Disabilities Books

This book that will lift your spirits and warm your heart!

Willy was once an abandoned, handicapped chihuahua puppy dumped on the streets in a cardboard box.

Thanks to his adopter, who discovered the world of wheelchairs for dogs, Willy learned to fly!

Adults and children adore this book, and it is especially significant to the handicapped who share a special bond with Willy.

Make sure you also read How Willy Got His Wings

I find that the best inspirational tales come from real life - and this book is no exception. I saw the owner of Willy (yes, there actually is a real Willy) on Animal Planet and knew I just had to buy the book. It is as charming as expected and not just because of spunky little Willy, whose back legs are paralyzed and who has to learn to "walk" again, with the help of a special wheel-cart. It is just as inspiring to read of his owner's attempts to find a way to get him walking - using everything from acupuncture to helium balloons to hold up the back legs. A great read for the entire family!

This is the perfect book to teach empathy to children. The kindness that author Deborah Turner demonstrates towards her pet dog can be extended to humankind as well. We need to accept and love animals (and people) despite their weaknesses and frailties, focusing instead on their strengths and the love that comes back to us.

I read the book after hearing about it on tv, and have sent it to my great nieces. You see I am like Willy I am also in a wheelchair. I have never gotten to see my great-nieces in person and hope that when they reed the book and their mom explains to them that I am (like Willy) in a wheelchair that they cn understand why I haven't been able to come see them (they are in Oregon and I am in Missouri). Willy is a courageous pup and we can all learn from him how to face life's adversities.

Willy the Chihuahua lives at an animal hospital, because his back legs don't work. He dreams of having a home and a family and playing with other animals and chasing sticks. Then one day, a pretty lady comes and takes him home with her! Willy meets his new brother, another Chihuahua named Sweet Pea, and his new sister, a fluffy silver cat named Marshmallow.

Willy still can't walk or run, and has to use his front legs to drag himself from place to place, until his new mother tries some different ideas to help him get around--with often humorous results.

Filled with bright, gorgeous watercolor illustrations that even pre-readers can appreciate, HOW WILLY GOT HIS WHEELS is the story of a loveable and courageous little dog. Written for age levels 5-10, it's a book that everyone from toddlers to adults can enjoy on many levels. Authors Turner and Mohler have done a tremendous job of showing life from a physically disabled viewpoint without preaching or patronizing. Here's hoping we will get to hear more of Willy's adventures in the near future!

Kimberly Borrowdale Under the Covers Book Reviews

A fantastic children's book with a heart-warming twist at the end.

Like Me is a heartwarming picturebook about a young boy named Miquel who has just turned eight, and is old enough to care for a puppy of his own. He works hard doing chores and odd jobs to earn enough money to buy the puppy. But the one puppy he wants is special - it was born with a limp and cannot run or chase as well as the other young dogs. The last page reveals why the lame puppy is so important to Miquel; for Miquel wears a silver metal brace around his leg. The warm color pictures and positive message of responsibility make Like Me an endearing book for young readers.

This story is a classic tale of the dignity and worth of an individual. The illustrations alone would be worth the price of the book. The story it tells, and the wonderful surprise ending, make it one of my choices of the year. Very highly recommended.

Lovely illustrations enliven this sweet tale and its surprise ending. Great opportunity for teaching empathy.

This is a very cute book. The best part is the surprise ending! It also has really nice illustrations.

This book has been a real life saver to us during a trying time with our adult son's health. The book is so very complete, yet gentle and comforting in its approach to issues of great concern to parents. I really appreciated their balanced approach to health issues-- medical, behavioral and life st yle. I recommend their adult Down syndrome clinic to anyone who can get to their CHicago area. We gave a visit to our son for his 21st birthday!

As a mother of an adult with Down syndrome, I found this book to be amazing. I wish I had found this book years ago! I now understand why my daughter does many of the things she does. This book delves into not only physical aspects which might contribute to the mental wellness of adults with Downs, but also the psychological as well.
I was fascinated to learn that so many things my daughter does is very common with many adults with Down syndrome.
This book is a great guide to help all parents, family members, doctors and others who live, help and work with adults with Down syndrome.

