The new edition of Dyslexia is written for parents of dyslexic children and the professionals who work with them, and provides information on the role parents can play in supporting their dyslexic child. This updated edition contains new material and up-to-date discussions of current research and programs. * Empowers parents by providing them with strategies for dealing with a wide range of concerns including dyspraxia and dyscalculia * New sections cover post-school issues, the emotional needs of young people with dyslexia and information on how parents can help at home * Features information on some of the more popular interventions for dyslexia, and critical evaluations of alternative treatments * Includes first hand accounts of parents hopes, successes and setbacks, and extensive lists of organizations and resources

Today, healthy ageing and active, meaningful lives are core values and aims for international and national health policies. Health services are challenged to ensure that the recipients of their services are active participants in their own care and beyond. Participation allows patients to become less dependent on healthcare providers, increasing their control over their own treatment and health. Increasingly, the idea of 'participation' is shifting, from participation in services to participation in mainstream society. This book examines the concept of participation, as well as the different meanings it takes on in the context of health and welfare services. It asks how services can enable and stimulate participation outside of those services. The contributions in this volume particularly focus on participation as engagement in daily life and 'everyday life' in order to develop the field of participation beyond the sphere of health and social care services. This book will appeal to researchers in the fields of health and social care, social services, occupational therapy and the sociology of health and illness. It will be of interest to practitioners of health and welfare services.

The rising cost of illness and disability benefits are one of today's biggest social and labour market challenges. The promise of activation-oriented work disability policies was labour market engagement for all people, regardless of illness, injury or impairment. However, the reality has been more complex. The Science and Politics of Work Disability Policy addresses social and political economic contexts driving state work disability reform in 13 countries. In this first attempt to explain the history and future of work disability policy, this book asks new questions about work disability policy design, focus, and effects. It details how work disability policies have evolved with jurisdictions, why these take their current shape, and where they are heading. The well positioned authors draw on their insider knowledge and expertise in law, medicine, and social science to provide detailed case studies of their jurisdictions. This pathbreaking volume will be of interest to social security system policy makers, scholars, and students in the health and social sciences.

Sarah Merriman is just like any other urbane young woman in her twenties... She has a job in a Central London hotel, a boyfriend, commutes to work on the Tube, eats out, goes to films and theatre... This is all the more remarkable (though not to her) because Sarah was born with Down's Syndrome. Her parents having no prior inkling, it came as a huge shock to them that they now had a daughter with a disability. In 1999 her father Andy wrote a frank and moving book, A Minor Adjustment, about the challenge of her early years. The national publicity it gained saw it become a treasured resource for other families on a similar journey. Now he follows up with the inspirational story of how his daughter, whose favourite expression is `I love my life', has grown up, featured on Michel Roux's compelling Kitchen Impossible series, and is making a life of her own at a time when pre-natal testing is threatening the very existence of people with Down's syndrome. Sarah has contributed throughout.

Haben grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she discovered courage as she faced off against a bull she couldn't see, and found in herself an abiding strength as she absorbed her parents' harrowing experiences during Eritrea's thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Their refugee story inspired her to embark on a quest for knowledge, traveling the world in search of the secret to belonging. She explored numerous fascinating places, including Mali, where she helped build a school under the scorching Saharan sun. Her many adventures over the years range from the hair-raising to the hilarious. Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people. Haben pioneered her way through obstacles, graduated from Harvard Law, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities. HABEN takes readers through a thrilling game of blind hide-and-seek in Louisiana, a treacherous climb up an iceberg in Alaska, and a magical moment with President Obama at The White House. Warm, funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, this captivating memoir is a testament to one woman's determination to find the keys to connection.

