Disabilities Books

How do we REALLY treat those with physical disabilities? Look at how we respond in our places of worship, and you may have a real eye-opener! Great food for thought, lots of honest sharing in this sensitive book.

This book is a book that not only needs to be in the hands of every ordained minister in the United States, but needs to be in the hands of every teacher and administrator in the public schools in the United States. There are places where people will disagree, but the key theme of the book is that the church is not only the wounded healer, but is the incarnation of the Body of Christ. Too often, the church has put off the ministry to the disabled because they cannot afford to do this kind of ministry, but this book proves that the church cannot afford not to reach out to the disabled with the love of Christ whether the disability is physical, mental, emotional, or psychological. More books should be written this way.

Superbly written by Alexis Rae Weaver, Hunter Bunny Saves Easter is a charming picturebook colorfully illustrated by Jennifer M. Kohnke and is about a bunny and a duckling who are different from the rest of their siblings and neighbors. Hunter Bunny needs a motorized wheelchair to move about, and Clark the duckling needs glasses to see. They become friends and embark upon an adventure to help the Easter Bunny, in this remarkable story about the triumph of inner strength over external disabilities. Hunter Bunny Saves Easter is highly recommended for young readers and offers an entertaining and instructive message which will resonates with children the year-round.

Thank you for such a good book which teaches such good lessons.
My kids fell in love with Hunter and Clark and were instantly mesmerized by the story and the beautiful pictures. My children are five and seven years old and surprised me with their questions and comments about the obstacles each character overcame, such as being made fun of for being different. The happy ending had all of us tearing up and some of us cheering for the two "misfits" who became heroes.

My daughter says "if Hunter Bunny can do it so can I". She has some special needs but like Hunter is not Handicapped by them.
A very appropriate gift for any child or special person.

Happy Holidays and God bless.

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Florrie Binford-Kichler, Founder of Patria Press, Inc.- an award-winning independent publisher and Member of The Children's Book Council; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

The artist/illustrator author Jennifer Allen's I CAN SURVIVE was created to help her find hope during her father's battle with prostate cancer: here the lovely watercolors and inspirational poetic short words will appeal to all ages: "I cartwheel three times,/waving pompoms/when I don't even score."

I bought this book for our son's pre-k teacher to share with the class. It was also used for his kindergarten class. It's the only book like it's kind that I know of out there that can help explain so much to others about what a deaf child is going through. How they feel and what the "outside" world is like for them. Covers alot of the angers and frustrations and fears that deaf children face on a daily basis. I highly recommend this book for ANY parent of a deaf or hearing impaired child to get this. If not for your child and others but also for yourselves to help understand and open up a bit of understanding. My son went through EVERYTHING that the little boy in this book went through and it let others know that "hey this is normal". Don't hesitate to add this to your library today!

A young deaf boy faces many frustrations until he meets a deaf teenager who helps him to deal with growing up in a world without sound. Written by teachers of the deaf, this book is a sensitive look at a child coping with growing up with a hearing loss. Young children really respond favorably to the child in the story and are ready to discuss how they would feel in similar circumstances. It is an excellent book to use as a starting point for classroom or family discussion of disabilities.

I bought this book to explain my son's severe CP to my daughter. She is only 3, so much younger than the recommended age. However, the text is pretty simple to understand. But...the illustrations are excellent. The little girl in the book really looks like she has CP and they don't really sugar coat things. I like that because it's relates to my daughter's real world (as opposed to idealizing the CP child). Also, the book talks about good things and bad things so it has an evenhanded treatment.

All in all, I think this is a great book for explaining severe CP to siblings and others.

I bought this book to explain my son's severe CP to mydaughter. She is only 3, so much younger than the recommendedage. However, the text is pretty simple to understand. But...the illustrations are excellent. The little girl in the book really looks like she has CP and they don't really sugar coat things. I like that because it's relates to my daughter's real world (as opposed to idealizing the CP child). Also, the book talks about good things and bad things so it has an evenhanded treatment.

