Fibromyalgia has no known cause or cure and is impossible to detect through blood tests or other diagnostic techniques. Because it's so difficult to pinpoint or alleviate, fibromyalgia tends to cause guilt and shame in those who suffer from it.

Barbara Keddy examines the experiences of 20 female sufferers, and also investigates the disease within larger societal contexts of gender, class, and race. By taking an already existing personality theory (the highly sensitive person) developed by Elaine Aron and relating this theory to a specific physical condition, the author emphasizes societal and family pressures on women to overextend themselves to the detriment of their health.

This book begins with a promise: people with severe vision loss can be trained and equipped to function as sighted. The author, himself legally blind for 30 years, fulfills that promise with precise information and guidance on improving life through visual rehabilitation. The book explains fundamental facts about eyes and vision, including the causes and varieties of blindness, and then moves on to the new skills the partially sighted person must learn. Specific approaches and devices are covered in depth, including eccentric viewing and driving with telescopic glasses, and the visual and electronic aids that can help overcome the effects of vision loss. In spite of his own limited vision (20/240), Dr. Chapman uses a computer without a voice synthesizer, watches TV, and even drives, and he shows readers how to do the same.

Meet Harry - a young boy with sensory processing difficulties. Harry invites readers to learn about why he finds it hard to process sensory information effectively, and how even simple thing such as washing, dressing and coping with meal times can be challenging for him. He also talks about difficulties he faces at school and why large groups and loud noises are especially hard. He explains how other people can have different sensory processing issues and talks about what he and those around him can do to help. This illustrated book is ideally suited for readers aged 7 and upwards and occupational therapists, teachers, parents, family members and friends of those with sensory processing difficulties.

About 12% of all school children are disabled from birth defects, accidents, illnesses or other causes. This means 700 children are born each day who need special care, and the number appears to be growing. Raising a Handicapped Child offers a complete, practical, and reassuring guide for parents who care for these children.
Widely acclaimed by parents and professionals since its first publication, this revised and expanded handbook is still the only one of its kind to discuss both the emotional and physical problems of raising a child with a disability. A recognized authority in her field, Dr. Charlotte Thompson anticipates and addresses the questions and difficulties parents have to face from the initial diagnosis to adulthood, sharing the survival tools she has learned in over 35 years of practice. Her practical advice includes tips on how to select educational programs, how to find the best professional help, keep up with the latest in medical treatments, and how to cope with the costs. She deals compassionately and effectively with emotional issues, too, counseling parents on how to handle sorrow, anger, and guilt resulting from a devastating diagnosis or a progressive disease. Also including comprehensive appendices, Raising a Handicapped Child will be a great source of inspiration and information for parents of children with a disability and for anyone who works with disabled children.

Unblinded is the true story of New Yorker Kevin Coughlin, who became blind at age thirty-six due to a rare genetic disorder known as Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy. Twenty years later, without medical intervention, Kevin's sight miraculously started to return. He is the only known person in the world who has experienced a spontaneous, non-medically assisted, regeneration of the optic nerve. Unblinded follows Kevin's descent into darkness, and his unexplained reemergence to sight.

A Good Day at School presents life-changing tools to show parents how to help their children have a peaceful day and enjoy the subjects and activities they love. Family coach, mother and metaphysician, Kat Mulvaney, is no stranger to the emotions children face. She works with families who are seeking more ease and flow in their family dynamic after trying many conventional solutions. Many of her clients' children do not conform well to traditional school, and in a time of great world change, they are seeking new ideas. Kat guides families out of emotional turmoil and into genuine, conscious connection. In A Good Day at School, Kat lays out her 5 principles for parents to show them: The superpowers we were all born with and how kids need knowledge of them now, more than ever That many children are here to guide us into this new world The truth about why their child feels emotions so strongly and what to do about it today Tools and games their family can rely on during times of stress by using items they already own The universal laws that great minds have been using for centuries to achieve peace, clarity, and connection

To lose a child is tragic; to lose a child who still lives is beyond comprehension. Yet this is the experience of the mothers and fathers who tell their very personal stories in this important book. Their children, born healthy and happy, lost their minds to a mysterious disorder with no known cause or cure: Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD). Also called late-onset autism, this malady differs from typical autism in that it afflicts children after one or even two years of apparently normal development. In the long term, deterioration leads to still poorer behavioral and developmental functioning.

