Breaking Bread, Nourishing Connections
By Karin Melberg Schwier & Erin Schwier Stewart; 280 pages. Subtitle: People With and Without Disabilities Together at Mealtime.Bottom Line: While describing how mealtimes for people with disabilities can be more meaningful than just shoveling in food on schedule, this upbeat book details the important emotional element of eating together. It's about being part of a family, part of a relationship, part of a community -- things that are as important to humans, and as sustaining, as the physical act of eating.
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Breakthrough Parenting for Children With Special Needs
By Judy Winter; 258 pages. Subtitle: Raising the Bar of Expectations.Bottom Line: Winter combines her talents for journalism and parenting in a book that is part inspiration, part how-to, and wholly optimistic about your family's survival as you take on the challenge of raising a child with special needs. It's a particularly useful guide to those just starting out on the journey of dealing with special needs, and hearing from everybody that it's too hard and their life is over and their situation is tragic. Breakthrough Parenting offers a much-needed antidote to all that gloom and doom.
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Brothers and Sisters: A Special Part of Exceptional Families
By Peggy A. Gallagher, Thomas H. Powell and Cheryl A. Rhodes; 367 pages. From the Book Cover: "Brimming with inspiring personal stories, facts and wisdom from the literature, and practical advice, this book will help professionals and families understand and celebrate the special bond between siblings."Bottom Line: There's no doubt that the needs of siblings of children with disabilities are many and undervalued, and a book that will help parents nurture and honor every one of their children is something we desperately require. This book isn't it, but it's a start, and one that offers food for thought.
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Building Bridges Through Sensory Integration
By Ellen Yack, Shirley Sutton and Paula Aquilla; 208 pages. Subtitle: Therapy for Children With Autism and Other Pervasive Developmental Delays.Bottom Line: Sensory integration problems can be a factor in many of the behaviors seen in kids with PDD, from hand flapping to perseveration to refusal of eye contact. Building Bridges focuses on the implications of SI for those on the autism spectrum, while providing an overview of sensory dysfunction that will be useful to any parent.
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Building a Joyful Life With Your Child Who Has Special Needs
By Nancy J. Whiteman and Linda Roan-Yager; 208 pages. From the Cover: "Provides strategies for parents to understand and accept their range of feelings, reframe painful thoughts, and find balance and personal meaning in their own lives while raising their child with special needs."Bottom Line: You may have read books and completed questionnaires and written essays about how your child experiences things and what he or she needs to be happy and content. But when's the last time you figured those things out about yourself? This handy workbook is all about doing just that. Get a pencil.
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