Birth-Defects Books

"Coping with Physical Loss and Disability" by Rick Ritter, MSW, is a jarring book at 92 pages. When I first got it, I thought it would be a regular self-help book, and I admit I was skeptical. But I opened it and it turned out to be a workbook.

There are six sections of the book, going from what your original loss was to how you could ask for and get help for it. In fact, I really had to consider that particular question. "Describe your loss in detail" was another. That was one of those where I had to write my feelings, and like many with disabilities I've told the story so many times, I figured I'd gotten it to a science. It was a blah story with which I started out, therefore; one I'd told a million times.

Then, something happened inside of me. I got angry. I don't do that too much; usually I'm at most irritated and that's that. Life is irritating to me these days for various personal reasons, so that was what the answer was like till that particular switch in my head went off. All of a sudden, there was a real answer. I actually started yelling "What? You want to know about the stupid primary care physician who said one leg was shorter than the other, when it turned out I had a blood clot in it? You want to know about my parents? What...?"

In the end, the question tore something out of me that I hadn't expected at all.

If you read this book, be prepared to do it slowly. At the end, you'll find a section of resources that is very intense. The author even stuck in movies that deal with disability! The book itself will take you to places inside that you didn't know existed, like that bit of anger -- believe me, I had more than one of those. I cried, I threw things, I felt sorry for myself, I sat for long periods of time thinking hard about questions my mind refused to answer but that on the other hand it wanted to. That test of my own will-power hurt a lot sometimes. But believe me when I say, it's very much worth it.

"Coping with Physical Loss and Disability: A Workbook" - Rick Ritter, MSW; LovingHealing Press 2006.

As we prepared for our oldest daughter's amputaion, I searched for something to help guide us along as a family. This work book is wonderful. Although my daughter was emotionally ready for her loss, Rick Ritter was able to better address some of what we may have missed prior to her surgery. I strongly recomend this book for anyone dealing with physical loss them selves or that of a loved one. Joi Warburton, Las Vegas, NV

After reading the other reviews I purchased this book. I have a degenerative muscle disease for which there is no treatment. Although I have coped fairly well up to this point, I was finding myself more and more isolated. As I answered the questions, I felt it would be better if I were going through this process with a professional. I answered as fully as I was able, but there doesn't seem to be any suggestions as to what to do with this information. The book suggests that you share your answers with three people. In my case that wasn't possible.I can see that it would be useful in conjunction with therapy. Without that professional input, the book left me hanging.

Rick Ritter has written a superb self-help workbook that will benefit readers who have suffered a physical loss or disability. Ritter has included 50 questions to be answered by the reader. He recommends these answers be shared with at least three other people. In responding to these questions, the reader is able to reflect on his or her disability or physical loss. The book engages the reader in discovering ways to deal with their physical loss. To those readers who have experienced such a loss, the workbook will provide a sense of empowerment to those still in grief or depression.

Ritter himself has experienced his own disability. As a social worker(MSW), he has had the opportunity to work with 100 people who have suffered a physical loss or disability. His workbook provides a roadmap for readers to follow to reach attainable goals.

Also included are interesting short stories of people he has worked with ranging from amputation, breast cancer, muscular dystrophy, AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, and quadriplegia. He recounts how these people were able to cope with their loss.

Having a disability or having suffered a physical loss doesn't necessarily lead to unhappiness. How one responds to that loss is what really matters. Rick also uses spirituality, support systems, and holistic methods as an approach to coping with the loss. Resiliency is crucial in facing any loss or disability.

As a mother of a son with cerebral palsy, I can see how this workbook could be very useful. He is now a happy young man working as an attorney. His disability didn't stop him from being productive. Also, having battled my own muscle disease along with rheumatoid arthritis, I found it helpful. As the daughter of a mother transfused with HIV contaminated blood, I can see how this workbook could have benefited her.

The resources included at the end of his book are certainly a bonus. He has listed helpful organizations, suggested reading, and films relating to physical loss and disability.

Rick Ritter has given his readers a wonderful gift. "Coping with Physical Loss and Disability" is an empowering book that will benefit many readers. I highly recommend this workbook. Thank you, Rick for caring. Your workbook will be appreciated by many people.

Nancy A. Draper (Author) A Burden of Silence: My Mother's Battle with AIDS

Reviewed by Christina Gonzalez, LMHC for Reader Views (5/06)

The author starts this very unique workbook with a compelling quote from Christopher Reeve, "So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable". This book is a way to help those who have found their dreams become impossible, find new ways to restructure their life, their ways of thinking and their ways of being in order to find ways to help their dreams become inevitable.