I just received this book and I can't put it down. I am mother of a 17 year old daughter going on 30. This book is so informative. I am even learning more things about my daugther and I thought I had it all figured out. I think if the public were to read this book, there would be no more trouble having our kids with DS be more accepted in the public eye. Its so enlightening. Dennis McGuire is going to be at the DS conference in April. I can hardly wait to see him. I have been to one of his presentations before, he is so on the mark, its uncanny. Wouldn't it be great if all the teachers, doctors and public knew all this information.

I work in the healthcare field with persons with Mild Mental Retardation including Down's Syndrome. I'm also a grad student and have taken several courses in this area. This book is a revelation. The first thing that's great is that it's a practical manual specific to just Down's (most caregiver manuals are so broad as to be virtually useless). This book has answers to real world problems culled from experience and insight.

It does a great job at systematizing a lot of the knowledge out there and coming up with ways to apply it. The concept of "groove", chapter on OCD and Down's (something I was having a problem with with a specific client I work with and haven't seen anything useful written on) and Time Perception were all really good.

Lots of helpful, PRACTICAL information and not a bunch of the kind of garbage educational theory and psychobabble that passes as scholarship nowadays. This stuff works. I've used it already. It is obviously written by people who actually work with people with Downs and not ivory tower bureaucrats.

If you're a caregiver, work with persons with Downs' or are a concerned parent, buy this one ASAP. I can't say enough good things about this book.

This is the best book on this topic I have ever seen! We will soon be responsible for my 44 year old sister-in-law. This book is unlocking some of the mystery of her actions and habits. I have already recommended this book to other parents of down syndrome children. I'm impressed enough to put this book on my keep for life shelf! Thank you so much for offering such an informative book! Keep up the good work. Jean

Miss Spitfire

Miss Spitfire, by Sarah Miller, is a historical fiction book that talks about the life of Annie Sullivan. Annie Sullivan was Helen Keller's teacher, and this book describes how she taught Helen Keller to communicate, even though she was deaf and blind.
Most people are aware of Helen Keller's story, but overlook the stories about the teacher who made her story so famous. Annie Sullivan was only 20 years old when she arrived in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She went to Ivy Green, the Keller's house, and began to teach their blind and deaf daughter, Helen Keller. At first Helen is very difficult to teach and gets frustrated when no one can understand her. Under the watchful eye of her parents, Helen becomes almost impossible. Finally, Annie Sullivan convinces Mr. And Mrs. Keller to let her take Helen to the little house next door in order to teach her. Helen is stubborn for the first few days, but finally begins to accept Annie. After a while, however, Captain Keller insists that Helen returns to Ivy Green.
Even though Helen can spell, Annie believes it is only mimicry. She wonders if she will ever get Helen to communicate. Hopefully, in the end Helen will realize that words have meanings.
I thought this book was a wonderful story and showed how someone who had never taught before could teach one of the most difficult students. If only it wasn't so short.

Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher and lifelong friend, tells her own story for middle grade to high school readers in this fictionalized autobiography. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from Sullivan's letters to Sophia Hopkins, a mentor and friend (as well as housemother) from Perkins Institute for the Blind. Annie was sent to serve the Keller family after her own hero journey from Tewksbury orphanage to Perkins, half blind most of the time. While the story will be familiar to anyone who has seen The Miracle Worker with Patty Duke and Ann Bancroft, the details of Sullivan's first teaching job, counter pointed by details from her personal history (sent to the almshouse, the ensuing loss of a brother, her blindness, her trepidation hidden carefully from the Kellers about not being able to help Helen at all) will ring true. The courage and determination of a young woman triumphs in the face of family reluctance and interference which made her efforts to teach Helen Keller the "true meaning" behind the fingerspelled words very difficult. Annie's emphasis on civilized behavior despite disability is remarkable in our own "anything goes" world where comportment has fallen into the world of archaic concepts. The author's afterword is perhaps the heart of the book, telling the story concisely of how 20-year-old Sullivan broke through Helen's shell in a month, and for the next fifty years accompanied her on the incredible journey into the wider world. 11 photographs, an extensive bibliography including books, articles, films and videos plus online resources will help readers continue inquiry if they desire. A two-page chronology of events is also included. The cover includes Braille rendition of the title and subtitle.