**NOW WITH AN AFTERWORD AND ADVICE FOR A NEW MOTHER** 'A powerful, moving and inspiring story - it opens up a whole new world of understanding.' Esther Freud 'This is wonderful. I urge you to read it. It is life enhancing and I defy you not to fall in love with Ben!' Natasha Poliszczuk, Books Editor, YOU Magazine 'An honest and unflinching account of Jessica's journey as the mother of a child born with complex needs. Essential reading... and a source of solace for those who may find themselves on a similar path.' Leah Hazard, author of Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story 'Jessica's beautiful words gave me a deeper understanding about embracing disability. I am inspired and will be recommending this book to parents as a testament to following your parenting instincts.' Arabella Carter-Johnson, author of Iris Grace 'A gripping and vital insight into the lives of families trying to thrive in bureaucratic systems that all too often add to the challenges of providing disabled children with basic care and human rights. Impossible to put down.' Hannah Barham-Brown, deputy leader of the Women's Equality Party 'Rooted in love and is a moving story about the transformative power of adapting, practically and emotionally to changing circumstances. As a disabled adult, it was a joy to join the parent of a disabled child as they embrace Disability Culture and allyship.' Jess Thom, Touretteshero 'A courageous, heartrending story of grief, love and ultimately hope.' The Sun, 5 star review *** Jessica thought she was prepared for the experience of motherhood. Armed with advice from friends and family, parenting books and antenatal classes, she felt ready. After giving birth, she found herself facing a different, more uncertain reality. Her son, Ben, was fighting to stay alive. Jessica shares her journey raising Ben. His disability means he will never be able to move or communicate without assistance. Jessica has to learn how to feed Ben when he can't eat, wrestle with red tape to secure his education and defend his basic rights in the face of discrimination. But the act of reading to Ben enriches both their lives and brings them joy. As Ben begins to thrive, alongside his two younger siblings, Jessica finds that caring for a child with unique needs teaches her about appreciating difference and doing things your own way. This uplifting story is about the power of family love, finding inner strength and, above all, hope.

The long-awaited update to the definitive guide to successfully living with Parkinson's disease
Known for its upbeat, informative, and inspirational guidance, Living Well with Parkinson's includes a wealth of up-to-date medical information for Parkinson's sufferers, who number over 1 million in the U.S. alone. Combined with the author's poignant personal account of her own struggles with the disease, this new edition features coverage of pallidotomy (a new surgical technique), the dramatic implications of recent genetic research, and new drugs and therapies. The book also includes tips on dealing with social services and elder law, maintaining a positive attitude, handling issues with spouses and children, and finding support groups.
Glenna Wotton Atwood, a former home economics teacher from Maine, lived with Parkinson's for over two decades until her death in 1998. Lila Green Hunnewell (Rockaway, NJ) is a freelance writer and editor. Roxanne Moore Saucier (Bangor, ME) is a journalist with the Bangor Daily News.

'A great and inspiring book from Doncaster's bravest son. Read it in a day' - Jeremy Clarkson 'Ben is the embodiment of positive thinking. What he has achieved, in large part through willpower, is nothing short of miraculous. An inspiration to us all' - Ant Middleton The story of Ben Parkinson MBE, the most injured soldier to have survived Afghanistan --- What were you doing when you were 22? Where were you in the world? What did you want to do with your life? Ben Parkinson was a 6'4" Paratrooper. He was in Afghanistan fighting for his country. He wanted to always be a soldier, to be a father and to get home in one piece. But we don't always get what we want. So the question is: how do we react when that happens? Easy: You find something new to fight for. Ben Parkinson MBE is an inspiration to everyone. He suffered 37 injuries when his Land Rover hit a mine in Helmand in 2006, including brain damage, breaking his back and losing both his legs. This book follows the story of what led him to that moment his life changed forever - and what happened next. Doctors didn't think Ben could survive the trauma - then they didn't think he would wake up, or talk again, or walk again. Time after time, Ben pushed the ceiling on what was possible, going on to carry the Olympic flame in 2012 and receiving an MBE for the enormous feats he has undertaken for charity. What he has achieved in the face of adversity - for others as well as for himself - is nothing short of a miracle. Nerve-wracking, heart-warming and full of classic soldier's humour, Losing the Battle, Winning the War is a book you'll be thinking about long after the last page. 'Ben Parkinson is my hero. His story is one of immeasurable courage and character, a testament to the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit' - Dan Jarvis MP, author of Long Way Home