This book is oriented towards those who have experienced some type of a physical loss, whether from a disability, accident or including serious, chronic illnesses and pain. His examples range from people who have suffered knee injuries to quadriplegics, to individuals who have undergone a mastectomy from breast cancer to debilitating illnesses like muscular dystrophy. I would see value for individuals with ANY chronic health condition benefiting enormously from this book.

The author suggests that individuals who use this book consult with at least three people in their lives with whom they can share the results of the exercises which is very wise. The author takes the reader through a series of written exercises and anecdotes through six main chapters: Past and Future, Self Care and Support, Dealing with Loss: Feelings and Beliefs, Understanding Disability, Transforming Circumstance, and The Ongoing Process of Loss and Recovery. Each of these remain only questions and words on paper until the reader takes these questions and looks into their lives and then shares them with another.

As a therapist I will be recommending this book to my clients who are struggling with any chronic health issues. I would love to use this workbook with my clients in their therapy as well as suggest they share the information obtained about themselves with others in their lives. The author includes some excellent exercises to help the reader determine what people in their lives might be supportive to this process of recovery from physical loss and/or any chronic health condition.

The appendices include some excellent resources regarding therapeutic techniques and alternatives, suggested reading for coping with loss and disability, films on issues related to physical loss and disability, guidelines for watching films, and a listing of organizations and other resources that can help individuals coping with loss and disability.

As the mother of a child with Cerebral Palsy and as a psychotherapist myself, I found this book to be highly valuable for people dealing with any type of physical loss. As I mentioned above, just buying the book will not do anything. Filling out the exercises will help, but will not make a huge change. Filling out the exercise, following the author on the journey that he is leading the reader on and sharing with those close to the reader will make a great deal of difference. Some of the exercises I found helpful for those suffering from debilitating mental or emotional illnesses and even less acute health conditions such as asthma or others. This book is highly recommended to any individual who has suffered a physical loss and is still struggling to find their dreams. It would make a great gift from a supportive loved one who is also willing to make a stand to be there with the reader as they go through these exercises, and it would make an excellent aid to an individual who is currently seeing a therapist. I would not recommend this to someone who just wants to do the exercises randomly, haphazardly or in order to just keep their answers to themselves and not share them with another.

This is a comprehensive publication including the cultural and medical issues surrounding teen pregnancy and implications for practice. It is must read for professionals caring for adolescents. It's practical approach and outline for a teen pregnancy program are still valid today. Highly recommended.

This is the best monograph on the market for professionals caring for pregnant teens. It covers the phyisological, psychologial, social, and educational needs of pregnant teens. It is a must read. Subsequent publications don't compare. Ask for this edition.

This mongraph gives a practical approach to teen pregnancy. Excellent resourch for teachers and health care professionals.

Excellent resource for all health care professionals who care for pregnant teens.

Authors review factors related to prevalence of teen pregnancy, risks and issues surrounding teen pregnancy. Authors share their experience in establishing a successful Adolescent Pregnancy Program which signficantly improved outcomes in teen mothers. Authors include excellent resources, including medical records tools, audio-visual resources, and program outline. Offers a turn key approach to professionals planning to develop such a program. Comes with 6 nursing contact hours.

This book is amazing. I needed it for an Embryo class and found it to be very easy to read and understand, full of useful and interesting knowledge. It even includes actual size pictures of the embryo and fetus. I highly recommend this book if you are taking any kind of anatomy class that teaches about early life stages. You will learn a lot and I plan to keep this book even for my Chiropractic practice after I graduate.

Very good for first year medical students or others wanting to learn more about early development. Nice pictures and not especially difficult language/terminology.

I Like Dr Moore and his other book Clinically oriented anatomy
Dr Moore books are clearly written and supported with figures.

I am a neurologist in practice.
And I like to mention the good thing about dr Moore ,
that:
After he was told about Muslims Quran, and how it described embryology, he admitted that Quran can not be Made by a man, but it has to be revelation.
he added to his second edition of this book the information he learned from Quran and the saying of Prophet Muhammad.
This is really an honest scholar.
Our knowledge need to be grounded by our connection to God.
It's understandable how the west left the church "abuse"
but they need not to leave God
as we see in this example how true Revelation(Quran) and science dont contradict each other.
You can check [...], on Quran miracles.
I always wonder how can scientist refuse God.

