Disabilities Books

This book is a unique resource for organizations, employers, and people who care about the diversity in their midst. Melissa Marshall's approach to helping people understand why they should care if they're physically and programatically accessible is...well...accessible. As one of the people she trains says, "You mean it's fair!"
Marshall is funny and creative, and is clear that she isn't interested in having people feel guilty. She talks about her adventures navigating a wheelchair through Chicago's O'Hare airport, hotel fires, offering fabulous prizes (like finger puppets)to button-down corporate types, and using masks to help people "get it" about what it means to be disabled today.
This is a book that should be on the shelf of anyone who trains around issues of diversity, all human resources staff, and executives of for-profit and not-for-profit corporations alike.
Get it!

This book is an exceptional resource for any trainer who needs to learn more about disability,

This book is a unique resource for organizations, employers, and people who care about the diversity in their midst. Melissa Marshall's approach to helping people understand why they should care if they're physically and programatically accessible is...well...accessible. As one of the people she trains says, "You mean it's fair!"
Marshall is funny and creative, and is clear that she isn't interested in having people feel guilty. She talks about her adventures navigating a wheelchair through Chicago's O'Hare airport, hotel fires, offering fabulous prizes (like finger puppets)to button-down corporate types, and using masks to help people "get it" about what it means to be disabled today.
This is a book that should be on the shelf of anyone who trains around issues of diversity, all human resources staff, and executives of for-profit and not-for-profit corporations alike.
Get it!

I purchased this book for an instructor and I personally don't have a review for this book but I am sure she is enjoying it.


Thanks

This work is a study that manages to be academically rigorous and emotionally moving at the same time. Highly recommended.

As a student affairs professional, it is rare that I find a text about students that is both academically and emotionally rigorous. This is one of those rare gems. It's a very good read for anyone interested in working with and helping underrepresented students succeed in higher education.

Dr. Rodriguez intertwines her own life experiences as a first-generation college student with those of her subjects in a way that strengthens her findings and adds a human touch to the data being revealed.

This book comes strongly recommended!

This book is beauty in it's finest sense. Life wrote a book and his name was justin and kenny, they wrote life and it was Gifted Disabilities. This book made a lot of sense to me as a struggling young spiritualist in a world of commercialism and intellectual blandness, if you find your self asking a lot of questions you might want to pick up this book. Many beautiful aspects of life are discussed in this book, too many to name. I will admit that, when compared to "conventional" books, the manic writing style may be hard to follow, but once you get into it it makes a lot of sense and ends up being really beautiful. Justin likes to string words together in long-winded sentences that present a mental picture that conveys emotion directly into your being, almost as good as actually experiencing the event.

If you can not handle yourself I would say the same thing the writer save. If you are not trying to say ten million people do not read it. I do not think it is for you. This book should be worldwide, the dynomite, it is really close to blowing up.

Gifted Disabilities is the greatest novel I have ever read in my life. This book displays reality at its finest and the realest level I have ever experienced it. The best way I can describe this novel is by saying its a reflection of everything you could ever know, from the positive to negative, comic and tragic, love to hate, yin yang. I you enjoy uplifting your soul and reading, spend your time reading Gifted Disabilities.

What a refreshing perspective this book offers by focusing on girls under the autism spectrum. I found it fascinating and shocking while reading this book to discover that their may be a vast number of undiagnosed girls flying under the proverbial radar due to how society views gender differences which could affect whether or not a girl is diagnosed with autism versus being viewed as shy and/or eccentric. This book does many things including discussing that "the underdiagnosing of girls with ASD is due to our reliance on male prototype of autism, whereby diagnosis is based on behaviors that are more extreme in how they present themselves to the clinician or educator."

In addition to the interesting topic of gender difference in ASD and how it presents, this book is a "scrapbook" or journal of personal journeys from the perspective of young and young at heart ladies on the autism spectrum...the challenges they have faced, their hurdles and successes. It brings a unique insight into the world of autism from a girl's point of view.

The book is also a great resource including an appendix full of suggestions, checklists, plans, resources, etc. to help parents help their daughters navigate through the world of IEPs, advocacy and social skills. An even more important resource comes from the women who are advocating for these young ladies and are living examples to what those with autism can do with their life and suggestions on how to succeed...for example from Temple Grandin and Zosia Zaks.

I would highly suggest this book for a parent with a daughter who has been diagnosed with autism and/or a young lady who would like to further understand her autism. Also, teachers and para-professionals would learn a LOT from this book and it's a quick read full of information.

The "icing on the cake" was the wonderful painting and poem by Amanda, a fine young lady with autism.

