Disabilities Books

This book is fabulous and it is one of a kind. I found it helpful as a guardian often faced with ethical dilemmas about when I should decide and when "my ward" should. But the book is also written for doctors, policymakers, lawyers and judges, and parents -- in fact anyone interested in the assimilation of "the retarded" into the rest of the population.
It is actually fun reading and set up so you can skip the parts less relevant to you. It made me cry a couple of times as well as giving me many ideas -- and increasing my confidence in my judgments. READ IT. It will surely affect you profoundly in one way or another.

While this closely argued and exhaustively researched book focuses on the reproductive legal rights of our retarded adults, its real core is to ask: Why should retarded people be deprived of the same rights the rest of us enjoy simply because they are retarded.
The book punctures the veil of silence around our automatic presumptions about these people that underlies our assumptions of the necessity and goodness of paternalistic regulation.
It does this by honing in on the most emotionally arousing aspect of the question. Asking why our retarded fellow citizens can be prevented from having sex and from having children brings us up against our deepest prejudices.
The book caused me to reconfigure my opinions in these areas in what feels to me a more useful perspective of the lives of these people, some of whom are my patients. I think it is a must read for anyone involved in any aspect of the care of our retarded population.

This book puts forth a compelling thesis: The mentally retarded should have full rights to manage their own sexual and reproductive lives. The idea sounds good, but most people would quail at its full implications. Should a severely retarded 15-year-old be allowed to bear a child? What about situations where parents fear a daughter might suffer from rape in an institution? Should they have the right to have their daughter sterilized? A Harvard law professor, Field does not dodge the hard questions. She addresses them and forces a re-thinking of conventional ideas about who should make decisions for others and why. Field writes with such authority and conviction that at the end you are likely to be persuaded that human rights apply to the retarded in ways you never imagined. Analytical and systematic, the book is rooted in a deep knowledge of the law and a concern for the shaping of social policy. It is a must-read for those who face decisions about the retarded, either within their families or in the public arena. Those concerned with human rights will also find their minds, and perhaps their causes, expanded when they read this book.

Dr. Shapiro has written an excellent book on an important topic -- how to successfully promote positive attitudes toward students with disabilities.

Unless teachers and parents plan for the social as well as the physical and academic integration of students with disabilities, the concept of inclusion in regular education classes will not work. Students with disabilities will be rejected, teased, and ignored.

"Everybody Belongs" is a sensitively written, practical book for making inclusion work. Shapiro's ideas are based on years of experience and a detailed, insightful understanding of the relevant research and the history of disabilities. It is also based on a keen understanding of schools, teachers, and children.

Where has this scholar been hiding? Shapiro has written a tome on disabilities and the education of teachers and students--the book has sources, resources and is written in a way that engages the reader immediately. a must have for those involved in education

Professor Shapiro has provided a first rate addition to the disability literature in this wide ranging and very readable volume. From the need to change attitudes to the historical roots of the oppression of persons with disabilities to the unique problems of special education and many practical suggestions, Shaprio's work is impressive in scope. He has written both a textbook for the field of special education and a reference work useful to all scholars examining disability issues. This book is also a "must read" for policy makers, both in and out of education. As a graduate student in the cultural and intellectual history of disabilities, I expect to make repeated and substantial use of Shapiro's book in the years to come.

Fanny is a cat with three legs. Yet despite her handicap she holds her head high and does not allow her handicap to lessen the quality of her life. The other animals on the farm where she lives do not want anything to do with Fanny. This all changed when a little puppy named Ruby came along and they became the best of friends. The other animals soon realized she was just like them in the ways that count the most. This story teaches an invaluable lesson.

its been at least 10 years since I've read it but I still remember it. It is an excellent book that every child should read.

Fanny is a farm cat who is missing a leg. The other animals on the farm avoid her, not wanting to embarass her. A good children's book dealing with people with disabilities.

It's been almost a year since the auto accident which confined Crystal in a wheelchair, but she still struggles with guilt and grief over her dead father. Now her grandmother's recent death has left her in the position of sorting her possessions - and facing a mystery involving her grandmother's eccentric friend's disappearance. Can a girl in a wheelchair do what the police can't? A spunky story of courage and adventure evolves.

Crystal Ramos, the thirteen-year-old heroine of Finding Zola, is adjusting to life in a wheelchair. Crystal has been paralyzed as the result of a car accident in which her father was killed. The author, Marianne Mitchell, skillfully weaves a mystery while subtly teaching readers that individuals with disabilities can lead interesting, independent lives. This book could be used to increase students' respect for the elderly and for individuals with disabilities.

I just finished reading Finding Zola, and felt compelled to let the author and future readers know what an enjoyable read it is. The story held my interest from the first page.

I was impressed with the clever/flawless ways Ms. Mitchell wove all the little details together. Her vivid descriptions and dialogue are extraordinary; they made me feel I was there with Crystal. The culprits were a total surprise to me, and the dramatic scenes that followed their revelation had me on the edge of my seat. I predict that this novel will win acclaim, and have a very long shelf life.