While most people have at least heard of Helen Keller, few know much about her teacher, the dedicated and passionate Annie Sullivan. Sarah Miller's MISS SPITFIRE may change that. The novel gives a fictionalized but well-researched narrative, in Annie's own voice, of the first month Annie spent with Helen. Her struggle to reach this wild, blind, and deaf child and overcome the obstacles presented by Helen's family makes a riveting read.

Miller delves deeply into her subject, letting readers in on Annie's early life through memories and flashbacks--of her abusive father, of the horrible years she spent at a state almshouse, and of the better but still difficult years in a school for the blind. Readers will find it easier to sympathize with and relate to her loneliness and longing for affection. It's wonderful to see the parts of her personality that had long been considered flaws--her stubbornness, her fierce temper--become assets in dealing with Helen. More than just a historical figure, in MISS SPITFIRE Annie Sullivan becomes a fully realized human being.

It's clear from the novel that Annie's success didn't come easily. It details every setback and every triumph, no matter how minor, until readers will be racing through the pages waiting to see how she will finally break through to Helen. They may be a little disappointed to discover that the novel ends shortly after that major breakthrough, wishing to read on and continue the journey with Annie. A sequel would certainly be welcome!

MISS SPITFIRE is everything a historical novel should be--richly imagined, true to its period, and providing an engaging story that will feel completely relevant to modern readers.

Reviewed by: Lynn Crow

I love this book! When I first read it, I was reminded of reading the play, The Miracle Worker. Ms. Miller has written a wonderful book for children about Annie Sullivan, the teacher who helped Helen Keller connect to the world. I have shared the book with my students and other teachers. Some of my students have commented that they never knew about Annie Sullivan, and how important she was to Helen's education.

"My heart is singing for joy this morning."
-Anne Sullivan to Sophia Hopkins, March 1887

So begins one of the chapters in Sarah Miller's debut novel Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller, and her quote from Annie Sullivan describes just how I felt when I finished this magical book.

Last spring, I issued an invitation to authors of historical fiction, to send me information about their books for a presentation I'm doing this fall at the New York State Reading Association Conference. I heard from wonderful writers -- some whose works I knew and some who were new to me. But one title REALLY caught my eye: Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller. First, it got my attention because the titles of our books are so similar(Mine is called SPITFIRE). When I opened it up to start reading, it got my attention in another way -- a sweep-you-away-in-the-story kind of way.

Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller tells the story of Annie Sullivan, the young woman who battled beliefs of the time and fought with every ounce of energy she had to give Helen Keller the gift of language. Sarah Miller tells the story in Annie's voice -- and tells it with a passion that speaks to the depth of her research and her pure love for this historical figure. Miss Spitfire not only tells the story we see in The Miracle Worker -- the story of Annie's time with Helen -- but also plunges into Annie Sullivan's past, and in doing so, provides a deeper understanding of the commitment and determination that led to her success.

The portrayals of Annie's emotional, psychological, and physical struggles with Helen were so vivid that I found myself reading with my brow furrowed in determined solidarity with Annie as she plunked Helen back into her seat at the dining room table for the tenth time. Truly, Annie had to be a spitfire to survive this monumental challenge when she was little more than a girl herself.

The minor characters in this novel sparkle, too. One of my favorite scenes brought Helen together for a lesson with the Kellers' servant boy Percy. I felt like I was about to burst with pride right along with Annie when Helen began to turn from a student into a teacher, helping Percy with some of the letters. Mr. & Mrs. Keller, too, are painted with a tremendous depth of understanding. It would have been easy to portray Helen's parents as one-dimensional characters who got in the way of Annie's work, but instead, Sarah Miller helps us to see their complexity and feel some of their anguish at having a beautiful, broken child.