How do families respond to such ever-present loss? In When Autism Strikes, the parents of eight such children from around the world present their own stories, in their own words. They describe their first suspicions, their struggles to find a cause, and the means by which they cope, day to day. By turns heartbreaking and inspiring, this courageous document brings to light a scientific mystery and a human tragedy.

For people on the autism spectrum dating is so often an elusive art form, requiring the very skills--in communication, and in social perception--that don't come naturally to them. This book presents strategies for overcoming social skills deficits and sensory issues, to make for relationship success. Emilia Murry Ramey and Jody John Ramey, both on the spectrum, reflect on their dating experiences and provide recommendations for relationships in both the short- and long-term. Their advice includes how to choose venues for meeting people that are free from discomfiting features; coping with typical experiences in the light of sensory issues such as close proximity with a partner, eye-contact, and physical intimacy; and moving on to extended, committed relationships, co-habiting and continuing to date after marriage. Thorough, accessible, and very encouraging, this book is a must-read for Autistic people, those who love them, and those who are in love with them.

From its beginnings in the 1970s and 1980s, interest in the topic of gender and migration has grown. Gender and Migration seeks to introduce the most relevant sociological theories of gender relations and migration that consider ongoing transnationalization processes, at the beginning of the third millennium. These include intersectionality, queer studies, social inequality theory and the theory of transnational migration and citizenship; all of which are brought together and illustrated by means of various empirical examples. With its explicit focus on the gendered structures of migration-sending and migration-receiving countries, Gender and Migration builds on the most current conceptual tool of gender studies-intersectionality-which calls for collective research on gender with analysis of class, ethnicity/race, sexuality, age and other axes of inequality in the context of transnational migration and mobility. The book also includes descriptions of a number of recommended films that illustrate transnational migrant masculinities and femininities within and outside of Europe. A refreshing attempt to bring in considerations of queer theory and sexual identity in the area of gender migration studies, this insightful volume will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as sociology, social anthropology, political science, intersectional studies and transnational migration.

Covering principles of therapy dog team training, assessment, skills, and ongoing monitoring, Canine-Assisted Interventions provides guidance on the most evidence-based methods for therapy dog team welfare, training, and assessment. The authors offer a linear approach to understanding all aspects of the screening, assessment, and selection of dog-handler teams by exploring the journey of dog therapy teams from assessment of canines and handlers to the importance of ongoing monitoring, recredentialing, and retirement. In addition to reviewing key findings within the field of human-animal interactions, each chapter emphasizes skills on both the human and dog ends of the leash and makes recommendations for research-informed best practices. To support readers, the book culminates with checklists and training resources to serve as a quick reference for readers. This book will be of great interest for practitioners, in-service professionals, and researchers in the fields of canine-assisted interventions and counseling.

Written in response to the many requests for a practical and accessible guide to exercise for scoliosis sufferers, Curves, Twists and Bends combines the experience of Annette Wellings, who has major scoliosis, with that of Alan Herdman, the UK's leading Pilates teacher. This clear and concise book explains what scoliosis is, its symptoms, and its physical and psychological impact. It includes a series of Pilates exercises, designed by the authors specifically to promote flexibility, posture and muscle strength in scoliosis sufferers, and also vital information on what exercises to avoid. It offers basic strategies and practical tips for living with the condition, including useful advice on diet, rest, sitting, carrying and how to dress. Written with the full range of scoliosis sufferers in mind, Pilates for Scoliosis emphasises the importance and feasibility of gentle exercise for keeping the body as healthy and flexible as possible. Curves, Twists and Bends: A Practical Guide to Pilates for Scoliosis will be indispensible to individuals with scoliosis and their families as well as to physical therapists, Pilates instructors and other professionals who advise scoliosis patients on exercise and lifestyle options.

The grief reaction is often similar for many diverse circumstances and situations. This book focuses heavily on caring for children with disabilities, chronic or terminal illness, dealing with the loss, and the recovery process.

First published in 1981, this book was written to help parents and teachers to participate in child-based mobility programmes, covering the needs of visually-handicapped children from pre-school to adulthood. It gives insight into ways in which these figures can make the world meaningful to young children, as well as making them aware of the special training that is necessary to develop the social skills of daily living that a sighted child acquires through imitation. Travel techniques must be learnt to enable these children to move independently and the book describes various methods that can be used by the blind traveller. It also examines the role of physical education and dance, both of particular importance for the visually-handicapped child at school age.

