Specific Disabilities Books

This book has more information and is much easier to use than Peterson's. I found Peterson's useless, and I am purchasing this (I tried them both first at the library).

There is a lot of info in this book, but I live in Washington and it only had info on 2 schools. A much better book is Peterson's Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities or ADD. It separates into 2 & 4 year schools and also direct or self-directed programs. The purpose of these books should be to give you some direction as to which schools have something, and ways to contact them for more info. Tons of data about fewer schools is not that helpful, which is how I see this book. All of these books would be even more useful if they included a CD or online search capability so you didn't have to try to scour thru a large written book.

I had hoped that _The K&W Guide to Colleges: For Students with Learning Disabilities or ADD_ would be useful in selecting an appropriate college for an LD kid. Unfortunately, it was not.

On the plus side, it contains basic information in an easy-to-use format. However, that positive is outweighed by the negative: it seems to only sample a few of the many colleges and universities in the US. E.g., UC-Berkeley is included but UC-Davis is not. (Most UC campuses, like most colleges and universities, are not.) However, the services provided at UCD are similar to those at UCB. Similarly, USF and USC are included but Mills College and Stanford are not, although the schools that are excluded seem to have the same kinds of services as those that are included. The same pattern occurs among two-year colleges.

I could find no explanation of why any given college was included or excluded. Without such understanding, the book seems like a random collection of colleges with very basic information about what types of services each provides. I don't see how it is helpful in selecting a college for someone with an LD or ADD unless you've already determined which colleges you'd like to attend and are fortunate enough to have all those colleges included in this book. Even then, most the information in this book would be readily available on most colleges' web sites, along with a wealth of useful information about accommodation that's not included. Therefore, I think that for most LD or ADD students, this book is not very helpful.

I found this guide to be just what I was looking for. By reviewing the admissions procedures for LD kids, and seeing the number of staff a university devotes to assisting students with disabilities I am able to direct my son to schools that can best help him. I was very encouraged to find the University of Arizona and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill among major colleges with strong programs. I bought a second copy to give to our high school.

a terrific resource for finding the right schools for students who are challenged and in need of special programs

Lists over 1,000 2 and 4 year colleges that welcome students with learning disabilities. Includes schools that offer services and comprehensive programs. CD-ROM and quick-reference chart provided. Entries for colleges include student support services, number of students with LD and/or ADD, staff information, founding date of LD services, and number of staff members. Special services such as academic advising, counseling services, remediaiton of basic skills, subject area tutoring, special courses, auxilliary aids, and services are described. For colleges with comprehensive programs, the book lists special fees and details of the program. The book states if services are available to graduate students.

Review adapted from Learning A Living; A Guide to Planning Your Career and Finding A Job for People with Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Dyslexia

I guess I ordered this book thinking it would help with a pretty normal ADD kid; instead it focuses on kids who are severely disabled, is very dry reading, and not helpful unless you have a child with a true disability.

This is one of very few large directories available which deal with LD programs/services for college students. However, it combines 2-year and 4-year colleges so the number of colleges included is misleading. I wanted to see more about 4-year colleges. Additionally, there were no HBCUs included at all. Finally, I would have appreciated some kind of rating of "quality."

This book gave me some good perspective on working with my deaf students. It did gives many opinions that I disagree with in the course of my own studies.

This is the book you are looking for if you are the parent of a Deaf child. Tons of good information that is based on fact and not prejudice. The only negative thing I can say is the book was designed for the educated professional type of parent and includes advanced vocabulary and smallish print. You won't find illustrations, checklists or simplified information. Very excellent material that should help parents make informed decisions rearing their Deaf child. This is the kind of information that helped me to raise my own Deaf son who is now a happy and successful adult.

This is a most practical, sensitive book that is appealing for educators as well as families of deaf children. The author is renowned for his work in cognition and psychology, but demonstrates a wonderful understanding of deaf children through the eyes of an individual who seems to know their needs first hand. Any parent or teacher reading this book will get a sense of the complexities involved in raising a deaf child, but will also get a sense of hope and support for developing appropriate
guidance and nurturing. The author makes sure to speak to his audience as one among them and offers a wealth of advice regarding educational possibilities to audiological support to socio-emotional growth.

