The first collection of literary writing on raising a child with special needs, "Love You to Pieces" features families coping with autism, deafness, muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome and more. Here, poets, memoirists, and fiction writers paint beautiful, wrenchingly honest portraits of caring for their children, laying bare the moments of rage, disappointment, and guilt that can color their relationships. Parent-child communication can be a challenge at the best of times, but in this collection we witness the struggles and triumphs of those who speak their own language-or don't speak at all-and those who love them deeply.

'My heart has reshaped a thousand broken pieces, and for every moment I still want to heal him there are a thousand when I know he's perfect, exactly as he is'. This book will challenge your heart and change your views. Set between the summers of 1998 and 2005 in Cardiff, "Blue Sky July" is the true story of Nia, whose son Joe suffers a devastating brain injury. Through her intimate day-by-day musings, the book explores the impact of the tragedy on Nia's home life, love life, friendships and connection to the world, as the most extraordinary relationship unfolds between herself and Joe. Lyrical, inspiring and utterly compelling, Nia Wyn's powerful yet acutely sensitive account of her experiences will make an indelible impression on all who read it. A testament to the power of a mother's unconditional love for her son, "Blue Sky July" is a book that deserves to be read by everyone.

This is a collection of short stories from first-time author Lee Seymour - based around his interpretation of the world which surrounds him. Lee was born suffering from a condition known as hemiplegia, and he struggles valiantly with this lifelong impairment. In this book he deals with a range of issues such as bullying, death, family and sex. His brief and sometimes frank admissions are a breath of fresh air in a society that fails to understand that disability isn't something to be scared of.

For those of us who have ever lost a contact, broken our glasses, experienced our aging parents' macular degeneration, or have been in the company of someone who just can?t see something, The Way I See It is a path down memory lane. Through her own recollections, the author reminds us of moments when we, too, bumped into life. Fortunately, she adds a few words of wisdom to help us get through it the next time around.
The Way I See It is a compilation of 21 depictions of the author ?bumping? into life, i.e., experiencing life with low vision. Each scenario describes an adventure (or misadventure) in the author's life, categorized by daily activities, holidays, seasons, and travel, ending with a suggestion or two prefaced with the phrase "the way I see it."
As one of 20 people in her family who are legally blind, Dr. Myers shares moments in her daily life. As she says in the beginning of the book, ?Similar to Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, life with low vision is like going through a salad bar ? you never know what you?re going to get.? From hanging mismatched wallpaper and ruining Thanksgiving dinner to using make-up (try that when you?re blind ) and going to yet another job interview, the author shares the ups and downs of her life's journey.

100 Questions & Answers About Autism: Expert Advice from a Physician/Parent Caregiver focuses on issues of critical importance to those who love and care for autistic children and adults. This book gives you authoritative, practical answers to the most common questions about autism, including causes, diagnosis, treatment options, sources of support, and much more. Written by a physician who is the parent of an autistic child, this text combines the author's medical knowledge, extensive research, and personal experience. The text is supplemented with thoughts and comments from other parents of autistic children, making this an invaluable resource for all loved ones of people coping with the physical and emotional turmoil of autism.

On his 18th birthday, Ryan Knighton was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a congenital, progressive disease marked by night-blindness, tunnel vision and, eventually, total blindness. In this penetrating, nervy memoir, which ricochets between meditation and black comedy, Knighton tells the story of his fifteen-year descent into blindness while incidentally revealing the world of the sighted in all its phenomenal peculiarity. Knighton learns to drive while unseeing; has his first significant relationship--with a deaf woman; navigates the punk rock scene and men's washrooms; learns to use a cane; and tries to pass for seeing while teaching English to children in Korea. Stumbling literally and emotionally into darkness, into love, into couch-shopping at Ikea, into adulthood, and into truce if not acceptance of his identity as a blind man, his writerly self uses his disability to provide a window onto the human condition. His experience of blindness offers unexpected insights into sight and the other senses, culture, identity, language, our fears and fantasies. Cockeyed is not a conventional confessional. Knighton is powerful and irreverent in words and thought and impatient with the preciousness we've come to expect from books on disability. Readers will find it hard to put down this wild ride around their everyday world with a wicked, smart, blind guide at the wheel.

Citing a high number of adult ADHD sufferers as well as the condition's challenging symptoms, a detailed reference refutes common misconceptions while providing advice on how to obtain an accurate diagnosis and seek the most appropriate treatments, in a volume that shares numerous case stories and a wealth of coping strategies. Reprint.

