Disabilities Books

I commend this book for creating an informational tool that does not present Autism as something for a child to worry about; at the same time, it does not talk down to them. It creates an opportunity to talk to your child both about differences and similarities between themselves and Pete. Every child can relate to things like having their favorite foods, favorite toys, wanting to play alone sometimes, or perhaps forgetting their own strength from time to time. It is not only a good tool to help children better understand those they may already know with Autism, but should be considered by any family hoping that if their child is ever exposed to Autism, that they approach it with understanding and compassion.

This book does a great job of explaining autism in a way that children can understand. The most important point that the author makes is that we are all unique and people with autism are too. This book cultivates kids to accept and befriend autistic kids. I would recommend that every classroom and school library have a copy to share.

What a great learning tool to use to education children about Autism. It is fun, easy to read, and the illustrations are very eye catching. This book would make a wonderful addition to any child's library, and is a must for all local and school libraries. Grandparents, why not pick up a book for each of your grandchildren.
Keep up the good work!
A Grandma

to think this was all created by a savant! It requires many 'looks'....to comprehend the imagination....the mind which created this amzaing masterpiece!

Gilles Trehin is an incredibly talented young man. His innate understanding of perspective demonstrates his genius. His depth of imagination is expressed through the creation of an imaginary city - Urville which he depicts in highly detailed pencil drawings : skyscrapers, public spaces, museums, hospitals -- all elements of the urban landscape. I'm afraid this special book is not going to get the attention it deserves.

Real life "Rain Man" - this guy has drawn out an entire ficticious city as he see it in his head. Whether it be distant views of the whole city or views from a top a particular building, this book is amazing no matter how you slice it.

This book is a pleasure to read. I'm working toward becoming a high school teacher and this book really inspired me. The book is about a program called AVID, which is a class in middle school and high school. The program started some 20 years ago and has consistently sent over 90% of its students to college! Good stuff!

Wall of Fame gives us hope in the ebbs and flows of education reform. It is about a program that really works, created by a teacher. I found the book well written and would recommmend it to anyone interested in public school education.

This was a great book. Mary Catherine Swanson has a great Avid program. This teacher was really dedicated to help teens into college.

I really enjoyed reading this book. As a therapist, I noticed that parents of children with LD want some practical help in a language that they can understand. This book is easy to read and because it gives many examples of children with LD parents can find what they are looking for. As an author of a self-help book for children with learning disorders - BEING IN CONTROL- I can really recommend this book.

Gifford shares methods gleaned from the masters of imagery and adapted for her own purposes. She shares her unique experiences from teaching students from an inner-city school in just about the most adverse conditions imaginable. If these techniques can be effective in this kind of environment, then they must be good. I have tried some of these strategies in my own teaching of high school mathematics, and they really are effective. I have successfully used imagery to help students overcome "Math Anxiety" and "Test Taking Anxiety" with sometimes amazing results.

Gifford provides lots of specific methods of overcoming the obstacles faced by kids labelled as "learning disabled." A very practical book that can be put to good use by both teachers and parents of "LD" children.

Wendy is a former federal employee turned whistleblower. She suffered a disability from her job and was basically threatened, denied her rights, denied her compensation and made unemployable because of her former work arena in the U.S. federal gov't.

If you work for anyone but yourself, you'll find this book a "legal-like" treasure. It gives you all the information you need about all the agencies involved, and the laws that are in place to protect workers' rights. Wendy also explains how sexual harassment and degradation are a huge part of what American women face everyday trying to earn a living!! If you think that working for the fed'l gov't is comparable to something on West Wing, this book will certainly open your eyes.

This book has eye-opening subject matters for everyone who reads it. I am astounded that the U.S. Federal Gov't treats its own employees so ruthlessly. The author's story has made me question my own American ideals. Being fired for one's disability is disgraceful in this day and age, and we should all be aware of what is truly going on in the workplace!

When I first got this book and read it, I thought to myself "what is going on inside the Fed'l Gov't today?" Then I realized that this book is about scandal and controversy surrounding workplace rights and protections for every American who reads it. I am appalled that my tax dollars are going into a cesspool of gov't garbage, while the federal employee is left suffering the consequences!! Thanks, Wendy Ghannam, for writing this and allowing all of us to peer into the real world of civilian federal service. You are a hero for writing your story!!