This is an unassuming book that provides light at the end of the tunnel. Honest and sincere.

This book claims to be a resource on the choises for educating your deaf child. It is not. The entire book focuses on using ASL as the means of communicating with your child. That would not be bad- if it didn't present itself as an unbiased book. After it says that ASL should be used, it then makes you feel worse by saying that if you are a hearing parent with a deaf child, you probably won't become that fluent in it anyway. There aren't references either- so I am not sure where the author gets his information. It may be true, but there should footnotes on many of the claims. If you do choose to read this book, don't make it the first book you read after you find out your child is deaf. That is what I did and all it did was depress me. In truth, I haven't finished it and probably will leave it on the shelf to pick up after I finish a few others.

This book claims to be a guide for lawyers among others but fails to give case citations or even case names in the one section that is written by a lawyer. This leaves the inquisitive reader to try and decipher which federal case is being referred to based on the fact description or holding. There must be better choices on this topic.

I understand the ire of a person who resents having to be compared with the general population, rather than to a specialized group the person wishes to become a member of, to have accommodations, but I feel that in her chapter on testing accommodations she does explain her viewpoint and the legal underpinnings of her opinion. In general, this book is a very good guide to documentation standards, provides forms that are useful, and is well worth the money as a reference book. Melissa Manning, Ph.D. Associate Director, Services for Students with Disabilities University of Kansas

As the Disabilities host at BellaOnline, I recommend this book. It's clear cut and informative. Every educator should read it and be aware.

I would love to review this book--because it is the textbook for a graduate class that I am taking; but I have never received it. I would be so grateful if this product could be sent to me. Thank you.

This book is a great resource for including students with special needs into a regular education environment. The book offers great suggestions from activities to how to set up your classroom. This book also addresses the needs of parents of children with special needs. This is a must have resource for educators.

Everytime this book is updated, I buy it. Anyone who works with children birth to five or is involved in the field of early intervention will find this book practical and relevant . It is a perfect combination of theory and practice written in an easy to read style and format. Want to know about classroom strategies for a child with vision impairments..?It's in there. What about working with para-educators? You'll find it. Need to know about adapting materials for infants in the home? You'll find that too. This book is a must for the experienced and the inexperienced teacher, home visitor, early interventionist, teaching assistant, etc. I use it as a textbook with my graduate education classes and as a personal resource when working with children and families. The resources included in the book are excellent and useful for anyone wanting to learn more about working with young children with special needs.

You would think an author would know that it is Down Sydrome-not Down's Syndrome. It kind of discredits her intelligence.

the cover of this book is actually pink so when you hear people talk about the pink book - this is it. it is an absolute must have for anyone with a DS child trying to get them in a mainstream classroom. it has all the concrete evidence needed to force the issue with the school as well as a ton of practical suggestions and examples of what needs to be done to make it work. i take this book to every IEP meeting we have.

This is a good book about including students with Down syndrome in regular classes. There are references to research. It covers both common problems and solutions. Even though the book is British, I think it's very useful for me in Sweden.

Contested Words, Contested Science presents useful, reasonable evidence of the validity of Facilitated Communication, which serves to highlight the absurdity of the arguments that claim there is no such evidence. The most definitive evidence may be the growing number of individuals who are demonstrating that through FC training they are eventually able to accomplish independent typing. Nonetheless, there are ways of looking at the method that show that those who continue to need support are able to express their own thoughts when facilitated properly.
This book is a must read for anyone who is willing to look carefully and thoughtfully at the possibilities that Facilitated Communication offers those individuals who do not speak or have very limited speech. While, to my knowledge, no one is claiming that FC is the answer for every such person, this book shows that FC can provide many with the ability to express themselves fully, opening up innumerable possibilities for a more satisfying life.

Since Douglas Biklen is one of the foremost and most vocal proponents of FC, and since none of the essays in the book are written by the many scientists, researchers, parents and people with autism who have criticised FC, I wonder whether this book is really the best place to start for anyone genuinely interested in "unravelling the facilitated communication controversy".

