Disabilities Books

The final chapter to the Song of the Sea Trilogy, Sharing is a great way to tie the series to an end. I love the way it recaps the first two books and moves the story on, to answer the ultimate question the previous two books posed. The story is powerfully moving and a fantastic collection of both pictures and an amazing tale, as it is rounded off. Even if you couldn't read the first two books, this book is well worth the money, for you will read it again and again.

Unfortunately, I did not read the other two books in this trilogy but... this book is a standalone; the first two books in the series are brilliantly re-capped. I was captured by the plot and the characters. If you have a passion for the environment and the sea, this book is a must read!...

"Shooting Blind" is a fascinating photographic study, as all the contributors are visually impaired. Accompanying interviews with the photographers indicate that many of them wanted to represent how they see the world - an impression of what it is like to experience a vision loss. They've accomplished this admirably by using an innovative flashlight technique, creating eerie light and shadows. This photographic technique is interesting in its own right, and its usage in the photographs can also be viewed purely as art, with no compelling need to know about the photographer's vision loss. One particularly magical photo is that of a violinist, with light and mist rising from the instrument, giving it an ethereal mystical quality, almost allowing the viewer to see the music flowing from the violin. "Shooting Blind" had a profound effect on me - allowing me to enter the world of people who are visually impaired, while at the same time making me realize that art doesn't have to be bound by our own limitations.

My eyes went wet when I browse through the striking images printed in "Shooting Blind: Photographs by the Visually Impaired". These unpretentious and sensual portraitures knock me down like a hammer strike. My colleagues ask me (I showed them the publication) if the blind photograhers could see their end products and I told him this does not really matter and we should treat the images as a gift to us (those who can really 'see'?!), a gift which could lead us thinking the meaning and the quest of seeing. These images are amazing graces!

For decades our so called Art World and mainstream Art History merely focus upon 'sophisticated' works and have neglected voices from minorities. The institutionalization of Art (with a capital A) by museum, gallery, collectors, curators and academics have buried the original essential nature of perceptual
experience and creative will.

I treat the photographers in this book a violate act up against the stagnated world. I truly hope the publisher Aperture or other Art dealers not to give a price tag to these honest images and leave them away from the fateful destinations and genres of Postmodern Photography.

My daughter had to read this book for a homeschool report and really enjoyed the bok. The book arrived in good timing and was in good shape.

As a quick read, this novel reminds me of the harsh realities of society's unacceptance of people with disabilities. At the same time, it emphasizes the love and growth that can come from opening up and understanding a person with a disability such as Down Syndrome. The story climaxes with a tragic twist in this family's life. Despite the sadness to it, the novel was well-written and hard to put down.

I can't believe it. He saw my worst nightmare five times over every day.

I believe this book is a very inspiring book that tells you how one lives its life. It gives me a very vivid picture of what the author is writing about, It is like a book come alive, and it's like a movie in some way. I am very proud of this man who sees an opporunity and takes it and achieves it. I can see a deaf man who can do anything, Not even blood stops this man. Death overflows this book, I can see the smoke of the dark cloud come out of this book and it feels scary but is also a very inspirating book which is full of true scenes that happened to him. I recommend anyone to read this book. It may encourage young kids to achieve their dreams and not to let anything stop them. Who can be an Emt like this man and face alot of discrimation? I wonder who can stand this much?
Read this book!

The illustrations in this book are a beautiful as the story.
I had to read (sign) a book to my ASL2 class and was happy to find this book. After practicing with it for a while, I fell in love with the art and the message. I couldn't help myself, I had to purchase my own copy. I highly recommend this refreshing and stunning book!

A wonderful story for young kids. Exemplifies the value and beauty that each person holds within themselves. A beautifully written and illustrated story. The pictures tell as much about the richness of the Taiwan culture as the words do. Deals well with deafness and in a way young people can understand.

