Specific Disabilities Books

I used this book through college and actually, it was more than useful in my first few years teaching. Since most teachers of children with special needs only need the basics of testing and assesment, this gives the most understandable view of how to assess, why to assess and what to do with your assessments. In most schools, the more formal testing is done at other levels, and the teacher simply needs to understand what these tests are saying and where to go from there.

I used this text while in college. It covers a wide range of assessment tools and procedures from standardized tests like the Woodcock Johnson to portfolio assessment. This is a good tool for college students to use to learn about the general aspects of various assessment tools. I would not recommend it to teachers because it is not specific enough. The book is very well organized and easy to read.

Lee Brattland Nielsen's BRIEF REFERENCE OF STUDENT DISABILITIES WITH STRATEGIES FOR THE CLASSROOM appears in a 2nd updated edition to provide educators with a desktop reference for specific disabilities and how they affect classroom setup, education choices, and classroom inclusiveness. Included here are ADHD and bipolar disorder, along with legal explanations, health information, web site references, and educational strategies. A key pick for education libraries.

The book contains alot of useful and interesting information about many common ailments afflciting people today and how they affect learning and behavior.

Deaf Peddler-Confessions of an Inside Man
By Dennis S. Buck

When I read this story I couldn't help to think of the old movie "Rebel without a cause", for that is what on the surface appears to be. Although I could never understand his motivation or choice. Yet as a Deaf person I could understand the pressure and rejection he felt from the hearing society. Of the one steady job he did have, he wasn't given the opportunity for training like his peers. When he did work with someone who understood his Sign Language they corrected him and although he had the education he was still held back. Maybe this was his reason to take to the street out of frustration thereby acting out the hearing worlds perception of Deaf people.
But in the end the wayward son comes home to the Deaf Community and realizes that Deaf people are not single entities like hearing people. That Deaf people are not whole who live outside of our community. When Deaf people strive, we strive for all Deaf people.
This is not the best book I have ever read, nor is it the worst but I am glad he came home and that his book is now added to Deaf Culture Literature, and for that reason I give this book 5 stars.

For anyone interested in Deaf culture--or, for that matter, anyone who has encountered peddlers selling those ABC cards in airports--this book is an excellent choice. Buck gives a perspective most of us would not otherwise have the opportunity to hear. He discusses his reasons for choosing this way of life, and also describes in detail what his days were like. I highly recommend the book.

Good reference about designing instructional strategies in the classroom. Structure and examples are given on how to conduct a successful lesson. Some words though are too technical and difficult to understand for non-education major. Read slowly to comprehend and visualize the scenarios.

This book lays the foundation of the underpinning principles of Direct Instruction. The authors clearly and explicitly step the read through the DI model. The book is sectioned off into sub types. These are defined and and practical strategies are given to use the DI model with curriculum areas.

This book is a must for all those wishing to use the most effective teaching model currently available to classroom teachers.

Finding this book was such a gift!! There aren't nearly as many resources for dyslexic math as there are for reading and writing. I was so frustrated trying to help my daughter w/her math--the basic concepts are so simple (for me) that I didn't know how to break it down any further to explain it to her. This book details why dyslexics don't "see" math ideas like non-dyslexics do, and how other dyslexics have been helped to grasp math concepts. For instance, my daughter has told me that she finds division easier than the other three main math concepts (addition, subtraction, multiplication) which I thought was unusual. This book explained that that's true for dyslexics because it is the only one of the four that begins computations on the left! Six different authors contributed to this book, most of whom are college professors and all of whom have taught and studied dyslexics for years. The writing is sometimes a bit dry--scholarly--but I found it fascinating and so very helpful.

There is very good book to help teachers and parents. The secret is to get teachers to read it.

Jamie, a plucky kindergartener with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) is clearly the teacher in her kindergarten class. Bright and beautiful, this little girl knows how to compute math problems and can read. She imparts her academic knowledge to her classmates and they, in turn, share some of the more usual aspects of kindergarten life with Jamie. Physically unable to compete, she encourages her peers to join her in more cerebral activities.