'All I wanted to do was go to sleep. And I was certain that if I did drift off, it would be for the last time.' In 1998, Paul Pritchard was struck on the head by a falling rock as he climbed a sea stack in Tasmania called the Totem Pole. Close to death, waiting for hours for rescue, Pritchard kept himself going with a promise that given the chance, he would 'at least attempt to live'. Left hemiplegic by his injury, Pritchard has spent the last two decades attempting to live, taking on adventures that seemed impossible for someone so badly injured while plumbing the depths of a mind almost snuffed out by his passion for climbing. Not content to simply survive, Pritchard finds ways to return to his old life, cycling across Tibet and expanding his mind on gruelling meditation courses, revisiting the past and understanding his compulsion for risk. Finally, he returns to climb the Totem Pole, the place where his life was almost extinguished. The Mountain Path is an adventure book like no other, an exploration of a healing brain, a journey into philosophy and psychology, a test of will and a triumph of hope.

Drawing on rich empirical work emerging from core conflict regions within the island nation of Sri Lanka, this book illustrates the critical role that women with disabilities play in post-armed conflict rebuilding and development. This pathbreaking book shows the critical role that women with disabilities play in post-armed conflict rebuilding and development. Through offering a rare yet important insight into the processes of gendered-disability advocacy activation within the post-conflict environment, it provides a unique counter narrative to the powerful images, symbols and discourses that too frequently perpetuate disabled women's so-called need for paternalistic forms of care. Rather than being the mere recipients of aid and help, the narratives of women with disabilities reveal the generative praxis of social solidarity and cohesion, progressed via their nascent collective practices of gendered-disability advocacy. It will be of interest to academics and students working in the fields of disability studies, gender studies, post-conflict studies, peace studies and social work.

Sex. Slang. Slumber parties. The preoccupations of adolescents with Asperger Syndrome are no different than those of other teens, but they can be much more confusing. The lack of social skills and ability to grasp conversational nuances that characterize AS make adolescence the most difficult life stage.

aeWhy can I swear in front of my friends, but not in front of the teacher?AE
aeWhy do I have to pay attention when IAEm not interested in what my friend is saying?AE
aeWhat does it mean to aego outAE with somebody?AE

Asperger Syndrome is characterized by a reliance on clear guidelines, and in adolescence the social guidelines become murky and confusing. In "Asperger Syndrome and Adolescence," child psychologist Teresa Bolick presents strategies for helping the ten to eighteen-year-old achieve happiness and success by maximizing the benefits of AS and minimizing the drawbacks.

YouAEll Learn:
-How to work with the school to help the AS child learn and succeed.
-Strategies for turning common AS traits like preoccupations and routines into positive strengths.
-How to help the AS teen learn to manage unforeseen glitches with grace.
-The best ways to talk to your teen about friendship, love, romance, and sex.

Along the way, youAEll be inspired by success stories of dozens of AS teens. With the help of this book, youAEll learn that it is possible for an adolescent with Asperger Syndrome to achieve unimaginable success."

Boldly claiming a space where people with disabilities tell the stories of their own lives-not other's stories about them-About Us captures the voices of a community that has for too long been stereotyped and misrepresented. Speaking not only to people with disabilities and their support networks, but to all of us, the authors in About Us offer intimate stories of how they navigate a world not built for them. Echoing the refrain of the disability rights movement, "nothing about us without us," this collection, with a foreword by Andrew Solomon, is a landmark publication of the disability movement for readers of all backgrounds, communities, and abilities.

Over 500,000 people of all ages in the UK have disorders in the autistic spectrum. About one-third also have varying degrees of learning difficulty. All of them have impairment of social interaction, communication and imagination - to them the world appears a bewildering and sometimes frightening place. This guide explains how people with autism experience the world and why they need an organized, structured environment. Ways of improving communication, developing abilities and enlarging social interaction are described, and advice is given on coping with stresses within the family.

Unblinded is the true story of New Yorker Kevin Coughlin, who became blind at age thirty-six due to a rare genetic disorder known as Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy. Twenty years later, without medical intervention, Kevin's sight miraculously started to return. He is the only known person in the world who has experienced a spontaneous, non-medically assisted, regeneration of the optic nerve. Unblinded follows Kevin's descent into darkness, and his unexplained reemergence to sight.