I FOUND THIS BOOK TO GIVE HOPE NOT ONLY TO THE CHALLENGED PERSON THEMSELF BUT MOST ESPECIALLY TO THE CAREGIVER OF THAT PERSON. MY HUSBAND IS NEW TO THIS AND THIS BOOK HAS HELPED HIM SEE THAT WE ARE NOT ALL WHINERS BUT REALLY HAVE A GOOD OUTLOOK ON LIFE IN GENERAL. THE STORIES THAT SHAENA HAS CHOSEN ARE REALLY INSPIRATIONAL BUT THE AUTHOR HERSELF IS THE MOST MATURE UPBEAT YOUNG LADY THAT YOU COULD MEET. I HOPE TO SEE MORE OF THIS AUTHOR

Shaena Engle has assembled a remarkable group of inspirational stories. Her book, "Silver Linings" chronicles the accomplishments of seventeen individuals that reached beyond their physical limitations and personal tragedies to touch the lives of others in a positive manner.

Each unique story shares a common theme of individuals triumphing over the hand that life dealt them to achieve life-affirming goals. Perhaps the most inspirational story is that of editor Engle herself, detailed in the book's introduction. Diagnosed at the young age of sixteen with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), she oftentimes felt isolated, lonely and confused. She yearned for guidance from others facing life with a chronic illness. On her long, arduous road to recovery, she motivated herself by setting meaningful goals - goals that inspired her to fight the illness and survive. Her goal for this book is to encourage readers facing similar predicaments.

I recommend this book to anybody, physical limitations notwithstanding, that has ever been told, "You can't do that" but chose not listen to the admonishment. This is an excellent read for the person that is determined to reach for the stars, and when clouds get in the way find their own silver lining.

This excellent 1943 novel tells the story of a boffin in wartime. The tale is told in the first person by Sammy Rice. Having lost a foot between the wars (possibly as a result of a World War one injury though this is never stated), Sammy is spending the second world war working in the small back room of the title, studying possible weapons for the Army and trying to avoid getting sucked into noxious office politics. Because his girlfriend happens also to be his boss's secretary, Sammy has a good idea of all the games being played by his colleagues, but has no idea what to do about them.

After the first part of the book describes the arguments within and between various research groups and bureaucrats within the ministry of defence, Balchin brings the reader in touch with a bump with the reality of the war they are fighting. Sammy has to interview a little boy who is the first surviving eye witness of a new type of Nazi booby-trap; which has just blown his sister to bits.

While his superiors continue to fight their political battles, often with dire results, Sammy and one or two of his friends spend some of their time trying to work out how to protect people from these nasty little booby traps dropped by the Luftwaffe.

And then Sammy and a colleague have a chance to put their theories about the booby traps into practice - by defusing two of them themselves ...

The mine defusing scenes at the climax of the book are gripping and terrifying. The book as a whole is first rate, and you can see why John Betjeman described Nigel Balchin as a "readable writer of genius."

Strongly recommended.

Sammy Rice is a low level scientist working for a government ministry in London at the beginning of the Second World War, when Hitler's bombs were raining down and carpeting the city, reducing large sections to rubble, and wounding, killing and maiming thousands of ordinary citizens. Rice's life has not been an easy one, among other things he has an artifical foot which doesn't fit very well, and when the pain becomes unbearable the only thing he can do is self-medicate with a bottle of whisky, while his long suffering girlfriend Susan, also an employee at the ministry, looks on aghast when he passes out night after night.

Rice's life is further complicated by an infiniately byzantine office structure in which the hierarchy is always mysterious and invariably counterproductive. Established by Professor Mair from Oxford, who had been asked to start up a department of working scientists, Rice's ministry has come under attack by an outside council which seems to resent its autonomy. Every day is a little slice of hell.

His expertise comes in handy when all over Britain a new, and deadly sort of bomb is spotted lying on the grass lawns of Derbyshire and the rocky beaches of Bath. Children think it it's a toy, they pick it up, and kablooey! So various are the pieces of the shrapnel that forensics trying to piece the bomb back together really has no idea of what one looks like and thus no idea of how to defuse it. Then one day, two bombs are found sitting side by side on the beach, and Sammy summons up his bottle to take the ultimate test of manhood.