Early in the book, Annie tells Helen's mother why her lessons are so vital to Helen.

"Words, Mrs. Keller, words bridge the gap between two minds. Words are a miracle."

Indeed, they are. And Miss Spitfire will have you believing in that miracle all over again.

Great book! It really inspired me to pursue my dream of becoming a nurse. I know that nothing will stop me from becoming a nurse just because I am Deaf!

As an active Registered Nurse the rates of disability amongst nurses is on the rise. Many disabilities remain hidden being non-visual in nature. In this wonderful book Donna Maheady combines the stories of several nurses with various disabilities. I found these first person accounts to be revealing, in that each offered empathy, advice, guidance and information about their experiences as nurses with disabilities during nursing school, whether it be undergraduate or at the graduate level. Donna provides additional information of substance that should be utilized by nursing educators in the area of accomodation of these students.With specific advice on resources, advocacy etc. Nursing Students with Disabilities is an essential source of support for students and nursing educators.

No nursing program is ever easy. For students with disabilities, the stakes are even higher. In her ground breaking book, Donna Maheady has presented eight enthralling stories of students with different disabilities who took the plunge into nursing school, refused to give up, and succeeded with or without much help from others.

I believe the crux of the book is the eloquent struggle voiced by each student as they decide how much of their disability to reveal to the school, starting with their application for admission. Even those students whose disabilities were evident chose to keep some of their struggles private. Their account of the conflict between being open and accepting help, and being private and "going it alone" can only help any future student who must make a similar choice.

Donna Maheady will reach the depth of your heart and soul. It chronicles the lives of students dealing with varied disabilities, and relays their trials and triumphs! I am shocked at the lack of support and resouces available for these incredibly gifted individuals. It made me take action to help educate people to awareness , and give some of my own time to help.
This book is a great resource now, and hopefully many healthy people will read it so they know the depth of this dilemna. Please take the time to read this book. If you have a loved one with a disability or injury this is a great gift. If not, perhaps it will enlighten you that we are much like you!

As a nurse missing a left hand I believe this is a "Must Have" in every nursing school in our country. Donna sets the tone and pace for students and instructors in the nursing profession. This book offers valuabe insight! With sample IEP the book serves as a fine example of a guiding light through the paper shuffle. I highly recommend this book!

The Karen Vanderlaan story is an epic chronicle of warm moments sprinkled lightly along a gut-wrenching trail of sadness. It moves inexorably on decline to an eventual inspiring uplift, if not of dreams actualized -- if not of reality warmly embraced -- then of reality acknowledged and fought to a coexistent truce. One could almost characterize this autobiography as a psychological thriller -- a novel with clues to later behaviors deftly woven into a little girl's childhood experiences of warm sibling relationships squeezed all the tighter by a near universal set of negligent, indifferent, or horribly abusive adults that populated the early phases of their lives.

Karen doesn't blink in laying out a gripping chronicle of her family tree adorned with virtues and values, along with more than a few ugly warts and blemishes. There is an element of Stockholm syndrome at work here, where the victim forms an adhesive association with a brain-washing abuser. It takes an incredible amount of intestinal fortitude -- and the fortuitous intervention of some better angels -- to face such overwhelming demons and emerge from the battle a stronger person with life values intact and in control.

I found this book a bit disturbing but incredibly inspiring. Karen's love of endangered children and horses -- and her valiant struggle to make a difference in their lives -- is a theme that shines brightly through the dark shroud that she sets about removing from her most eventful life, thread by thread, fold by fold. I highly recommend it for a very emotional, yet soul satisfying read.

What could possibly go wrong with an all-American family in Vermont who seems to be living the American Dream on a farm straight-out-of-Norman-Rockwell's-Saturday-Evening-Post cover; the Milky Way Farm? Well, plenty could, and did, go wrong with this idyllic family, in what could best be described as something akin to a Stephen King novel.