Author and Instructional Aide, Joanna L. Keating-Velasco
A Is for Autism F Is for Friend: A Kid's Book for Making Friends with a Child Who Has Autism

My 9 year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with PDD. I knew "something" was wrong but never had a name for what it was. Her diagnosis has finally told me where we are in the world of disabilities and this book is like a map. It has given me suggestions on how to manage behaviors, suggestions for IEPs and even potential therapy goals. I would recommend this book to anyone with a daughter in the spectrum.

Much of what has been written about autism applies only to boys/males, which accounts for about 80% of sufferers. This book is one of the only sources I have found which refers to girls. It gives plenty of helpful advice and is written by sufferers themselves. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book.

and hear her talk about writing. She is not only a kind person and good writer, but very encouraging to others who may want to tell their own stories about life on their farm.

A very enjoyable book. She really helps put you right there with her.

I purchased this book along with Christmas in Dairyland for my father for Christmas in 2005. He grew up on a dariy farm in the same "era" as LeAnn and thought he might enjoy the books. Well, he more then enjoyed them, he LOVED them. I have now gotten him all of her following books as gifts as well. He especially likes the stories that are actually about agriculture and farming. I have also read all the books and they are most enjoyable.

My Dad liked Laura Ingalls Wilder and he said, "LeAnn's books are even better then Laura's! She makes you feel like you are right there next to her."

We don't live too far from where LeAnn grew up so when my parents came to visit my husband and I he wanted to go find the farm LeAnn grew up on. After he saw the fields, the farm setting, he was rattling off all of the stories and picturing it as it was years ago. You don't often times get to meet the authors and see where they grew up but we were fortunate too.

I would highly recommend this book and any of LeAnn's book for any reader who is a country (boy or girl) or who longs for the country. You will really enjoy them!

Give Me A Home Where The Dairy Cows Roam is a collection of autobiographical stories drawn from author LeAnn Ralph's family dairy farm in Wisconsin in a time when small family farm were commonplace in the Badger State's rural countryside. Now that we live in a time when approximately 85% of American family dairy farms have disappeared into suburban township developments or absorbed into agribusiness scale corporate farming enclaves, LeAnn takes us back some forty years ago into a era when dairy farming was a dawn to dusk life, seven days a week lifestyle that bonded parents and children with hard work and a sense of the land, animals, and homestead that is rapidly passing from today's expanding urban society. More than just an autobiographical collection of anecdotal stories, Give Me A Home Where The Dairy Cows Roam is also enhanced with a recipe for making homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker and a recipe for "Norma's Homemade Bread". Highly recommended reading, Give Me A Home Where The Dairy Cows Roam should be on the shelves of every community library in Wisconsin.

My 7-year-old daughter loves this book! She read it at her school's library and I surprised her with a copy of her own. Beautiful artwork.

"Henry hears the honking first. He circles the pond, around and a half, sending up splashes of warm spring mud all over his winter coat. Henry knows the geese are coming. And then I know it, too..." This is the best time of year for our young narrator, as the Canada geese arrive back at her family's pond, each spring. But this year she notices one of the geese has a badly injured foot, and when she visits the pond the next day, the goose's foot is gone. There she stands all alone, separated from the rest of the flock. The other geese have shunned her. "I never thought geese could be so mean." The little girl wants to take care of the poor footless goose, feed her, pet her, be her friend, but her mother and father warn her not to. "A wild goose has to learn to live with her weakness. Or she won't live at all." As the summer slides towards autumn, the little girl notices that the goose has grown stronger and more capable. It can balance and hobble on its stump, search for food, and swim. But she still worries that the goose won't be strong enough to push off and fly south for the winter, and will be left behind to die. And then one day when she comes home from school, all the geese are gone, and so is her little crippled friend. The winter months pass and the girl thinks often of the goose, and then one spring day, soon after she spots the first robin, she hears the familiar honking. "They land together. A couple of geese. Honking and flapping. Drinking and bathing. Combing each other's feathers. One is larger than the other, his neck as thick as a fire hose when he stretches it out to protect her-the goose with one foot..." Inspired by an actual event, Cari Best's touching and captivating story, as seen through the eyes of a grade school girl, is filled with drama, courage, determination, and triumph. Her engaging and evocative text is complemented by Holly Meade's bold and vibrant paper collage illustrations, that bring the wonders and wildness of nature to life. And together, word and art paint a vivid, empathetic, and uplifting portrait of an unlikely and endearing heroine. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Goose's Story is a heartwarming tale of nature and survival, and is definitely one of the best new picture books of 2002.

Cari Best is my favorite children's book author. My daughter is two and she loves Best's stories. Goose's story is a wonderful tale about love, friendship, family, animals, and trust. Best writes wonderfully, and the words are beautiful time after time.