The onslaught of neoliberalism, austerity measures and cuts, impact of climate change, protracted conflicts and ongoing refugee crisis, rise of far right and populist movements have all negatively impacted on disability. Yet, disabled people and their allies are fighting back and we urgently need to understand how, where and what they are doing, what they feel their challenges are and what their future needs will be. This comprehensive handbook emphasizes the importance of everyday disability activism and how activists across the world bring together a wide range of activism tactics and strategies. It also challenges the activist movements, transnational and emancipatory politics, as well as providing future directions for disability activism. With contributions from senior and emerging disability activists, academics, students and practitioners from around the globe, this handbook covers the following broad themes: * Contextualising disability activism in global activism * Neoliberalism and austerity in the global North * Rights, embodied resistance and disability activism * Belonging, identity and values: how to create diverse coalitions for rights * Reclaiming social positions, places and spaces * Social media, support and activism * Campus activism in higher education * Inclusive pedagogies, evidence and activist practices * Enabling human rights and policy * Challenges facing disability activism The Routledge Handbook of Disability Activism provides disability activists, students, academics, practitioners, development partners and policy makers with an authoritative framework for disability activism.

This hands-on practical guide provides dyslexic young people with techniques to improve their observational drawing skills, showing them how they can work around the issues commonly reported by students with SLDs. Many creative and talented individuals with neurological differences report difficulties with short-term memory, co-ordination and planning ahead within a project, and a lack of specialised teaching may even dissuade them from pursuing art at school. This book addresses those challenges. The authors, who have many years' experience of teaching art to dyslexic and dyspraxic students, also include examples not just of the techniques described, but also of the creative ideas other neurodiverse students have come up with. Fully illustrated, with clear explanations, and space to draw and sketch, this much needed book will provide dyslexic art students with the tools and confidence to achieve their goals and become the creative professionals of the future.

The definitive guide to eating well and staying healthy with diabetes

"Nutrition is pivotal to diabetes care. This book is a terrific tool for managing diabetes through good nutrition. It’s a guide you can use every day–a treasure chest of advice on how to eat healthfully."
–Richard M. Bergenstal, MD, Executive Director
International Diabetes Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

From the American Dietetic Association comes this authoritative guide to choosing foods to control your blood sugar and maintain an active, healthy lifestyle. It provides the must-know basics of daily diabetes care–from designing a food plan and preventing low blood glucose levels to losing weight and carbohydrate counting–so you can personalize diabetes and food decisions to fit your needs. You’ll see how to manage blood fat levels and blood pressure–an important part of diabetes care–and gain invaluable insight into making healthy food choices and planning tasty meals. You’ll also find tips on reducing sugar and fat in foods; quick and easy meal ideas; and a special section on prevention of type 2 diabetes.

• Detailed menu plans for daily caloric levels of 1,200, 1,500, 1,800, 2,000, and 2,500 calories
• Includes fast-food restaurant and ethnic food guides
• Ratings for high, low, and moderate glycemic index foods

What is Autism Spectrum Disorder? What does a diagnosis of ASD mean for the child and for you? How can you learn to fully understand behaviours common to ASD and help the child grow and prosper? This short introduction is an ideal starting point for anyone encountering ASD for the first time. The book covers all of the essential information needed to ground an understanding of the condition and offers effective practical strategies for assisting children who are living with ASD. It advocates putting aside conventional thinking and considering things from a different perspective - the way that the child with ASD sees the world. This concise and straight-talking guide to ASD will ensure parents, carers, teachers and other professionals feel confident, informed and able to cope with the road ahead.

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

'A hymn to life, love, family, and spirit' DAVID MITCHELL, author of Cloud Atlas The vividly told, gloriously illustrated memoir of an artist born with disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of strange bodies. ***WINNER OF THE BARBELLION PRIZE*** In 1958, amongst the children born with spina bifida is Riva Lehrer. She endures endless medical procedures and is told she will never have a job, a romantic relationship or an independent life. But everything changes when as an adult Riva is invited to join a group of artists, writers, and performers who are building Disability Culture. Their work is daring, edgy, funny, and dark, and it rejects tropes that define disabled people as pathetic, frightening or worthless, instead insisting that disability is an opportunity for creativity and resistance. Riva begins to paint their portraits - and her art begins to transform the myths she's been told her whole life about her body, her sexuality, and other measures of normal. 'A brilliant book, full of strangeness, beauty, and wonder' Audrey Niffenegger 'Wonderful. An ode to art and the beauty of disability' Cerrie Burnell 'Stunning' Alison Bechdel ***SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD***

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.