Peter Perret and Janet Fox have made a worthy contribution to education by telling a story of how music can affect children's ability to learn, to listen and to raise their overall performance in school. This book explores the way musicians teach and the way children and teachers learn from the activities described in the ground-braking Bolton Project in Winston Salem, NC.
The writing is engaging and humorous, but also serious and well researched. The book touches on different models of teacher-student relationship, creative approaches to learning, and the sense of vocation and commitment to continuous improvement. It focuses on the realities of the present moment and the sense of accomplishment that results when there is passion for excellence.
The book also touches on some important questions on whether music instruction affects our cognitive abilities, and gives the reader a good overview on the research that has been going on for the last fifteen years. It tantalizes the reader to know more about the subject and makes a good case for adopting new teaching models through music instruction in the early school years.
I highly recommend this book to teachers, parents and to anyone who is interested on new models for effective teaching.
Patricia A. Dixon
Lecturer in Music
Wake Forest University

A Well-Tempered Mind, Using Music to Help Children Listen and Learn by Peter Perret and Janet Fox with a foreword by Maya Angelou
March 2004, Dana Press

"That is what I think the woodwind quintet is doing. Our musicians are playing to a fundamental language of the brain. They are evoking a muse that already lives in every child's head."

Harvard's Project Zero was named that because of Howard Gardner's belief in 1967 that "nothing had been firmly established about the link between the arts and cognitive thinking." Thirty-seven years later, the North Carolina Bolton Project creates a new yet ancient paradigm: live music in classrooms of elementary and middle school students, particularly at-risk ones, causes a dramatic increase in students' standardized test scores, perhaps due to the neurological changes the music catalyzes. This book proves it. And, as the authors point out, the link between music and learning dates back to Plato. Current tests, such as the Audio-Visual Integration test (AVI), were used to substantiate the significant success of the Bolton Project. Since we know most "children who fail to master reading in the early grades rarely learn to read later in life", elementary and middle school educators can find a panacea in this book.

Students listening to live music such as a quintet raised their scores by almost 50%. The authors stress that the quintet wasn't there to teach music but to teach through music, the classroom teacher creating the lesson plan with the music coordinator. Frank Wood, Professor of Neurology at Wake Forest University, states it directly in his introduction: "The Bolton curriculum, I can now say from firsthand experience as a research colleague of Peter Perret and a mentor of Shirley Bowles, has proved effective for enhancing cognitive skills, including the skills that support learning to read." Although the book focuses on music, all performing arts have potential to increase learning.

Far from being a dry read like a textbook, the book tells a success story of a ten-year old project that should rivet educational reformers. The authors also reveal insights into cognitive neuroscience and the learning process. Actual dialog of students enhances the book's readability in addition to showing the spatial-temporal reasoning being developed in students. Humor abounds in the titles and heads of the book, such as allusions "Close Encounters of the Musical Kind" and "Raising Arizona". Even the title of the book connects with the essence of the project.

As a high school English teacher of at-risk students, I'm overwhelmed at the difference this kind of classroom would make. The first thing I teach in 9th grade English is how to think back and forth between specifics and generalizations. If my students had been introduced to this type of teaching in elementary school, their struggle to form abstract ideas from specifics would be far less. Part of my job is to raise the reading scores of students, so when I read the chapter "Is Music A Reading Teacher?" I recognized the incredible value of A Well-Tempered Mind in terms of helping students improve thinking, reading, and, of course, writing skills.

Maya Angelou best expresses my thinking after reading Perret and Fox's book: "I pray the gift of this book, along with the gift of music, will herald the return of art in the classroom. The children need that and so does our world."

This is an important book for everyone who has a stake in the education of young children, meaning everyone concerned with our country's future. The book demonstrates what happens when a woodwind quintet visits the classroom to play music and actively engages the children in discussions about the music. What happens is the children's brain development is enhanced, together with their ability to learn everything in the curriculum.

This book provides a guide for school administrators and parents to adopt the program in their schools. The program's results are eye-opening: the new listening skills that the program develops help children better anticipate, remember, compare, and imagine. As the musicians and children discuss quarter notes and half notes, the concept of fractions becomes real and tangible. When the children compose music, their self-confidence improves.

The book provides empirical evidence about these results. For those who want it, the evidence is correlated with cutting-edge brain research. To many people, the idea of music in the classroom means music appreciation or learning to play an instrument. This program, far more ambitious, does far more.

I was a little reluctant at first to purchase this book because of the price and being disappointed in another access guide I had purchased. Also, I don't use a wheelchair on a regular basis. After reading a review, I decided to give it a try and I am so glad I did. Its detailed descriptions of the tourist attractions made it easy for me to decide if the attraction would meet my needs. I never realized how many activities were available for those who use wheelchairs. It opened my eyes to so many things I had not even thought about doing. And the accommodations listed are not just motels! The list includes campgrounds, cabins, B & B's, houses, condos, even houseboats and an RV. There is also an appendix chock full of helpful resources. Thank you Wheelchairs on the Go. This book is a real gift to the disabled community and a bargain at twice the price!

