Developmental-disabilities Books

Small Steps Forward by Sarah Newman

This is a great book written by a very impressive woman. Sarah Newman discovered she had an autistic child when her first son was a few months old. Her first reaction was panic and her next thought was to get as much help as she could. She searched for a book on the subject and found that there were none. So Sarah set to and wrote one that made use of her experience parenting her own special needs child. The result is the book - Small Steps Forward.

As you would expect from the circumstances surrounding its creation, the book is down to earth and practical. It is full of the experience that Sarah gained in the day to day problems of managing, entertaining and helping a small child. Sarah is a practical and highly intelligent woman, so there is plenty of sound advice on how to make the best use of professional advice and where to find practicaql help. The book is written with real understanding for the problems involved and comes to the re-assuring conclusion that parents should remember "it is you who know your own child best."

I read this book when my wife was preparing the illustrations and found the experience very moving. It gave me a small insight into the problems and pleasures of parenting a special needs child and struck me as a book that would be a god-send to any parent of such a child. In fact me and my wife have already given it to the parents of one such child. Furthermore I believe that any parents of a child under 5 would find hundreds of good ideas and lots of good advice in the book..

The illustrations are beautiful capturing the "different" charm and beauty that belongs to Downs Syndrome, Autistic, and other special needs children. Parents or young special needs children will find this a beautiful book as well as a supremely useful one. I heartily recommend this book. Nick Mellersh

Preparing a young child for the world of school and other social situations doesn't always come naturally. "Social Competence of Young Children" is a scholarly psychology manual examining the state of social competence in children below the age of five. A focus on understanding the concept and the influences from family, culture, and other sources marks this study of various disorders that may affect this first coming of age of many in life. Doubling as a guide for parents, "Social Competence of Young Children" is a highly recommended for community library Child Development and Psychology collections.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I would recommend this workbook to parents or practitioners who work with Asperger's and/or learning disabled teens. It's interesting to them as they do want to improve their social lives. It has over 30 short "lessons" that you can give as therapeutic "homework" or parents can help their teen complete over the summer. Both patients I have used this workbook with so far have actually enjoyed it (a 15 year-old and an 18 year-old, both males).

I purchased this title as a reference while preparing my MSW thesis. The work is very well laid out, the study is well done, the stats well reported. Most of all, the conclusions reached follow logically from the research.

An excellent work for material on non-traditional families as a resource for special needs children awaiting permanent families.

Pricey, but if you are doing research and/or a lit. review, worth every penny!

Wow -- a really well-done book that captures a wide spectrum of ideas and research on learning disabilities. What I find remarkable about this book is that for nearly every test that is talked about here, the test authors themselves write the chapter -- Woodcock writes about the Woodcock-Johnson, Feuerstein writes about dynamic assessment, and Reitan writes about the Halstead-Reitan. An integrative chapter by the editors brings everything together. Worth checking out.

A great little book, easy to read and fun. I am passing it on to my daughter.

This book does a very good job of explaining the different sensory systems, how they apply to learning for all children and how that differs for the disabilitis, and then how to create games and fun activities to facilitate learning/develop the skills learned through those senses. The suggestions are more directed toward autism but they are general enough to apply to all mental disabilities and normally progressing children. My only complaints are that it doesn't apply as well to children under 3 and it doesn't have as much information on speech development techniques as I was hoping for. I highly recommend it for all parents. (P.S. It is written in England English)

What a wealth of knowledge! This is a FANTASTIC resource for ALL parents of a child with special needs, newly diagnosed or not. It is packed with useful information from cover to cover .... all written in a reader-friendly manner.
I consider this book a MUST READ for any parent of a newly diagnosed child (--- where was it 3 years ago?) Unfortunately, I had to learn the ins and outs the hard way, so far. I found great comfort in reading this book. It was fulfilling to me to read the author's words and know I was on the "right" path .... and encouraged, so many times by reading her feelings knowing I felt the same way during similar situations/periods. Thank you for that justification when I was doubting myself! I look forward to using this resource again and again
as I continue this journey of advocating for my children.
Many, many thanks, Jan for such a wonderful gift to all of us!

Knowledgeably co-edited and authored by the team of Janet E. Farmer (Department of Health Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia), Jacobus Donders (Psychology Service, Mary Free Bed Hospital, Grand Rapids, Michigan), and Seth Warschausky (Department of Physical Medications and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) Treating Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Clinical Research And Practice is a scholarly collective presentation of in-depth discussions, observations, studies, and research in understanding of neurologically inclined disorders and dysfunctions. As modern sciences and neurological studies trace along an ultimately greater understanding of the brain's physiological and neurological processes, Treating Neurodevelopmental Disabilities informs the reader of the significant benefits which neurosynergenic procedures may effectively treat and aide young victims of neurodevelopmental disabilities. Treating Neurodevelopmental Disabilities is very strongly recommended reading for all students of the psychological, neurological, and anatomical sciences, as well as psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, and academicians searching for a greater understanding of the practical application of modern innovative scientific discoveries in the field of developmental neurology.

Delagato does an excellent job of describing the sensory systems of the autistic child and gives the reader a way to classify those senses. He uses hyper, hypo, or "white noise" to identify how the child's senses work. This system alone makes attaining this book a gold mine for anyone who works with autistic individuals.