UAMS listed Langman's Medical Embryology as our required embryo book. I hate Langman with a passion, as you can tell in my review of it. It is poorly written, contains less than useful 2-D figures making it difficult to visualize morphologic changes, and contains at least two errors in every single chapter (and I'm not talking about minutia; it's errors big enough that our lecturers have to mention them in class). So, I began searching for an alternate embryology book that covered the material in about the same depth as Langman. This is it. This book is concisely and CLEARLY written. It also contains more figures, and these figures have a 3-D feel to them that make embryology much more understandable. Also, it appears to have vastly fewer errors. If your medical school requires Langman, by all means get Langman. Many of my classmates find the book an enjoyable read, and this book isn't a Langman clone, so the information each book contains is slightly different. The author (Moore) is also the author of Clinically Oriented Anatomy (5th Edition), and he correlates embryologic structure to adult anatomy more than Langman, which I enjoy. But if you have Langman, hate it, and need a supplement, this delivers in spades.

Reincarnation and Biology (Volume 2)Victims of extremist hate crimes, women and men, are ritually positioned and mutilated by their assailants. I maintain that applied dream analysis, spectrometric analysis, and verification of current bodily and personality anomalies of current living subjects (grounded in the work of Ian Stevenson) assists the F.B.I. and other internationally authorized forensic scientists to 1. identify past victims (i.e.: Horst Wessel; Margot Frank; Anne Frank; James Byron Dean; John F. Kennedy; Martin Luther King; and beheaded victims of Islamic extremists), 2. assist the current human subject to regain their inner-vision and control of their life, 3. deduce the circumstances of their murder, 4. identify their murderer or friends through ritual re-enactments, and 5. establish a sense of inner-peace and justice if not outright retaliation against their reincarnated murderers.

In this extensive compilation of information, Dr. Stevenson, provides powerful empirical and documentary evidence supporting the concept that something (soul, kamma, etc.?) passes from a person who has died to a person who has been born. The presence of birthmarks in young children who claim to have been a dead person living in a specific location (e.g. house) in which that person actually lived, and located where forensic history (photos and descriptions) showed that person died from a bullet, knife or other wound is rather difficult to dismiss as mere sophistry. This is particularly so given the comparatively large number of such cases. Although these cases make up only a small part of this tome, for me, as an empirical scientist, they provide strong evidence supporting what Jesus said in Mathew (17:10):

And his disciples asked him, saying `Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come before the arrival of the Messiah?' And Jesus answered and said unto them, `Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.' Then the disciples understood that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist.

Anyone attempting to understand the scientific evidence suggestive of reincarnation MUST read this comprehensive text. Here, Stevenson has assembled an encyclopedia of what is arguably the most compelling aspect of the cases he has documented for over forty years - that some of these young children who claim to have experienced previous lives (or to whom previous lives have been attributed) bear highly unusual birthmarks or suffer from birth defects that correspond with wounds on the alleged "previous personalities" to a degree that defies coincidence. Stevenson's cautious and meticulous nature shine in his delineation of case after case, and ultimately the sheer number of strong, compelling case studies causes one to reexamine one's position on the possibility of reincarnation. At the least, Stevenson has documented a highly puzzling cultural phenomenon too pervasive to ignore. At best, he demonstrates a scientific vision that matches that of the greatest pioneers in the history of science.

This is the most convincing study of reincarnation that hasever been undertaken by anyone. It provides page after page of genuinephysical evidence of the transmigration of souls. One of the things that one notices over and over again is that the physical injuries that have occurred in past lives are often likely to take the form of some sort of bodily peculiarity in the next life, such as the man who had been killed by a shotgun blast in a civil war battle, and whose next incarnation had a birthmark of exactly similar proportion and location as the wound. This is of far more value than the research into NDE's, I think, because of the physical evidence gathered. Although, it is impossible to absolutely prove such a thing, there are far too many well-documented cases for all of them to be passed off as merely coincidence. An excellent book for all those interested in the subject despite the outrageous price. Check in university libraries for this one like I did . . . unless you feel that you absolutely NEED to own this one.

I particularly liked the fact that Ms. Reuben takes a good look at what the couple should do before pregnancy, including the father-to-be role. Not much is usually said about all of this part. Here is an ounce of prevention that can save a lot of heart break after birth.

It is often believed that birth defects only affect other families -- those who are older, have a pre-existing genetic or medical condition and those who regulalry use alcohol, cigarettes or illegal drugs. The Healthy Baby Book dispels these myths. Birth defects can and do affect any family! Fortunately, with The Healthy Baby Book, you can reduce your family's risks.