Balchin thus invented, way back in 1942, both the novel of forensics like CSI, and the novel of backbiting office politics, which we see in shows like OFFICE SPACE or the BBC TV comedy series THE OFFICE by Ricky Gervais. People think of Nigel Balchin as a third rate Graham Greene but he's more of a stylist than Greene, and more adventurous too. It's one of those books that gets under your skin and takes you down with it.

Great teen book - helps promote self-esteem for teens who are "differnet" :-)

Snow is a book about an albino named Stephanie. She is legally blind and constantly teased about her appearance and eyesight. When the book starts, she is also facing the extra hardship of moving to a new town and high school. There she meets one of the first people ever to accept her just the way she is. This is a great book for people who are feeling down about their appearance or who they are as a person. I would highly recommend it.

The people behind this book worked hard to expand on their topics in a realistic way. I can easily use the majority of their topics as I work with with teen-age students. The information that is presented is not too simple for students who are in regular education classes, even though it was designed for special education students. The age-appropriate activities and topics bring on discussion that is neccesary for students as they work towards better interactions with others.

I stumbled upon this book while looking for resources on NLD (nonverbal learning disorder), which has caused my bright, 12-year-old son to flounder both academically and socially since fourth grade. It is FULL of excellent activities for children who have difficulty picking up social cues and interacting appropriately with their peers. Because my son works so hard during the regular school year, and typical summer programs and camps only cause him anxiety, we now opt to let him just take time off from organized activity during his summer breaks. But he will be assisting in the family home business, and now we plan to incorporate the exercises in this book into his daily schedule. They are interesting and fun, and even I look forward to working on them.

Brian's Mom

THIS WAS THE FIRST BOOK I READ WHEN I WAS FIRST DIAGNOSED BY & STARTED TREATMENT WITH DR LEVINSON 9/8/84. I AM STILL HIS PATIENT TODAY NEARLY 14 YRS LATER.THIS "EARLIEST" BOOK OF HIS IS VERY UNIQUE IN MERGING RELIGION,MIND-BODY,SCIENCE MATH,PHILOSOPHY ,PSYCHOLOGY & NEUROLOGY TOGETHER IN A VERY BEAUTIFUL EVEN HAUNTING MYSTICAL WAY. THIS BOOK QUICKLY HAS BECOME A "BIBLE FOR ME" & HAS MARVELOUS SELF-HELP SELF-ACCEPTANCE SELF-HEALING SELF-TEACHING/LEARNING QUALITIES FOR ME & I 'M SURE FOR OTHERS AS WELL IT ESPECIALLY TOUCHES A HEART FELT EMOTIONAL CHORD IN ME & I'M CERTAIN IN OTHERS AS WELL! THE PERSONAL VIGNETTES ARE VERY FASCINATING & REALLY HIT HOME FOR ME!I STRONGLY RECOMMEND DR L'S TREATMENT & PEOPLE SHOULD ALSO READ DR L'S OTHERS BOOKS & PAPERS TOO-HE IS A TRUE MIRACLE WORKER ,GUARDIAN ANGEL & PATRON SAINT FOR THOSE WITH NOT ONLY DYSLEXIA BUT ALSO ADD ADHD LEARNING DISABILITIES ANXIETY DISORDERS PHOBIAS & RELATED INNER EAR(VESTIBULAR) DISORDERS-I CAN VOUCH FOR THAT PERSONALLY!!

This book brought me to tears, finally someone understands ME! Dr. Levinson takes an indepth look at Dyslexia. He offers many case studdies. This book and all his others should be manditory reading for all Dr.s, and teachers. If you or a loved one are having dificulty with reading, math, spelling, confusion, tiredness,dizziness, phobias, ADD/ADHD or inner ear problems I highly recommend this book.