I bought this to help find places my husband and I can go for short 2-3 day holidays. This book has a lot of information about barriers that most able-bodied people take for granted - ie, gravel walkways vs hard surface, etc. It's divided by regions so you can easily find whatever is available in any given area - for example: Horse& buggy rides with lock-downs for wheelchairs, ramps into pools, accessible rental condos, fishing trips, accessible canoeing, water parks with ramps etc. This will be put to very good use this year!! No excuses now!

Wheelchairs on the Go: Accessible Fun in Florida (by Michelle Stigleman & Deborah Van Brunt, 424 pages, ISBN: 9664356-5-6 , USA: $24.95) is a comprehensive guide for any resident or traveler with ambulatory difficulties who would like to have fun in Florida. Michelle and Deborah have covered hundreds of locations and listed the available aids and pitfalls for challenged travelers. You can look up any city or any activity and learn how to adjust or plan your travels, or whether it is not advisable for those with limitations. The authors list so many aids and so many fun activities that anyone who has hesitated to travel because of physical disabilities will want to make Florida a top destination. Every kind of fun activity and attraction is covered, describing the potential barriers and how to overcome them. An EXCELLENT guide book for those who need it, including people who use canes and walkers, or simply can't walk very far. Additions and updates to the book will be posted

Wintering Well is a really good book to read. It talks about a boy named Will and his sister Cassie. Will gets his leg cut off and him and his sister Cassie move into town with their sister to look and start a new life, Will getsa new leg and a job for.....Read it to find out! I LOVED IT!
-Oreo-From Clinton,MO.

Wintering Well is a terrific book. The characters are wonderful, and the author does a great job of approaching a very difficult subject-physical disability-in a way that is moving and engaging. It's clear that the author did a lot of historical research, but the research never gets in the way of the writing or the story. It's seamless and reads beautifully. Reading Wintering Well, you feel like you have stepped right into the early 19th century. Highly recommended.

Will has an accident and loses his leg, but WINTERING WELL is not gross or sad ... it is about how he copes, and how his sister Cassie helps him ... and they both learn that challenges can bring exciting rewards. I couldn't put it down, and I'm older than 13. Really good and exciting and feels real..One of my favorite books now!

This is a wonderful book, easy to read and understand and I have been out of school for 30 years before returning. Good over all info.

I have used this book since the first edition and wanted to kick myself when it came out for not publishing my curriculum and lesson plans at the time. Health Occupations was a new vocational course and most of us had to write our own material. When Louise Simmers published DHO, we all knew instantly that she had the best resource on the market. It stands up over time and each new edition keeps my students current and relevent in the changing world of health care. I've reviewed many texts over the past twenty years of teaching and have found none to surpass this text for student friendly use.

This textbook provides the future health career student with basic entry-level knowledge required for their chosen profession. It contains twenty-two units ranging from Anatomy and Physiology to Business and Accounting Skills. These units are divided into two parts: Basic Health Care Concepts and Skills, and Special Health Care Skills. Each unit provides objectives and key terms that will be learned from that unit. Each section or chapter is well written with valuable information and helpful procedure hints. This book also contains a glossary to help with confusing terms, appendices including extra helpful information, and an index and table of contents for convenient reading. I highly recommend this particular textbook, I feel it is very informative and helpful towards my future career as a neurosurgeon.

I received the book promptly. The material was in new condition without any flaws. I was very pleased. Thank you!

She tries to help you understand the reality of her life. It is much more than you can imagine.

What beautiful writing! It's pointed out in the intro that, more than most of us, her world was shaped with WORDS. I've only read about four essays so far, and am profoundly touched. I've always admired Helen Keller, but am newly re-impressed with her wisdom and vision, and touched that she can write so clearly as to make me feel how little she felt limited by her handicap. If Helen Keller had simply learned to behave and ask politely for her food, etc, it would have been an impressive accomplishment. The fact that she grew to fully embrace her intelligence, her world and her potential . . . wow. I know so many people who are content to just do the bare minimum, to not stretch their limits at all, to not show any intellectual curiosity . . . she had the perfect excuse to exert the least effort, yet she didn't. Once she was given the key, the entree to humanity, she didn't let her handicaps stop her. I love that even all these years later, she is still able to share that.