I have had the distinct pleasure of knowing Ralph and Carrol Moisa (AKA Mom and Dad on the powwow trail!) for several years now, and I am always amazed by the fact that Ralph really does walk the walk that he writes about in his books!
This book is great for kids of all ages, and it shows that character, not appearance is what really matters. This is a corner stone of Native culture.
Ralph's stories trancend racial boundaries, and help to carry on the message that his deceased son, Ralph Jr. (AKA White Eagle) wanted to share with all races, all over the world.

My family had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Moisa and his wife at a YMCA resort in Colorado. His message made such an impression on my family we still read the books all the time 2 1/2 years later. Not many books have that kind of staying power.
The themes fit right into our school"s current emphasis on "Character Counts" and are an invaluable addition to any library.

Education is a top priority in our home and Great Eagle and Small One has made a wonderful addition to our library! My six year old son, Jacob, and my 12 year old daughter, Christine, both enjoyed this book and learned from it. Page 41 sums up one very important lesson taught by this book. It states, "So, my young friends, when you see people who are not perfect in body or mind, remember the story of Great Eagle and Small One. The Creator loves them each in a special way." Chapters 6 and 7 explain all about the four kinds of Eagles and have beautiful pictures! Lisa Hader President of School of the Osage Lower El. PTA

As a pediatric RN at a midwestern children's hospital, I interact daily with children and families dealing with serious on-going illnesses. So, of course I was keenly interested in checking out Nancy Klein's "Healing Images..." resources. I now own my own set (book, CD, workbook) and am excited to have this opportunity to share my fierce passion for these materials!
When the onset of serious illness feels like an all-out attack on a child and his or her loved ones, Nancy Klein's book and related materials provide the effective counterattack armament to be used in conjunction with the medical treatment battle plan.
Here's a book built from profound compassion and filled with solid substance. Nancy's words and metaphor-stories are dynamically encouraging and soothingly nurturing for the ill child as well as their often overwhelmed family members and friends.
Aside from the goal of enhancing healing, this guide aims to imbue the healing journey with calmness, courage, and confidence. Ms. Klein hits the mark. The wonderful illlustrations by Matt Holden aptly support the cause.
This is an awesome resource for children, families, health care providers, and anyone who cares about someone with a serious illness! I'm telling everyone I can about this great book and the adjunct activity book and CD. I've personally purchased sets for several families in my community. Most of you, too, know of at least one family in the midst of a medical crisis. You may have been wondering what you can do. Know that such a child and family would desperately welcome and appreciate the huge heartfelt help that these materials deliver.
P.S. I love the stories! My favorites right now are "Soccer Victory," "A Turtle," and "Remote Control." Which are yours?

As a pediatric RN at a midwestern children's hospital, I interact daily with children and families dealing with serious on-going illnesses. So, of course I was keenly interested in checking out Nancy Klein's "Healing Images..." resources. I now own my own set (book, CD, workbook) and am excited to have this opportunity to share my fierce passion for these materials!
When the onset of serious illness feels like an all-out attack on a child and his or her loved ones, Nancy Klein's book and related materials provide the effective counterattack armament to be used in conjunction with the medical treatment battle plan.
Here's a book built from profound compassion and filled with solid substance. Nancy's words and metaphor-stories are dynamically encouraging and soothingly nurturing for the ill child as well as their often overwhelmed family members and friends.
Aside from the goal of enhancing healing, this guide aims to imbue the healing journey with calmness, courage, and confidence. Ms. Klein hits the mark. The wonderful illlustrations by Matt Holden aptly support the cause.
This is an awesome resource for children, families, health care providers, and anyone who cares about someone with a serious illness! I'm telling everyone I can about this great book and the adjunct activity book and CD. I've personally purchased sets for several families in my community. Most of you, too, know of at least one family in the midst of a medical crisis. You may have been wondering what you can do. Know that such a child and family would desperately welcome and appreciate the huge heartfelt help that these materials deliver.
P.S. I love the stories! My favorites right now are "Soccer Victory," "A Turtle," and "Remote Control." Which are yours?

Nancy Klein clearly applies the best that trance and metaphor have to offer in assisting children and families confronted by cancer. Her unpretentious and direct self-instruction book serves as essential reading for any psychotherapist who wants to learn how to apply trance and metaphor as psychotherapy tools in life-threatening situations. Just as Milton E. Erickson's medical condition fueled his way of healing others, so also, Nancy Klein's medical history fuels her way of healing children and families. School Psychologists and Psychotherapists supporting children confronting serious medical conditions will value this book.