All in all, I think this is a great book for explaining severe CP to siblings and others.

This is a delightful story that is a good read for children while, at the same time, provides some good value lessons about the fact that we all deserve a chance to be seen for ourselves, not as a stereotype. Clever story and cute illustrations.

This is an enjoyable, delightful story that helps children understand the challenge of being different, and develops an empathy for people. An excellent discussion starter for teachers who want students to learn about peer pressure, acceptance and disability issues.

Inclusion is considered to be Special Education's largest bandwagon ever, as seen by editors, James M. Kauffman and Daniel P. Hallahan. In the mid 1980s, The Full Inclusion Movement (FIM) offered an attractive platform of general and special education merging into one with a system that supports all students' regardless of abilities or disabilities. After twenty years, the editors claim that the devastation of full inclusion is evident, leaving Special Education in a precarious position of trying to salvage it's original mission for students' with disabilities. This book is a collection of essays that throws light upon how FIM is nothing but an illusion of support for students in the classroom. The book is divided into three parts with twenty-three separate chapters. The first part addresses FIM from a historical context and addresses the issue of merging special and general education. The second part of the book discusses policy analyses, commentaries and research. It addresses topics such as the need for diverse environments in order to provide for an appropriate education, and the lack of preparation of teachers for the FIM. Finally, the third part takes a look at specific disabilities, such as blind, deaf and emotional or behavioral disorders, and it's appropriateness in the FIM.
One of the reasons the editors claim that the FIM gained such momentum was the availability of books that supported the rationale of Full Inclusion. As I set out on my research for a book on Inclusion, it was quite easy to find a variety of titles for Inclusion that discussed its rationale, the research, and its successful implementation. In fact, so convincing was the rhetoric of Full Inclusion that going against Inclusion, almost made me feel as if I were an insensitive, prejudiced human being and that I should reconsider my position on this issue. I was relieved to find this book, The Illusion of Full Inclusion: A Comprehensive Critique of a Current Special Education Bandwagon, by James M. Kauffman and Daniel P. Hallahan, this book gave me the necessary resource and support to write about this controversial issue.
This book represents as a complete source for my topic for many reasons. First, the editors are credible experts in the field of special education. James M. Kauffman is Professor Emeritus in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. He has experience in both the general and special classrooms, and received an EdD in Special Education from the University of Kansas. In addition, he has served as President of the Council for Exceptional Children, and was a co-editor for Behavioral Disorders. Daniel P. Hallahan has a PhD in education and psychology and has served on numerous editorial boards for various Special Education journals such as Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, and The Journal of Special Education. He also has been honored by the University of Virginia for Outstanding Teaching in 1998 and for Outstanding Faculty in 2003. Second, the intention of the book was take a position on the issue of Full Inclusion, and to make educators aware of the other side of Inclusion, as indicated by the book's title. Third, the book covers an array of topics as it relates to Full Inclusion, such as the Least Restrictive Environment, an Appropriate Education, the purposes and outcomes of Special Education, and specific disabilities. Finally, as stated, this book is a collection of articles written by experts in the field of Special Education from all over the country and not just a concentrated area.

Sure to be controversial, this important collection of essays challenges the glib assumption that "inclusion" is best for all students. While acknowledging the huge benefits that inclusion holds for some students, the authors put forward the case that for other students, it may have equally huge disadvantages, both educational and social, and that by jumping on the bandwagon of "full inclusion", educationalists are actually seriously failing some students with disabilities.

Instead, the book argues, a range of educational possibilites are needed, so that each student's individual needs can be met most fully, with the goal being inclusion in society as a full and equal participant (which includes the right to be different). The essays include both those attacking the theoretical arguments involved and those which examine the issue with respect to specific disabilities such as autism, learning disabilities and deafness.