Signed,
A fan

This is an excellent book for newly diagnosed Celiacs. Although written in a time frame for the first year, I read it in the first two weeks and now in my third week as a celiac, I carry it with me for review. Highly recommended.

After buying many self help books regarding Celiac Disease, I can honestly say this book is like NO other book! It is primarily due in part to the fact that this book is written by a Celiac patient! This book guides anyone who is helping a Celiac child, friend, or a Celiac themself through the process of coping with and learning how to deal with the struggles of day to day life, and Jules helps us learn that these really aren't struggles, but are managable.

I have been eliminating foods that really weren't gluten-free all along, and without Jules, I don't know what I would have done! I can honestly say this is the BEST Celiac Disease book I have ever read. I have purchased her cookbook already, subscribed to her website, and keep in touch with her via email regularly! As a Celiac writing to all of you out there, if you do one thing, you MUST purchase this book!!!

I am privileged to know Jules Shepard and I have witnessed, first hand, her excellent knowledge of this life-changing disease and her passion for educating & supporting those who live with Celiac Disease/Gluten-Intolerance.
This book will be the `First Line of Defense' for anyone who has first gotten that diagnoses and are told to maintain a strict Gluten-Free Diet. Having gone down that road myself, I know what an awesome task this is. If you want to understand Celiac Disease better, this is the book for you! If you want to learn more about living with Celiac Disease/Gluten-Intolerance, this is the book for you! I highly recommend this author and this book for all! Check out her cookbook, "Nearly Normal Cooking for Gluten Free Eating"!

Pat Minnigh
www.celiacsonline.com

A thoroughly heartfelt as well as informative book from a talented author. I felt like I knew them.

A deaf child raised by very loving family. The author taught her deaf child to speak and hear. She not only treat her like a normal hearing person, she allows her to learn signs with her deaf friends, and speak with her hearing friends, family and relatives.
Highly recommended for parents or relatives of deaf child to read this book that help take a right path to raise deaf child.

Truly a labor of love. This book is a wonderful chronology of a mother coping with a child's deafness in the days before ADA.

Fast delivery was needed, and they did it.

Free and Appropriate Public Education (5th Edition), by Rud and Ann Turnbull, is the defining legal resource for all special education advocates.

The Turnbull's, who co-founded and co-direct the Beach Center on Families with Disability at the University of Kansas, take the cumbersome legal process that is special education and turn it into a powerful reader friendly guide to understanding special education advocacy. The book has three parts, Introduction to the Law, the six principles of IDEA, and enforcing the law. The 5th edition is updated to include the 1997 IDEA amendments.

The first part of the book places the special education struggle into an historical context, preparing the reader for the principles at the heart of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]. The Turnbull's tell the reader where the law comes from, why it is needed and explains its power in the special education process. The reader learns what law is and how to make it work for individual students. A reader who understands why IDEA was needed in the first place will be better armed to advocate for a free appropriate public education for all students. This historical framework alone makes the book invaluable.

The second part of the Turnbull's book focuses on the six principles of the IDEA: zero reject (including discipline); nondiscriminatory evaluation; appropriate education (including positive behavior support); least restrictive environment (access to general education); due process (including mediation); and parent participation. The Turnbull's leave no stone unturned in detailing what families of children with disabilities have a right to expect from school administrators and teachers. The first time reader is thoroughly educated to the law and children with disabilty. The return reader and practicing advocate is given sophisticated information directly applicable to specific issues. The Turnbulls color each prinicple with the ink of history and the script of practical reality.

Rud and Ann Turnbull's final section tells parents how to use the law to obtain a truly free appropriate education for children with special needs. They give the reader a straightforward, no nonsense discussion of how IDEA is enforced. The authors give equal emphasis to hardball legal mechanisms and emerging alternative dispute resolution practices. A parent or advocate who understands how the law really works is better able to weigh specific choices for specific children.

Free Appropriate Public Education includes comprehensive resources. This 400-page hard cover book includes the 1997 IDEA amendments; glossary; a table of important cases; and extensive excerpts from the three landmark educational rights cases.

This book is ideal for the parent who for whatever reason cannot take advantage of opportunities to attend or participate in special education trainings or conferences. It also is an invaluable resource to those parents and advocates who present training opportunities or direct advocacy to other parents and families. The book is easy to use to refresh one's understanding of specific concepts or procedures. Finally, Free and Appropriate Public Education constantly reminds its readers and users that IDEA belongs to the families and not to the schools. It is not unreasonable for families to ask that IDEA be followed. The Turnbull's have given families a brief case resource which lets them put reason into practice. We heartily recommend this book.

This book is a must have for regular education teachers, special education teachers and especially parents of children with any disability or who suspect their child has a disability. It is written with the wisdom, compassion, and insight that only a parent of a child with disabilities could muster.

This book is the LAW for special education and it clearly defines what should be happening in America's schools. I highly recommend it.

Vanier is a rare, authentic individual. I don't know of a smaller book that is so large on wisdom. If you ask those that have been through a formation program for the gem of their experience, it often comes in the form of "embrace your shadow." From Brokenness to Community makes the same point.