I bought this as an additon to a classroom unit I do on Helen Keller. As with all DK books, it is concise and easy to explore and read. It gives even my very young students intereting, factual information in an easily readable/browsable format.

I had always been captivated by the concept of her life. Then, years later by sheer coincidence, got involved rescuing deaf blind dogs. I had to know what their lives are like. So I started reading Helen, as many people who have these dogs name them Helen or Keller. I was astounded, dumbfounded, beyond moved, by her JOY OF LIFE! My biggest fear was that I was not understanding the dark and silent world my dogs inhabit, and having delved vicariously into their thoughts, I understand they do have silly joy, amazing intelligence, and ABILITY.

Helen will always be a motivating force in my life.

This woman accomplished far more than one thousand sighted hearing humans ever dreamt of.

"Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." ~Helen Keller

The DK Biographies introduce children to famous and influential individuals, although I personally also enjoy reading these tiny biographies. It is a great way to gain insight into a life and Helen Keller is a symbol of overcoming limitations. She refused to live her life shut away in a dark room and instead she taught herself to speak many languages, traveled to many countries and loved to read.

Helen Keller's life is truly inspirational and although her life started out in such a bleak way, she overcame many obstacles and eventually exceeded everyone's expectations. She was actually world-famous by the age of 10. It is truly amazing to see the articles she wrote at age 12.

After we read about the initial illness that left her blind and deaf, Leslie Garrett takes us on a beautiful journey through Helen's life. She was quite the little prankster as a child and also had a great sense of humor about life in general. She also had a temper and this is where Annie Sullivan enters the picture.

We learn about Annie Sullivan's life and how Helen and Annie meet. Leslie Garrett explains how Helen learns about life and how to live in a world where few people understand her. Annie shows extreme patience in very difficult situations and eventually teaches Helen how to deal with everyday situations. She also teaches her how to read and later on attends college classes with her to spell out the lessons into her hand.

Leslie Garrett's writing style is perfect for this story and this is definitely one of my favorite DK biographies. After reading this story, you will never again think about life in the same way.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." ~Helen Keller

~The Rebecca Review

I have not only read this book, but have also met Mr. Rosner the author. In fact he gave me the book because he diagnosed my daughter with a learning difficulty while she was in the second grade. We used the "dots" exorcise for several months and other suggestions. My daughter graduated high school in 2003 with college credits and a high ranking. As Mr. Rosner writes, the difficulty was corrected by informed willing parents who were willing to inform teachers. My daughter is now a junior in college majoring in English with teaching acreditation. Her current GPA is 3+. There is hope and this book is a beginning.

Having 2 very bright children with learning difficulties (or as a school might claim LD's) I was hooked on the book while reading the Introduction, and I quote:

"One of the two main goals of this book is to dispel the notion that these children have a permanent condition that will forever prevent them from achieving their learning potential and are therefore destined to a lifetime of the emotional pain that accompanies failure. This is not so...."

How wonderful to know and be given guidance that as a parent we can do something to enable our children to achieve to their learning potential. There's some explanation of what to test, why to test and what to do with the test results and why. Also there are many auditory and visual perceptual activities provided in the book that a parent can do with their child to develop the skills the child needs so that he/she can succeed at school.

Special Needs educators have tried over and over to explain to us that we did not understand that LD's are for life. Hmm, guess they haven't read this book, wish they would.

This book is more functional than some I have read. It presents practical information regarding steps that can be taken to help overcome learning problems. The approach emphasizes not labeling children as learning disabled. It includes specific things to look for as causes to the learning problems and practical steps to improve the weaker skills. The book also includes some tests that you can conduct yourself to assess strengths and weaknesses. It also does not dismiss a child if he/she is over a certain age. It acknowledges that the older your child gets, the more difficult it may be, but improvement is still possible.

Perhaps the Table of Contents may be of use to you if you are considering buying this book. (1) Learning Disability, Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Disorder and Other Such Conditions, (2) Identifying the Problem, (3) Physical, Emotional and Neuromotor Factors, (4) Visual and Auditory Perceptual (Analysis) Skills, (5) Expressive and Receptive Language Abilities, (6) Where the Problems Are: Reading, Spelling, Writing, and Arithmetic, (7) Treatment Options, (8) Improving Perceptual Skills, (9) Improving a Child's Language Skills, (10) Compensatory Instruction, (11) Compensatory Instruction Methods, (12) The Instructional Environment, (13) Prevention, (14) Conclusion, Appendix A: Visual Perceptual Skills, Appendix B: Auditory Perceptual Skills, Appendix C: Testing and Teaching Decoding Activities

I would recommend this book for all teachers and parents who have preschoolers or younger students who perform below average.