'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 impact of finding out your child is disabled can be wide ranging. The author's experience as a psychologist and parent of a disabled child informs this book which focuses on what helps, and hinders, parent-carers' emotional wellbeing. Research shows that mental health, relationships, family life, access to work and leisure activities, as well as finances can all be affected. For many parents the focus of those around them is solely on the child and their own needs become neglected. The author re-focuses attention onto the wellbeing of the parent. This includes acknowledging emotions, connecting with positive others, empowering yourself, regularly engaging in self-care and finding your own sense of meaning and purpose in life. Identifying the myriad of different emotions parents may experience as an understandable reaction to an unexpected situation the book includes quotes from parent carers. Connecting to psychological theories, such as positive re-framing and post-traumatic growth, the book applies these in practical ways to the parent-carer experience. Acknowledging that the journey is neither linear nor simple and transitions such as secondary school, puberty and adulthood require further periods of adjustment. Parents rarely get the time or support to stop and reflect on how they are feeling as they are caught up in the day to day busyness of caring. The difficulty is exacerbated by limited resources and battling for services. Building on the author's Doctoral research and having supported parent carers in different roles over the last 13 years this book provides a compass to ensure parents know they are not alone.

Meet Jamie, a young boy with ADHD and a tic disorder called Tourette Syndrome. He's not being fidgety or naughty - he really can't help it! Jamie explains how he was diagnosed and what having tics and ADHD is like for him. He also shares how he has learnt to relieve his ADHD symptoms, minimise his tics, and how friends and adults can help at home and school. This illustrated book comes in two parts - one with interactive activities and heaps of useful information about having both ADHD and tics. Jamie explains how it can be really tricky to tell whether your fidgeting comes from having ADHD, tics, or both! The second part tells the story of how Jamie's Grandfather encouraged him to learn more about his tics. Jamie and his friends who attend the after-school tic club learn about each other by sharing their experiences of ADHD and tics at home and at school. This book is ideal for children aged 7+ as well as friends, teachers and professionals working with children with ADHD and tic disorders, and a great starting point for family and classroom discussions too!

In this friendly guide, a girl called Amy tells all about her Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). Together with her friend Tom and sister Lucy, Amy explains how every child with APD is affected in unique ways, and how to get help if you have APD. This illustrated guide is ideal for helping children aged 7+ with APD to understand the condition, while increasing their self-esteem and confidence. Explaining about causes, symptoms, diagnosis and comorbidity in child-friendly terms, it dispels myths and encourages children to self-advocate and seek help at home and at school. It is also an excellent starting point for parents, teachers and other professionals wishing to tailor support to the type and severity of a child's APD, and includes a helpful list of recommended sources for additional support.

Children on the Autism Spectrum often grow up to find they are unable to cope effectively with the challenges of adult life. This book shows that, with the appropriate lifelong care from parents and carers, it is possible for those with neurodevelopmental disabilities to achieve supported independence and live fulfilling adult lives. Adults on the Autism Spectrum Leave the Nest provides a guide for parents on how to prepare their children for adulthood, and describes in detail the kinds of services people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) need in order to live independently, away from the parental home. The author explains the importance of the cognitive abilities that enable us to regulate behaviour and adapt to changing situations, known as Executive Functions, and how an individual's deficits in this area can be especially problematic in the adult world. The book provides approaches to managing Executive Function Deficits and describes an innovative therapeutic program that successfully allows adults with ASDs to live with their peers and develop meaningful adult relationships. This book provides practical and accessible guidance for parents, therapists, people with ASDs, and anyone with an interest in helping people on the Autism Spectrum lead their lives with a sense of dignity and independence.

Organisation and Everyday Life with Dyslexia and other SpLDs is the second book in the series Living Confidently with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs). This book is about the wide impacts of dyslexia/ SpLD on everyday life. All dyslexic/ SpLD people live with the possibility that their mind will function in a dyslexic/ SpLD way at any moment, regardless of strategies that they have acquired or developed. Even people with many strategies can suddenly find themselves struggling with their dyslexia/ SpLD again. This book is adressed to dyslexic/ spld readers. Organisation is promoted as a tool to minimise the effets of dyselxia /spLD. The book covers: * situations that might disrupt organisation * a systematic approach to organisation * everyday life, study peripherals and employment. It has many life stories to help readers recognise the impacts of their own dyslexia/ SpLD. Dyslexic/ SpLDs have the potential to offer skills and alternative approaches to tasks. Often, the solutions that they devise for themselves are very useful to the non-dyslexic/ SpLD people around them, which can enhance their self-confidence. When organisation suits the individual with SpLD innate intelligence and potential can be realised.

It isn't easy being eight years old and having an older brother whom other children often misunderstand. They don't realize that when he doesn't laugh at their jokes it's because he doesn't understand them. They don't know that when he doesn't speak to them or look at them it's because he doesn't know what to say or how to make eye contact. They don't realize that he behaves this way because he has something called Asperger's Syndrome. Sam knows that his brother Eric is different from him because his brain works differently. So, when the other children bully Eric, it makes Sam feel protective of him. But sometimes, when Eric behaves oddly, Sam feels embarrassed too. Sometimes, when Eric gets lots of attention, it makes Sam feel resentful - then, when he considers that Eric needs a lot of help and attention, it makes Sam feel guilty for feeling resentful. There are so many different feelings Sam experiences! Brotherly Feelings explores the emotions that siblings of children with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) commonly experience. With illustrations throughout, this book will help siblings to understand that their emotional responses - whatever they are - are natural and OK. It is the ideal book for parents and professionals to use with siblings to discuss their emotional experiences, and will also help children with AS to form an understanding of the feelings of other family members.