Biklen's compilation brings together a collection of double-blind experimental evidence on the reality of facilitated communication that can only be ignored by those people (mainly psychologists) who feel that any positive findings they find unwelcome are automatically suspect. useful for people who want to explore the possibility of taking a new view of the significance of communication handicap in intellectual disability and autism. (I've read the book, by the way: the last (anonymous) reviewer seems to have condemned it unread on the basis of its authorship on the give-a-dog-a-bad-name-and-hang him principle).

In response to the last reviewer, I don't believe there is a "snap-shot" of an autistic kid!! I thought you were just being rude to the little girl.

I found this book to be immensely helpful because there were a lot of pictures showing how they implemented the girl's therapy in her own, real home. I have been frustrated when trying to do the same because most materials refer to the classroom, which is, of course, a very different setting than the home. I highly recommend purchasing this book or borrowing it from your local library.

Originally published in the United Kingdom, and now,Philadelphia, this resource presents various kinds of home made adaptive devices for special needs children. Contained within are photos of home made charts, devices, flash cards, and learning aids that can be used to assist the differently abled child to learn many of the necessary skills to develop, communicate, prepare for life, and socially interact, despite his or her special needs.
There are two specific databases of downloadable graphics of
thousands of images, with suggestions for incorporating your own digital images, as well as creating learning devices to support your child's needs. These are : 1) Boardmaker (www.mayer-johnson.com), and 2) ISPEEK
(www.jkp.com). Consult these websites to get the descriptions, the
specifications for your computer, and the costs for each.
Check this book/resource out in your local library to see its value; then, get busy creating these learning materials for the child you are assisting. It's well worth the look.

First, let me just say that I will NOT purchase this book-I don't care how great the content is. My issue is with how the little autistic girl on the cover is portrayed. She looks like a crazed-witch. I have a child with autism, so I know what it is like, and this book cover photo is NOT what autism is in a snap-shot. This book cover photo scared me. My very first and only thought was "what does a book about a crazed-looking-girl-witch have to do with autism?" Authors and Publishers: is this the message you want sent to people? The message this picture sent to me (and I know better) was that autism is scarey, autistic people are scarey, and is that crazy autistic person going to hurt me? Is this what you want peoples first reactions to be when they consider your book? This picture is horrifying and offensive. They say a picture can paint a thousand words. Well, this one surely does. I'm repulsed that the authors felt this was an appropriate picture. End result: more negative ideas and opinions about autism floating through the world and more isolated autistics. Rethink how you approach autism, please. And God Bless that little girl on the cover of the book.

I loved this book! I read it and follwed the advise given. After reading it, I deciced although I have cp I can have a child. It was the enlightenment I needed! (my daughter is 9yrs. old now) Thank You!

This book is old and not full of much useful information for modern day women. It list specific conditions - mostly rare conditions - and fails to discuss the broader issues for mother with disabilities.

As someone with a disability who recently became a mom, I found that the literature on the subject was sparse to nonexistent. This book was the one shining gem that helped me to know that I was not alone, and that my pregnancy was not the unnatural thing that much of society still thinks it should be. A "must read" for moms with disabilities. Patricia Day

I just finished this book and I loved it. It was well-written and extremely interesting. Yes, it's a fact that the author supports oral communication. However, his thoughts on ASL and Deaf culture are supported with fact. His position is that of "whatever works for you" and he never says ASL shouldn't be used. He simply states the benefits of also being able to communicate orally and have a good command of the English language.

As a late-deafened adult, I could really relate to many of the experiences and stories that he tells in his book. I highly recommend it.

This book fails to present any interesting story or perspective on the topic within. Lew expresses a distrust and dislike for ASL and Deaf Culture that permeates his work and it's simply unacceptable.

This is a fascinating book. I find the writing style a little strange (every sentence is its own paragraph), but very readable -- and Mr. Golan has a lot to say that's worth reading! Mr. Golan tells the story of his own life, the challenges he faced and overcame in carving out a successful life in a hearing world that, while not unsympathetic to him, ultimately judged him by his ability to function in it on its own terms.

Along the way, he gives his strong opinions on education for the deaf, ASL, etc. There are other sides to all of these issues -- and he acknowledges as much -- but he has a valid perspective of his own and makes his case assertively.