from the point of view of the child's father.

Lynn Spradley's revelation at the dinner table, after her parents teach her the first signs they've learned at a night school class, is heart breaking and revealing. 'Name me?' she demands to know. What is my name? Without sign language, there was no way to bridge the gap between parent and child, and she was five years old before she knew her own name.

Deaf Like Me is a story of 2 young parents struggling to raise their deaf daughter, Lynn, in a hearing world. Written by Thomas Spradley, Lynn's father, the book begins before Lynn was born with her mother's fear of rubella. The book takes you through the fear and waiting for the pregnancy and the eventual realization of Lynn's deafness. The story is written in a simple, straightforward manner, yet conveys the emotions of the new parents. The descriptions Thomas gives are often lacking in vibrancy and inventive vocabulary, but at the same time he conveys honest, true-to-life emotion.
The first 80% of the book is focused on the Spradley's attempts to raise Lynn to succeed in the hearing world. Thomas agonizingly describes the auditory training and constant schooling that he and his wife give Lynn, only to have her barely speaking 4 words at the age of 5. The constant movement of the family portrays varying experiences that Lynn and her parents go through as they try to teach her lip-reading and speech. It is not until the last 2 chapters that the Spradleys finally realize that communication with their daughter is more important than their dreams for her success as a `normal' hearing person and begin teaching her sign. These last two chapters show Lynn's character developing its own independent personality. Lynn also begins to explore a new deaf culture that neither her nor her parents have any experience.
My fault with the book as that I feel it ends just as the story becomes interesting. The eighteen chapters of oralism, which are shocking and disturbing, are painful lesson in futility. An impatient reader would most certainly give up on the book after the seemingly thousands of failed attempts at oralism. The dedicated reader however, is rewarded with touching moments of a family that finds its `normalcy' through the common language of sign.

Many people find this book THE book to read in regards to a deaf child's experience (of course, that includes her family as well). And this book is very good at showing you what a hearing family goes through when a deaf child is born into it. It tells of the "typical" struggle between raising their child strictly oral or letting them sign, too.

Many doctors and therapists tell hearing parents that to allow their deaf child to sign would be to hinder their ability to speak, lipread, or progress intellectually. All of this is hogwash, but, nevertheless, that is what this book is about. What should we do with our child?

If you're looking for that kind of informative read, this book is sure to please. For me, it was just another book about the same old issue and I found myself skimming often just to get to something original. As harsh as that may sound, that's just this deafie's opinion. :v)

"Deaf Like Me" is one of my favorite books of all time in any genre, and I heartily recommend it to anyone who comes across this page.

The book is a richly detailed autobiography of one family's struggles to grow up with deafness in mid-1960s America. As such, it provides a terrific introduction into a key moment in the history of deaf education when deaf children were still suffering from a wrong-headed emphasis on lip reading and vocalization, rather than sign language. Members of the deaf community have long heralded the book for this reason.

But "Deaf Like Me" isn't a book just for deaf people and others interested in deaf culture. To the contrary, I think, it's a book for anyone who grew up in 1960s America, and possibly for anyone who has struggled to communicate with loved ones ever.

That's because there are so many parallels between this little family's struggles to learn how to communicate with one another against a background of changing norms and great uncertainty, and the difficulties that many American families went through in the 1960s to speak with and understand one another on issues ranging from civil rights to the Vietnam war. Such struggles afflict most generations everywhere.

None of this is to suggest that I think the authors of "Deaf Like Me" intended to write a metaphorical treatise on 1960s America much less humanity. To the contrary, I believe the authors' sole focus was on the Spalding family's particular struggles. One of the authors was a trained anthropologist, and that comes through in the book's unerring attention to details as opposed to generalizations. It's these details in large part that bring the book to life.

Nonetheless, as a hearing person with no deaf family members, I found myself identifying with this book a lot. I suffered as the little girl Lynn and her parents suffered. And I rejoiced in their discovery that everyone in the family can express themselves and be understood if only they learn to "hear" one another in the different ways that each of us has to communicate.

Strongly recommended.