Before his motorcycle accident, Travis saw himself becoming a pro football player. Now, paralyzed from the nipple down, he says, "At times it's a pain in the ass-literally and figuratively. But it allows me to not be as threatening to some people the way I was when] I was still an athlete. Because a lot of times male interaction is done on the basis of pissing contests: I'm bigger, I'm tougher, I'm stronger, I'm smarter. When you're in a chair, they don't look at you like that." At the same time, Travis complains that many people are uncomfortable interacting with him because of his disability. "I would rather you make a mistake and deal with me than not deal with me at all."
Meghan is a high-level quadriplegic, living alone, who uses a power wheelchair and requires daily attendant care. She laments, "There are so many people who think we're asexual, we're not pretty, and we're creeps and weirdoes." To dispel this myth, she envisions a fashion show of women in wheelchairs parading down a runway. Meghan has been involved in a number of sexual relationships since sustaining her injury. While she doesn't think her disability has diminished her sexual pleasure, she feels that it has affected her sexual performance: "Well, you can't move it. You can't, like, bump and grind."

In 32 unusually frank in-depth interviews like these, the men and women in this book freely discuss their sex lives, their beliefs about God, how they want others to treat them, and whether they want to walk again. In each chapter the author presents their complex voices and comprehensive research about different facets of spinal cord injury (SCI).

"Wheeling and Dealing" explores the extent to which people with spinal cord injury locate their challenges in their physical impairments or in the social environment. Some disagree with those disability activists who focus almost exclusively on the latter, but the author examines this issue in depth.

Topics include:
--Physical health from degrees of loss of function to problems like pressure sores, temperature regulation, and bladder control.
--The stages of psychological adjustment and rehabilitation.
--Obstacles to sexual intimacy, treatment of erectile dysfunction, and new sources of sexual pleasure and emotional intimacy.
--Religion and spirituality.
--Social and political beliefs, with those with SCI weighing in on everything from welfare services to embryonic stem cell research.
--Dating, marriage, and parenting.
--Friendship networks and social supports; concerns about transportation and accessibility; stigma.
--Education, employment, and economic consequences.

This book is the recipient of the 2004 Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize from Vanderbilt University Press for the best project in the area of medicine.

Before his motorcycle accident, Travis saw himself becoming a pro football player. Now, paralyzed from the nipple down, he says, "At times it's a pain in the ass-literally and figuratively. But it allows me to not be as threatening to some people the way I was when] I was still an athlete. Because a lot of times male interaction is done on the basis of pissing contests: I'm bigger, I'm tougher, I'm stronger, I'm smarter. When you're in a chair, they don't look at you like that." At the same time, Travis complains that many people are uncomfortable interacting with him because of his disability. "I would rather you make a mistake and deal with me than not deal with me at all."
Meghan is a high-level quadriplegic, living alone, who uses a power wheelchair and requires daily attendant care. She laments, "There are so many people who think we're asexual, we're not pretty, and we're creeps and weirdoes." To dispel this myth, she envisions a fashion show of women in wheelchairs parading down a runway. Meghan has been involved in a number of sexual relationships since sustaining her injury. While she doesn't think her disability has diminished her sexual pleasure, she feels that it has affected her sexual performance: "Well, you can't move it. You can't, like, bump and grind."

In 32 unusually frank in-depth interviews like these, the men and women in this book freely discuss their sex lives, their beliefs about God, how they want others to treat them, and whether they want to walk again. In each chapter the author presents their complex voices and comprehensive research about different facets of spinal cord injury (SCI).

"Wheeling and Dealing" explores the extent to which people with spinal cord injury locate their challenges in their physical impairments or in the social environment. Some disagree with those disability activists who focus almost exclusively on the latter, but the author examines this issue in depth.

Topics include:
--Physical health from degrees of loss of function to problems like pressure sores, temperature regulation, and bladder control.
--The stages of psychological adjustment and rehabilitation.
--Obstacles to sexual intimacy, treatment of erectile dysfunction, and new sources of sexual pleasure and emotional intimacy.
--Religion and spirituality.
--Social and political beliefs, with those with SCI weighing in on everything from welfare services to embryonic stem cell research.
--Dating, marriage, and parenting.
--Friendship networks and social supports; concerns about transportation and accessibility; stigma.
--Education, employment, and economic consequences.

This book is the recipient of the 2004 Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize from Vanderbilt University Press for the best project in the area of medicine.

