Developmental-disabilities Books

If you or someone close to you has a handicap, this book offers real insight into how to deal with the touchy subject of sex.

A man with an IQ of 49, who had confessed to a murder in Georgia, sat on the witness stand.
"Jerome, did you assasinate President Lincoln?"
"Yes," Jerome said.
"Did you assasinate President Kennedy?"
"Yes," Jerome said.

Incidents like this demonstrate that people with retardation or similar disabilities - whether they are guilty or innocent of the crimes they are accused of committing - often can be shockingly defenseless when caught in America's criminal justice system. Focusing on this tragic dilemma, Unequal Justice? helps readers address the critical question:

Did the system treat this person with disabilities as other citizens are treated whe charged with a crime?

Presenting actual criminal isues and cases involving people with disabilities, Unequal Justice? is a call for compassion in the face of a great, yet often overlooked, American problem. Or, as author Robert
Perske says, "Please see it as my flashlight, turned on for you and beaming its light into a few dark corners of "the system" into which these people have been taken."
--- from book's back cover

It's difficult enough for parents to raise a disabled child, even with all the medical and educational help available. This book is full of insight, ideas, and a 'must read' for these families.

This was the first book of it's kind that I've read that didn't "take sides" on this controversial issue. Everything else I've read either focused entirely on the biochemical aspects of psychiatric disorders, and recommended the use of medication, or took the opposite stance that medication for such things is bad, and puts our children at a disadvantage so that life will be easier for parents and teachers. This book clearly describes various mental disorders- it presents criteria for diagnosis including symptoms checklists and detailed examples. It shows which conditions are likely to require medical intervention to improve, and which could benefit from alternatives. The descriptions of how a child with each disorder behaves are extremely helpful. If your child has one of the diorders covered in this book, you will recognize it easily when you read it's description.. Am informative book in a clear, inderstandable style.

It is a book that helps us to think over schizophrenia. I am a counselor. I am working with several clients who are schizophrenic. It is a very useful book for psycho-education of their family. In addition, it helps the society to be more respect and patient to our client if we get rid of the medical model for schizophrenia.

If you do, this book will have haggard edges from use. I personally have used this book in staff trainings and as a reference when faced with challenging behaviors. This guide offers intervention strategies for agitation, distress and panic behaviors in people with profound and severe developmental disabilitites running the gamut to challenging sexual behavior in people with mild and moderate developmental disabilities. Specific information is given regarding boundary setting and teaches staff how to determine what to do and when.

This is a collection of chapters from different parts of the world about the welfare of children in cities. Rural to urban migration is ubiquitous, especially in developing countries but the promise of a better life is not often fulfilled. What I liked most about this collection is that many chapters reflected the youth's perspectives. Chapters by Jill Swart-Kruger and Louise Chawla on children's leadership and by Earls and Carlson on adolescents as collaborators address the always-difficult issue of how to "help" while retaining the "helpees" authority and dignity. Another chapter on youth's work addresses the critical issue of when, how, and under what circumstances is work harmful to children, and when can it be a beneficial learning experience. Although this is an academic book, aimed at researchers and service providers, anyone interested in children's development would enjoy reading about the challenges youth face and the many coping strategies they use.

While the author does possess that oh so important journalistic flair (which is why I haven't given this book a single-star), he lacks any sort of proper scientific perspective. The issue has been all but settled amongst medical circles while only a small percent of fringe doctors view mercury in vaccines as the cause of any sort of autism. That's all I've got to say on this text of pseudo-scientific yellow journalism.

This book is amazing. Packed full of information, not boring whatsoever! I cant put it down. Also its written in plain english with footnotes and resoursces so you can verify the information Highly recommend

Since mercury is still present Nov 2008) in some vaccines, this book is essential reading for anyone who uses vaccines for themselves or their children. With an objective eye, reporter David Kirby presents both sides of the mercury-in-vaccine controversy so you can understand each side and see their motivations, experiences and reasoning before making up your own mind. The book is a skillfully told tale of mysteries and secrets, cross-purposes and showdowns. It is a story of passion, determination and struggle on both sides of the fence. It's an interesting, enlightening, and amazing read.

I think this book does a good job of trying to account for both sides of the issue (the author states in the opening section that he still believes the vaccine program is the most important public health initiative). But you cannot overlook the disturbing governmental and pharma coverups for the sake of saving face and benefiting billions of dollars respectively. What these poor parents have suffered with their children and the children themselves! It is no wonder the public has a serious trust issue with the vaccine program as it stands even today.