The trauma of brain injury affects many people besides the injured one, and this book offers hope to all of them. A guide to psychological recovery after the loss and upheaval that follow such an event, this book is full of new ideas and experience -- something many survivors and their caregivers have run out of. In clear language and with easy-to-follow exercises, the authors lead the reader through the four stages of psychological recovery: becoming more self-aware, recovering emotionally, thinking in new ways, and changing behaviour.

Because of the unique needs of children with ASD, it is important to pay special attention to the details of their experience in the medical environment. Designed to help make the medical experience easier for all involved, this book presents information on ASD, the varying developmental levels, interventions, and assessments that medical staff, parents, educators, and key service providers can use to more effectively interact with and support children with ASD while in the medical setting. The information and techniques presented in "Prescription for Success" can be used by doctors, nurses, medical technicians, residents, interns, and even administrative staff to support children with ASD and their families in what can otherwise be trying circumstances. There is a CD at the back of the book that includes forms and worksheets that can be printed and duplicated.

A comprehensive resource for students on the autism spectrum preparing for life after high school. Best-selling author/counselor Dr. Jed Baker offers "life skills training" on subjects such as non-verbal cues, body language, dealing with anger, frustration and anxiety, as well as building and maintaining friendships, roommates, and intimate relationships. He focuses on conversational and employment skills, ways to balance work/school with family demands, and problematic areas such as finances, emergencies and transportation matters. The assessment tools he provides for parents and the analysis of the laws that provide accommodations to adults with disabilities are not only critical for success in life after high school, they make the book invaluable.

Suspect there's something "different" about your child? This book will help you navigate those early stages of your child's life when a diagnosis is nowhere in sight. Not knowing how to help your child can leave you totally frustrated, or frightened into inaction by a vision of what may lie ahead. Written by a mother who understands (At first, she tried with all her might to avoid her son's diagnosis!), this book humorously and gently prods parents into action, beginning with the chapters "Was That the Exit to Normal?" and "Rules of the Road," and then getting to the nitty gritty in" Labels - You Gotta Love 'Em" and "To School or Not to School."

On occasion nearly everyone experiences short-term back pain from sore or strained muscles. But for many who come to treat their back gingerly because they fear further "injury," a cycle of worry and inactivity results; this aggravates existing muscle tightness and leads them to think of themselves as having a "bad back." Even worse is the understandable but usually counterproductive assumption that back pain is caused by "abnormalities"–bulging disks, a damaged spine, and so on. However, these abnormalities are frequently found in those who have absolutely no pain whatsoever. In reality, most backs are strong and resilient, built to support our bodies for a lifetime; truly "bad backs" are rare.

Drawing on their work with patients and studies from major scientific journals and corporations, the authors of Back Sense–all three are former chronic back pain sufferers themselves–developed a revolutionary self-treatment approach targeting the true causes of chronic back pain. It is based on conclusive evidence proving that stress and inactivity are usually the prime offenders, and it allows patients to avoid the restrictions and expense of most other treatments. After showing readers how to rule out the possibility that a rare medical condition is the source of their problem, Back Sense clearly and convincingly explains the actual factors behind chronic back pain and systematically leads readers toward recapturing a life free of back pain.

Will Attwood was finishing a three-year sentence in prison when he was formally diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome for the first time. After his diagnosis he recognised just how much it had been affecting his life behind bars. This book is a practical advice guide for people with autism who have been sentenced to time in prison. Will shares his first-hand knowledge of what to expect and how to behave within the penal system. He sheds light on topics that are important for people with autism, answering questions such as: How should you act with inmates and guards? How do you avoid trouble? What about a prison's environmental stimuli may cause you anxiety? His thoughtful, measured writing debunks rumours about daily life in prison, and the useful tips and observations he offers will help anyone with autism prepare for the realities of spending time incarcerated, and be enormously helpful to those working with offenders on the autism spectrum.

Head injury affects approximately 1 in 300 families in England and Wales. It happens 'out of the blue' - without warning and therefore can be a bewildering and frightening experience, and frequently has a dramatic and sometimes devastating effect on the lives of the people involved. The sudden onset and the uncertainty surrounding recovery means that head injury often presents families with a wide array of emotions such as fear, guilt and sadness. With no previous experiences to guide them, people with head injury and their families can feel overwhelmed.
This book begins with essential information about head injury including basic knowledge about the brain and how it is damaged. The book goes on to explore typical problems associated with a head injury and how to cope with specific issues. The third section provides support and guidance about how to deal with the long term consequences of a head injury, including information on where to find further support. Head Injury: The Facts is a family guide to understanding and coping with the practical and emotional problems that head injury brings.

This is a simple, research-based guide to overcoming attention problems through mindfulness and meditation. The heart of the book is an 8-step programme that teaches simple yet powerful midfulness practices, adapted for those struggling with ADHD.