This is a lovely story of how a little child shall lead. This delightful little girl captivates the reader from the start. She is so adorable, so verbally precocious and so interesting that one loves her immediately. Her death at age 8 in 1994 was a major loss. Although most reviewers/readers did not know Jamie personally, her death was truly a painful loss.

This is the true story of a young Hawaiian girl with type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy, told by her kindergarten through second grade teacher. It isn't really about her disablity - SMA - it's the story of Jamie's education. Jamie becomes fascinated with reading and creative writing, and teaches many of her mainstream classmates to appreciate books. In spite of her disability, she becomes a leader and mentor to her friends. Jamie dies at the age of 8 in 1994, due to recurrent bouts of pneumonia after spinal surgery.

This book is not particularly accurate from a medical point of view (e.g. "Jamie hd spinal muscular atrophy, a form of muscular dystrophy," page 3) but it might be a very useful resource to have available for your young child's teacher. Since Jamie is physically weak and academically strong, reading this story may give a teacher some idea of what to expect of a child with SMA. There are also many excerpts from Jamie's writings included which clearly communicate her feelings and thoughts. (I am the parent of a child with the same disease.)

The Learning Differences Sourcebook, has been one of the most user friendly references that I have used. This book answered all of my questions for different components that make up childrens learning differences. The discriptions of the differences were easy to understand, useful, and applicable to the job I do. I highly recommend.

I'm really pleased with this book. I especially like that the term "Learning Differences" is used. The first few chapters are for people using professionals in the community. I did not find them helpful in my case. I did find the "non- professional" terminology helpful. The guide has specific ideas that can be implimented in a non-school, non-professional, parent controlled enviornment. Very parent friendly book. Also supportive of the alternative of homeschooling for children with these differences.

This book is a good addition to any educational professional library. I found it to be quite helpful with some of the students I currently have in my class and was reminded of modifications and accommodations I have made in the past with other students. Well worth the investment.

This was a required text for a doctorate level class and covers information very thouroughly. Because of constant changes in the field, even this 2004 copy has some outdated information, but it acknowledges areas where change seems to be coming. This is the first time I had ordered one of my texts from Amazon and decided to do so due to the price. I have always been very pleased with deliveries that rarely take more than 3 days. I ordered this on January 19 during the last few minutes of being able to have it delivered by January 22. I did not receive it until January 29. The only time anything has taken more than 3 days was when I really counted on having it sooner. If you need it as a class text, you can save money--but allow yourself plenty of time.

This book is a masterpiece, a classic work, beautifully and tenderly written, full of wisdom. The book's chapters alternate between excerpts from the journal Dennison kept during his year as a teacher at the First Street School (a small "free school" that served primarily poor children of color in New York City during the mid-1960's) and essays on education that use Dennison's experiences at First Street as their starting points. This book has been on my bookshelf for twenty-five years and I have gone back to it over and over. As a "touchstone" for the essential truths about education, this book far surpasses any other book on education I've seen.

As when I first read this book 30 years ago, it is still the best explanation for why education works or doesn't work. And it is very well written -- and very touching! It reaches one's soul.

Following is a list of the authors who contributed articles to the recently published symposium on Meaning of a Disability:

Janet E. Price, Default for Journals, UK 87 Arthur W. Frank, Default for Journals, UK 95 John O'Neill, Default for Journals, UK 101 Gerald Gold, Default for Journals, UK

Yes, I'm the Author's brother.

We too (his family) have lived the experience of paralysis with him.

I think it is much easier for us to understand the emotions - the anger, frustration, sense of loss - that he discusses in the book.

An enormous portion of the credit for his lengthy survival with this terrible ailment is due to his wife, Divina. However, his tremendous will to live despite the loss of his most loved abilities - speech and delicious foods - must also receive a full share of credit.

His quest for knowledge and the desire to disseminate that knowledge has never weakened.

My brother is an incredible man!