I don't like how it was written. Very hard to read. I expected more facts rather then a story line. The book makes it hard to focus on the facts because your flipping back and forth between 10 different families and their stories. However, the information provided it very useful. Lots of research and facts. Very interesting.

I am a 23 year old adult living with ADHD. In a nutshell, if you are someone who has questions about ADHD, or you are someone who was diagnosed but never given any information, this book is a must read. Even for those knowledgable about their disorder, this book is a great guidebook. For more info, read on :)

When I was a kid, this wasn't something that was talked about much, therefore I lived my life as "that" kid (the hyper, aggressive kid that was somehow so loving and sweet; the kid that never did her homework and failed classes, yet teachers claimed was so amazingly intelligent and above-average; the kid that was goofy, creative, and who everyone loved, yet was controlling and stubborn.)

It wasn't until I was 22 and in my 6th year of college with 2 more to go (that's ADHD for you) that I picked this book up. I always knew something wasn't right; I was diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, and struggled with bulimea. When I read this book, on a whim, I literally felt as if I had found "god". It was as if a little man crawled in to my head, and wrote a book about my life.

The authors of this book write it catered to the ADHD adult. The text is broken up in to easy-to-read paragraphs with illustrations and stories and fun lists thrown in sparatically. I found myself laughing hysterically at the -isms that are such a part of my life, and crying with comfort when I read about the same struggles I have always dealt with and never had an answer for (did you know ADHD is often misdiagnosed as depression, and even bipolar disorder?! Or that ADHDers often have severe addictions such as drugs or FOOD?!). I lent this book to my friend (who has been aware of his ADHD for atleast 15 years of his life, and has taken Ridalyn for at least 10) and he was dumbfounded. This man is 35, and has struggled with ADHD his whole life He was diagnosed in college, given Ridalyn, and has been working on his struggles ever since. However, he is one of the many who was diagnosed with ADHD but never given any true informaton on the disorder. ADHD is so, so much more than hyperactivity and inattention. It is an entire personality type, which the author of this book describes so beautifully.

In sum, if you have questions about weather you have ADHD, or are someone who was diagnosed but never given any information, this book is for you. I am aware that there are some people who understand their disorder already, and may need something a little more in-depth. But no matter who you are, if you live with ADHD or live with someone who has ADHD, this book is a great, informative, fun read and will surely serve as a guidebook to your life.

Enjoying this book. It's helping a lot with coping with ADD. Glad I purchased it (and all the other one's by this guy!

I have really enjoyed both of the books I have read by Dr. Hallowell. I first read "Driven to Distraction" and then followed it with "Delivered from Distraction". For parents who are trying to help their children with solutions in dealing with ADHD, they were particularly useful!

Sent this book to my daughter as she is adhd, and she was enthralled with the info it contained and I think helped her in many ways...she found it valuable to her in many areas she said.

This is a very difficult read because it was very boring. The author's...seemed to go and on before getting to the point. They also recommend a lot of tests which I am sure is very expensive. They also want you to see a number of people to help diagnose you. They seem to be into taking a lot of supplements. Some I agree but for the most part not. The part about piles is called not add but hoarders disorder. People who have ADD should not write books. The book was very general. I got very little out of it.

I've read the professional reviews and they are interesting, but as a parent they are glossy and shiny but don't ring with the truth I found in this book. The first time I read a Mel Levine book I cried. Because finally someone understood just what my child FELT. I was also enraged because here was a learned professional espousing what I always knew in my heart to be true but the education system in our rural community was so hopelessly out of date, change of this scope is decades if not centuries away.

But, what this book did give me was a new vocabulary. It opened my eyes to the fact that many teachers are rigid and many simply do not have the resources in the existing structure of the school system to meet the needs of, not only my child, but as many as half the children in their classroom. And in all honesty, some teachers should not be teachers. With luck and perseverence, I MAY be able to influence my child's teachers, but I can not change this system in his lifetime.

What I can do, is change how I talk to my child, how I reinforce their learning in the home, and more importantly how I talk to him about his frustrations in his classroom.

I am my child's best advocate. After reading this book, I was better armed with tools and ideas for addressing my child's educational needs, and my informed input was better received by his educators.

Having a child with "special needs" has no easy cure and will always be a source of anxiety for me. But Mel Levine's books (I've read four of them) help arm me for the on-going fight for his rights as a student.

Dr. Mel Levine has worked for a long time with children so that they could grow up feeling responsible, successful and with good self esteem. He has spent a great deal of time working with experts in many disciplines in order to understand how children learn and how to help them if they are struggling.