" This book is an extremely easy read - no jargon or ambiguous clinical terms. It serves as an informative tool, by creating awareness through first hand accounts, which could be used by both sufferers and professionals." - Anxious Times `It is a highly readable book based largely on the experiences of the author...I would highly recommend it to all emetophobes. Equally, I would recommend it to friends and family of sufferers because it will help non-sufferers understand why emets act in the way we do and, via fascinating insights into how our minds work, why we find certain situations very difficult to cope with.' -www.gut-reaction.freeserve.co.uk, June 2007 Emetophobia, the extreme fear of vomiting, can affect just about every aspect of sufferer's life, from everyday considerations (`what food will be "safe" for me to eat?') to matters that involve making huge, potentially devastating decisions (`I can't have this baby, I can't face morning sickness'). Nicolette Heaton-Harris has first-hand experience of the phobia and its effects. She suggests strategies for coping with the high levels of anxiety that are intrinsic to the phobia, as well as pre-empting and avoiding anxiety attacks. The experiences of fellow sufferers of all ages, male and female, are shared throughout the book and a list of useful organisations providing further information and support services is also included. Living with Emetophobia is a must-have for anyone suffering from emetophobia, anyone living with an emetophobic as well as professionals treating or supporting people with emetophobia.

At ages nineteen and twenty-two, respectively, Jason Kingsley and Mitchell Levitz shared their innermost thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams, their lifelong friendship-- and their experiences growing up with Down syndrome. Their frank discussion of what mattered most in their lives-- careers, friendships, school, sex, marriage, finances, politics, and independence-- earned Count Us In numerous national awards, including the EDI Award from the National Easter Seal Society. More important, their wit, intelligence, candor, and charm made a powerful and inspirational statement about the full potential of people with developmental disabilities, challenging prevailing stereotypes. Now, thirteen years later, the authors discuss their lives since then-- milestones and challenges, developments expected and unexpected-- in a new afterword.

Why do some spinal cord injury survivors succeed after injury and others spiral into inactivity and depression? Richard Holicky, himself a survivor, profiles 53 people and comes up with answers.

Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

At long last, the Autism Angel spreads her wings! This powerful guide to intervention and education empowers you with skills and motivation to foster success in youngsters with autism. Each page contains uplifting strategies, experience-based wisdom, and heart-fueling inspiration to help caregivers and professionals apply the techniques and attitudes that have made Jennifer Abeles one of the most respected professionals in the autism community. Her unique, child-centered approach has already improved the lives of countless individuals with autism. Your child or student can be next! Let the Autism Angel be your guide as you journey into The Heart of Autism.

The development and promotion of appropriate services for students with disabilities has been an integral part of the academic library since the 1990s. There remains, however, a dearth of literature-in marketing, library and information science, and other disciplines-that applies quality assessment instruments to existing programs. With this in mind, Hernon and Calvert present two versions of a data collection instrument, designed to compare the expectations of special students with their perceptions of how well a given service met their needs. Descriptions of successful initiatives at a variety of academic libraries are also included. Adaptive technologies. Anti-discrimination laws. Equity and compliance issues. In-house policies (and politics). All of these support, in one form or another, the development and promotion of appropriate services for students with physical, learning, or, increasingly, psychological disabilities. But what of service quality? To date, there is a dearth of literature-in marketing, library and information science, and other disciplines-that applies quality assessment instruments to programs for special student populations. Not until now has anyone compared the expectations of such students with their perceptions of how well a given service meets their needs. Peter Hernon, Philip Calvert, and their colleagues-Kathleen Rogers, Todd K. Herriott, and Ava Gibson-discuss the circumstances affecting services for the disabled, and provide two versions of a data collection instrument, loosely based on SERVQUAL, that individual institutions can modify to reflect their particular needs and situations. International in scope, it incorporates the perspective of university attorneys and compliance officers, as well as descriptions of successful initiatives by senior library administrators in the U.S. (Larry Hardesty, Rush G. Miller, Sarah Hamrick, and Jennifer Lann) and New Zealand (Helen Renwick, Philip Jane, and John Redmayne.) Improving the Quality of Library Services for Students with Disabilities will assist libraries and other service components of academic institutions to adopt a proactive position, as well as challenge staff assumptions of service expectations and information needs.

Inside this book are reflections on the nature of vision and blindness. Further, there are explorations of interpretive research, and presentations of some seminal and contemporary publications in the field of blindness. The other major fodder for conversation with you the reader is an elaborated example of empirical research entitled Blind Online Learners. Each element of this inquiry is explicitly reflected upon as an example of interpretive research. This book is intended for four intersecting groups of readers. If you are a philosopher, closet or sanctioned, then you cannot ponder the nature of being without due consideration for vision, and cannot contemplate the role of seeing in our lives without listening to the stories of those who are blind. The tales within this text are particularly contemporaneous because they are contextualized by the cyber-phenomena of online learning. This segues to the second group of readers, as the described empirical research was originally intended to bring greater depth and breadth of understanding to the field of educational technology, particularly as it intersects with disability studies. There is a paucity of published literature that has inquired into disabled online learners, and this research study responds to that call. Third, this book may be used as a textbook on approaches to interpretive empirical research. It is as close as one may come to a recipe, walking students through a specific example. Because it is situated in actual empirical research, the intention was that it avoid the trap of being prescriptive or formulaic. Finally, the text is intended for readers interested in the field of blindness. The text reviews some of the seminal and contemporary research on blindness, and then presents an elaborated example of what we can and should expect to emerge in the knowledge production industry, changing what it means to be blind.