As a disabled person whose life was very nearly ruined by my experiences in the "mainstream", I hope that this book may cause some educationalists to think twice before sacrificing the rights of students with disabilities to the cause of "educational correctness".

Robert Buchanan's book 'Illusions of Equality' fills a gap long overlooked in activist literature. Meticulously researched and well written, Buchanan's book details the plight of deaf Americans in trying to find equal opportunity in employment during the heyday of American industrialization. With this book, Buchanan becomes one of the premier voices amongst activist/historians.

I found this book to be helpful as it provided much new information in areas that have not been fully explored in recent works. Buchanan showed that Deaf adults actively defended American Sign Language during the very decades (1900-1950) when "Oralism" was the official policy in most schools. He also shows that this tradition of self-activity extended into employment where Deaf adults worked individually and collectively to challenge discriminatory employers many decades before the Americans with Disabilities Act. Finally, Illusions is helpful as it provides an honest and empathic portrait of the Deaf Community that considers frailties and divisions as well as its extraordinary history of determined self-activity.

Many things that are simply elementary to most children prove to be a challenge to the autistic. "Improving Speech & Eating Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Oral-Motor Program for Home and School" is a guide full of suggestions for those who care for children with autism. Establishing these skills early, like normal children, is vital to establishing them for life. The book covers helping the child eat, dental hygiene, speech therapy, and sentence formation, among other daily challenges. Any parent or caretaker of an autistic child needs "Improving Speech & Eating Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders".

I cannot emphasize enough the hope this book has given me for my 12 year old son. This book explains what an oral-motor program is with case summaries of boys with autism who have school programs. The items to use and how to do it are all detailed within the pages of this book.

It is described in detail what the various techniques will achieve for the child with feeding issues and lack of imitation or initiating speech sounds. This should be done both in the home and school and can be practiced with teacher, therapist or aide at school and be a program for all students. This can easily be adapted into the school schedule and photos can help the nonverbal child know what is expected.

I highly recommend this book and wish it was around 9 or 10 years ago when my child was younger. I liked that the photos and case summaries are of boys in the age range of my son who is 12. There is help for the child that stuffs food in their mouth, and cannot tolerate new foods. This is a quick read of only 121 pages. You will need a highlighter with this book.

In His Shoes: A Short Journey through Autism
By Joanna L. Keating-Velasco
Autism Asperger's Publishing Company

Entering junior high school can be stressful and daunting for any kid, but for Nick Hansen, who is non-verbal because of his autism, it would be doubly hard. Joanna Keating-Velasco, author of In His Shoes, takes us through that year of transition with Nick, sharing his experiences, feelings, and reactions to a variety of scenarios encountered by the typical seventh grader, including Nick's first dance, track practice, and changing for gym in the locker room with the other boys in his gym class.

Throughout the story, written as a resource for middle school students, Joanna Keating-Velasco provides strategies that help students with autism cope, as well as ways their peers and others who work with them can help. Even as a teacher who worked with students with autism and a grandmother of a boy with autism, I learned several new strategies, such as the use of sun glasses to help with light sensitivity and visual over-stimulation.

Teachers and others working with junior high or middle school students will find In His Shoes a great resource for the classroom, not only for the story, but also for the thought-provoking discussion questions at the end of each chapter.

Joanne Keating-Velasco has provided a wonderful service in writing Nick's story. It can't help but promote better understanding of autism and empathy for those who live with it every day.

Judith Mammay is a retired exceptional education teacher, a grandparent of a child with autism, and the author of Knowing Joseph, a good companion book to IN HIS SHOES.

As the mother of my own Nicholas, who is high functioning Autism, I found this book to not only to be educational, but to also be very interesting. I could picture my son in similar situations, and trying to overcome his difficulties. I love how Joanna put the words behind his confusion explaining why things don't make sense when we talk using IDIOMS, instead of just saying what we mean. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an Autistic child in their lives.
Thank you Joanna for giving our kids a voice others may understand!