He has broken learning into several areas of input, processing, storage, retrieval and output. Parents and educators can use this information to understand where a child may be having problems and then use ideas from his book to help turn things around for the child/student.

What the book does let us know is that learning is not easy but more like rocket science, in that it is a combination of innate abilities and deficits of the child, and the abilities of the adults to work with the abilities and help remediate the deficits through a combination of interventions and accommodations. There is also no quick turn around, since the educational demands change over time with new areas of difficulty recognized with the increased demands.

In this book you realize that there is really no such thing as dumb, that all brains work differently. It helps focus on the REAL issues of learning, instead of lumping your understanding into ADHD or some other category. You should read it!

Dr. Levine's book, A Mind at a Time, is so comprehensive that it is challenging to pare it down to a few essential ideas. He begins by telling the reader why he is "a pediatrician with a mission". He endeavors to accurately describe the struggles of unsuccessful children, to explain the brain's working and dysfunctions which we all experience and see in others, and to provide a "road map" for parents and teachers to knowledgeably observe their children's cognitive development. This observation by a trained eye allows for early detection of breakdowns in learning as well as necessary identification of a child's cognitive strengths, overall assets, and consuming passions. Interestingly, research into problematic learning is also a study of all learning, and how the brain is supposed to function. Only when we are equipped with accurate information regarding a child's diverse kind of mind can we begin to explain why they are struggling and how they can best conquer or compensate for these challenges. It is vital that this knowledge be openly shared with young developing minds so that they know from the start that they are not what they feared, but rather free to grow stronger given the knowledge and help they need to succeed.

Dr. Levine's text covers an overview of the ways of learning, and how lifestyle choices can help or hurt an individual's learning styles. He then goes on to detail the eight neurodevelopmental systems, chapter by chapter: the Attention Control System, the Memory System, the Language System, the Spatial Ordering System, the Sequential Ordering System, the Motor System, the Higher Thinking System, and the Social Thinking System. These systems develop at diverse paces, but must be utilized to grow strong and to stay strong. Although complex and detailed, this book is written in terms a layperson can understand with some thoughtful reading and perhaps a little rereading.

Chapter 10 is devoted to helping the educator or parent pinpoint the areas of breakdown based on evidence from past productivity, behaviors, and learning difficulties. Dr. Levine has divided these areas of breakdown into particular profiles based upon recurring patterns that occur with particular types of brain wiring. He explains each profile, giving case studies to better illustrate what may be typical of each profile. He also details different emotional mindsets that can interfere with a child's achieving his or her potential, and provides strategies to overcome those negative behaviors. Finally, he addresses the benefits and possible detriment of testing, and the outcomes in adulthood.

Dr. Levine adds several additional chapters to provide even more tools for working with different kinds of minds. He discusses the management of a profile, which is broken down into stages: demystification, accommodations, interventions at the breakdown points, strengthening strengths and affinities, protection from humiliation, and using professional therapies. He devotes a whole chapter to provide parents with best methods for nurturing these children at home. He also devotes a chapter to the teacher's role and what types of policies are practiced in "a humane school".

I especially appreciate Dr. Levine's kind heart, which is evident throughout this book. He encourages parents and educators who know a child with a brain that is not meeting necessary demands not to give up on that child, and don't allow them to give up on themselves either. He reminds us that our minds are not stagnant, but come into their own with time. School is the hardest thing that many of these kids are ever going to have to face, because it focuses so intensely on particular skills, such as math and language, while devaluing other important skills, such as interpersonal abilities and creativity. He also reminds us that report cards are notoriously poor predictors of a child's potential. Throughout the numerous case studies, Dr. Levine is an encourager, an empowering force, the voice of hope and predictor of success. His position, experience, and knowledge of current research lend weight to his optimistic determination. Later, at the end of each chapter detailing the neurodevelopmental systems, Dr. Levine lists strategies, a tool box of helpful, practical information to help students, their teachers, and their parents in ways that are immediate and useful. He considers these children to be heroes and heroines, distinctively different in their learning styles, but valiantly courageous in their ability to cope, their resilience, and their will to overcome.

Dr. Levine has covered his topic completely, with every avenue of possibility addressed appropriately and in the most humble, helpful manner. I have worked with a developmental pediatrician who trained under Dr. Levine, and I can say without any hesitation, if I was younger, I would jump at the chance to train under Dr. Levine myself.

Thank you Dr. Levine for this instruction manual about the mind!!! I have read this book several times already and learn something new each time I read it. I continue to use it as a reference for when I am stumped about either my own behavior or a child's behavior.