Vulnerable, we become approachable. Community is possible.
Aware of our shadow, we become less judgmental. Community is possible.

The residents of Vanier's community have severe physical and mental handicaps which soon test the souls of "regular" community members who support them. Once anger, jealousy, rivalry and impatience is exposed, it can be acknowledged and dealt with. The "evil" is not so much in the community as it is in ME. Contact with the handicapped residents is healing, transformational. People become "real." Community results from the relationship established among authentic people.

"Elitism is the sickness of us all...Healing takes place at the bottom of the ladder, not at the top."

-Jack H. Bender, author of Disregarded: Transforming the School and Workplace through Deep Respect and Courage

After nearly 20 years, Vanier's words still ring true. His insights are at the heart of the gospel. One of his more powerful observations is that Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, not those who serve the poor. We all need to attend the "university of the poor" to learn of our own brokenness and so enter into community.

This book takes only couple of hours to read, but will take years of living to digest.

This deceptively brief yet measurelessly profound collection of talks given by the late, great Jean Vanier as part of the Harvard Divinity School's Wit Lecture series, after invitation by the great Catholic theologian Father Henri Nouwen, has been happily presented by the fine and faithful Catholic publishing house Paulist Press, from Mahwah, New Jersey, first printed fifteen years ago. Time now to read and pray with this book as we seek reconciliation and community with one another, in repentance and forgiveness, as Our Holy Father exhorts us, compelled by the mystery of the Eucharist, in his recent Sacramentum Caritatis: el Sacramento de la Caridad: una Exhortacion Apostolica Postsinodal

Father Henri Nouwen, renowned and prolific author of such spiritual classics as Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life, Spiritual Journals: The Genesee Diary, Gracias!, the Road to Daybreak and Clowning in Rome Reflections on Solitude, Celibacy, Prayer, and Contemplation, as well as so many others, gladly writes the inroduction to this book, putting clearly and concisely the spiritual and social significance of this work. Ronald F. Thieman, Professor at Harvard Divinity, then delivers an historical and theological presentation of the two lectures, which were given in Cambridge Massachusetts in November of 1988, the twenty fifth anniversary of the Kennedy killing.

Although now nearly twenty years have passed since the delivery of these lectures, we need them now more than ever, as our broken world breaks more and our hearts turn against our brothers and our sisters and our neighbors, as we forget the commandments of Our professed Lord Jesus Christ to Love our Enemies and to do good to those who harm us, to love one another as He has loved us.

This book, though brief draws us to fulfill the climactic and closing words of Our Holy Father's Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis mentioned above as, compelled by our participation in the Holy Eucharist, we are compelled in all humility to seek reconciliation and forgiveness with one another, and a more just and peaceful world.

The great Jean Vanier therefore illustrates this path from Brokenness to Community, which is the Kingdom of Heaven, in his usual direct and compassionate manner, full of examples from his worldwide communities of the broken, the disabled, the rejected and the hurt, finding made real one with the other God's Love for once and for all in their long, lonely lives. I wish an audiobook of these lectures were available, even though we have now lost forever in this world the great and prophetic voice of Jean Vanier, not only as mine own eyes grow dim, but for that Word to suffuse me and to inspire me and to carry me towards the humility of reconciliation and compassion, the seeking of forgiveness and of God's Love.

Please, you will not be disappointed by this brief book, now so affordable, a bargain at any price, for how may we measure the cost of GOd's Love? Come from our divided and individual brokenness into the joy and peace of God's Community with this book in hand, reading every step of the rugged way.

A good book to have.

This book is absolutely amazing! I heard about this book on a local christian radio show. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit while reading this book and was so touched that after reading it immediately gave it to my sister to read and then my coworker who is ordering her own copy. I truly recommend this book!

I just recommended this to someone so I decided to do a review. This is a womans journey from abuse, to the new age, to a successful career as a hollywood dancer in the 80's and a freak accident that left her permanently crippled. About to commit suicide, she was invited to church and got instantaneously, miraculously, completly healed there. She then went to on to become a pastors wife with her own ministry that has touched multiple thousands around the world.
From the supernatural of the demonic to the supernatural of God, this is an amazing story of a life turned around and set free.

I opened this book randomly to about the third chapter; briefly scanned the pages and immediately I was hooked. Instead of telling you about the book, I'll tell you what happened to me as I read the book. I laughed out loud, I cried, and then I was changed. Depression used to haunt me and it doesn't any more. I have read this book at least 5 times and the same thing happens to me each time I read it. It is truly one of the best books I have ever read and I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone; men and women.

What a great idea! Bonnie's illustrations always bring a smile. These should be mandatory in all hospital gift shops!

Bonnie's unique and wonderful illustrations are colorful, playful and endearing! These cards speak for the patient when they are unwilling, unable or just too tired to speak for him/herself... All ages can use the cards and when they're feeling better, they also bring a smile... Remember to look close to appreciate all of Bonnie's little artistic details. These cards will definitely help everyone GET BETTER!

What a great idea! You have to buy several because it makes a great gift for someone who is recuperating or even terminally ill. Now those that don't, won't, or can't communicate their needs only have to display the appropriate card.