Included in the Healthy Baby Book are those steps you can take before, during and after pregnancy to prevent birth defects. Before Pregnancy, author Carolyn Reuben focuses on the importance of preconception care, pre-existing medical conditions, occupational hazards and the father's role in creating a healthy baby. During Pregnancy discusses the importance of prenatal care, stress reduction, diet and nutrition, over-the-counter, prescription and recreational drugs, environmental toxicants, the importance of exercise, the role of infectious diseases and the effects of common procedures during labor and delivery. Finally, After Pregnancy discusses infant feeding, SIDS and your child's environment.

Perhaps what I like most about The Healthy Baby Book is that each section includes steps you can take to reduce your family's risk for birth defects. Moreover, Ms. Reuben often suggests other available resources from organizations you can contact to additional reading you can do.

Overall, The Healthy Baby Book is an excellent and essential resource for all prospective and current parents! I urge you to read and share the information with anyone of childbearing age. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

This book accompanied the PBS special of the same name. It did an excellent job of explaining the causes of the growing polio epidemics in the first half of the twentieth century. To think that public sanitation, which ended other deadly diseases, had a role in the increase of polio cases. It's a must read for anyone who remembers this scourge, or any historian.

This book contains a series of interviews with individuals who have either been involved in the treatment, cure, or suffering of polio. The accounts give captivating first hand insight into the horror of contracting polio, the experience of the disease progressing, the Iron Lung experience, and the therapies available at that time. Interviews with those who worked with Dr Salk, as well as his wife, are included as well.

The numerous black and white photographs paint a vivid image of the experience.

While this book is not intended to be a complete history of polio, it is an excellent book for those who wish to know how the polio epidemics felt, as well as the pride in the conquest of polio through the March of Dimes.

This book would be a good addition for a high school or junior high school library as well.

Wonder-full story! Every library -- personal and public -- should have this book in its collection. Mr. McMurtry shows sensitivity to the feelings of two American Indians who are born into one tribe, both with special needs. The colorful and awe-inspiring illustrations give life to the characters and imagination to the reader. The unexpected ending is refreshing and adds even more wonder. Children and adults alike will enjoy this beautifully illustrated story of American Indian life in the old days.

Written and illustrated by Robby McMurtry, Song Of Moon Pony adapts a classic oral folktale of the Southern Plains Native Americans, about a young warrior named Twisted Face who struggled to earn the love of a beautiful blind girl named Moon Pony. But Moon Pony has a destiny of transformation ahead of her, and Twisted Face has his own kismet destiny of hidden talent. Song Of Moon Pony is a vividly illustrated, absorbingly written, and highly recommended title for those young readers ages 7 to 11 who are just about ready to make the transition from picturebooks to more complex narratives.

Published in 1979, but has a very comprehensive listing of syndromes in alphabetical order with clear, descriptive photographs demonstrating traits of syndromes. States whether a sydrome is one that will affect development, need medical intervention, result in mental retardation, or is no big deal. Lists way more than the typical top 20 found in currently published books, but doesn't have more recently described syndromes. (duh! 1979) I found out about this book from a workshop presented by Dr. Rosetti, you know, author of the Rosetti test that SLPs love to use. He swears by it.

Hi, mi name is Rogelio, I'm specialist in genetics, (well, Im in the 3 year of the course of medical genetics in Mexico City, in the pediatrics hospital of the Mexican institute of social secure). Like I said before in the title of this review I really like this book, it has a vast review of genetics disorders, with a lot of photos and a easy form to go directly with the location of the information you seek througout the book, I really sorry that the last print was in 1990, a lot of physicians in Mexico love this book and are looking forward for the new edition, I hope there will be a new edition with the location of novel genes on it, in fact, if a copy of the book doesnt appear in this medium, I personaly will go to USA to buy one. (Maybe the next year I'll be hired in a hospital of USA) Well, I still need a lot of work to do with my english, but is only a matter or practice (I guess...), good bye, I'll looking forward for any news on this matter. Your's truly: Roger Méndez Llaca

I have been looking for a source like this book for a long time. The content of most medical embryology books are limited to merely descriptive embryology. This book is a great source to review the current advances concerning genetics and molecular mechanisms underlying the development of not only the commonly covered topics like the nervous system but also less common ones like the skin and the teeth. Most of you who have tried to gather the recent literature on any subject can appreciate the burden of searching for review articles which are both comprehensive and easy to understand. This book provides you with a collection of abnormalities studied in model organisms like the fruit fly or the chicken as well as humans. Although it may be hard to follow the text for somebody who is unfamiliar with medical diseases and terminology, it is still an invaluable source for molecular aspects of some diseases. As I read, my enthusiasm grew and I was disappointed with the authors' decision to keep it concise. I am looking forward to reading the new, expanded edition.