A practical handbook for adults suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder combines insights from others with the condition with helpful suggestions and advice that explain how to identify one's individual strengths and weaknesses, find the right career path, improve communication, follow through and complete projects, and track appointments, time,

Baffled by your new inability to hear? Know someone who is? Then "I've Lost My WHAT: A Practical Guide to Life After Deafness" is for you. It talks about assistive devices, the psychology of adult-onset deafness, communication, relationships, cochlear implants, hearing aids, the Americans with Disabilities Act, telephone use, and daily life for people who've gone deaf post-lingually.

"This book should be required reading for anyone who's lost their hearing or works with late-deafened individuals. "I've Lost My WHAT" could very well be the late-deafened adult's Bible."--Michele Bornert, Late-deafened freelance writer

"A top-notch reference for those who become deaf."--Mary Clark, former executive director, Hearing Loss Link

"Shawn learned all this stuff the hard way. Now he's making sure you won't have to do it too."--Cheryl Heppner, Exec. Dir. Northern Virginia Resource, Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons

I have worked extensively with Dr. Silver educating people on how to win the battle over osteoarthritis. His book will be of tremendous value to the people trying to combat this disease.
--Joe Namath

Expert advice from the arthritis specialist who keeps athletes in the game and at their best

For every active person sidelined by the pain of arthritis, whether a would-be weekend softball champion or potential marathon runner, rheumatologist Dr. David Silver offers a game plan for getting back in the action.

Dr. Silver is the clinical chief of rheumatology at Cedars Sinai Medical Center and consultant to a roster of celebrities and athletes. Dr. Silver has developed a pain reduction program specifically designed for active people.

In Playing Through Arthritis, he shares his plan for maintaining an athletic lifestyle by combining exercise, nutrition, the latest medications, and the best alternative therapies.

Key features include:

• Unique focus on those among the 43 million arthritis sufferers who are physically active
  
• Targeted exercises to dramatically lessen pain and stiffness in specific joints
  
• Expert medical advice on nutrition, medications, and alternative therapies
  

This book is about enduring the many challenges of life with a handicap. The challenge is choosing to go on and live your life in spite of. Even though you may not like the tasks or understand them fully that are before you, you will learn to endure them. You will read many times I did not like what I was enduring, but I went through them and it has worked for my good. This book will help you recognize the "Goodness of God" in the midst of and after your challenges. This book will help you to know that inspite of a disability you can still have strength to accomplish your goals in life if you have Christ because the scripture says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4: 13

This New Zealand book was written by Max Crarer of Wairoa while in his mid-70's. It tells the true story of how several years earlier he accidentally healed his Glaucoma (of 12 years standing) by the use of minerals and vitamins. Max was well known to listeners of Radio Pacific and shared his story with them before writing this book. There appears to be no other book like this in the world. Max Crarer's combination of herbs, vitamins and minerals have helped thousands. Following his healing, Max researched eye healings by studying the findings of eye researchers from all around the world. Since then, through his own experience and the numerous personal experiences of others and his Radio Pacific listeners, he has discovered a combination of herbs, minerals and vitamins that have helped thousands of NZ sufferers of various eye complaints. He calls this natural course of treatment 'Triple Therapy' as it combines the three effects of herbs, minerals and vitamins. This book reveals the full Triple Therapy treatment.

This personal account details the pioneering attempt to train miniature ponies to guide the blind. Training tiny ponies to ride escalators, safely guide the blind through urban traffic, and tolerate flight in the passenger cabin of a commercial airliner are among the challenges discussed with humor and drama. This work tells the compelling story of how animal and human cooperation has provided a new assistance alternative for the blind.

This book was written primarily for vocational rehabilitation counselors. It is expected that it will assist them in planning better rehabilitation programs. The need for awareness of the psychological adjustment mechanisms of the physically disabled is not confined to the counselor, however, and it is hoped that physicians, social workers, psychologists, and placement specialists may profit from the contents of this publication. The cooperation and coordination of the various specialties is the most important element today in providing rehabilitation services for the disabled whereby they may take their rightful place as contributing members of society.

Written by nationally known leaders in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities, Core Curriculum contains easy-to-read, comprehensive information on health concerns for persons of all ages with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Designed for classroom use and self-study, the text is presented in a straightforward outline format, with extensive resources and references throughout. The authors address the most important health issues affecting this population, and the subsequent management of these issues.