By her own admission, Karen Vaderlaan was "born in Paradise." Her father, a kind and gentle man who saved animals from certain death, tucked his children in at night with love and affection, but who would grow into an indifferent person as the years grew and the turmoil continued. Karen's stand-offish mother was not your typical nurturer, leaving that chore up to her husband; she was musically inclined and that dream was the prime motivator which made her leave paradise and strike out on the road with Bunny, another musician with no regard for anyone but herself.

For Karen, horses were, and are, a huge part of her life, plus she sought salvation in the form of different religions, none of which comforted her for very long. This is a sad story of outright meanness and interference by Bunny, the outsider, who dominated Karen's mother, the children and Karen, who sought love from, but was denied. This search for love eluded the Karen, the child, for years. It is the tragic story of what happens when uncaring adults do not have the welfare of their children at heart.

It is also a story of devotion. Karen Vanderlaan's loyalty to her horses is her salvation and her comfort. A survivor in the most chaotic examples of abuse, Karen eventually winds up in Utah, marries, has children, and grandchildren, and of course, through it all her magnificent, and some not so magnificent, horses. This is a story of vindictiveness, cruelty and a nomadic existence, but one with a happy ending, because Karen rose above the appalling way she was forced to grow up into the caring and generous woman she is today. I wholeheartedly recommend this well-written book of memoirs, interspersed with beautifully poetry. Treat yourself. Buy this book!

Why this book is not on The New York Times best seller list, I don't know.

I like reading well written memoirs, and this one definitely fits the bill.

Author Karen Vanderlaan bares both her heart and her soul in this very revealing book, which spans her early childhood days on a small family farm in Vermont to her present days as an educator living in Utah. And Vanderlaan shows and tells, and shares, quite a life's journey in this memoir, much of it extremely painful for her, and for the reader.

But as her life progresses from one difficult stage to the next, one thing remains constant throughout - her love of both children and of horses. Vanderlaan raises her children the best way that she can; she rescues horses few others would want to take the time or the effort to care for; and she teaches her students that life truly is what each and every one of us makes of it - each and every day:

"All you have to do in life is live and die. Everything in between is up for grabs, determined by your own uniqueness, and the choices that you make. Anyone can eat, breathe, procreate, make waste, and take up space in this world. Do more with the time you have than just take up space. Make it matter that you are here."

Sound advice for us all, and I believe a book well worth reading.

Karen's memoir is boldly told, beautifully shared. One can't help but feel her frustration and pain of growing (and learning) in a dysfunctional family, and also be cognizant that this story reverberates in our society...throughout mankind. Hopefully, this story will help many realize the world can be a beautiful place.
At the end of the book, I wanted to know if Karen's sons are well...or do they still try the difficult paths in life? Karen--well done.

They say that God only gives us what He thinks we can handle.
After reading Karen Vanderlaan's book Show and Tell, I think He must have handed her an extra helping...but you know what? She triumphs over any adversity.
Ms. Vanderlaan starts this biography with an almost idyllic childhood - growing up with her siblings on a farm with horses and a father that was active in their lives - her mother was more aloof. Mom has great dreams of being a famous singer.
But horses remained a major love in Karen's life, and the humanity she has for them outshines any degree in animal husbandry.
When Karen's Mom starts singing with Bunny, and they leave find fame and fortune, things start going downhill.
Mom takes her children out of Paradise and into Hell guided by a so-called pious Bunny in search of fame and fortune. But Bunny was an abusive force that the children paid the price time and time again. This abuse was such a regular occurrance, it almost seemed normal to the kids - this abuse was all they knew. When Bunny started 'Bible studies' Karen joined her - in an effort to stop some of the negativity?
When you have grown up in a certain atmosphere, it is sometimes hard to leave that environment, and you may go to a like environment, because you have no other frame of reference.
The main thing is Karen overcomes this negativity through her love of horses - and love of her siblings, and then her children. When I was a child my grandmother had a farm we'd go to often - I'd relish going to the horses and riding and talking to them and seeing their heart and personaity - If there ever was a healing influence, looking into the eyes of an innocent horse surely goes a long way to place balm on the wound.
Interspersed in the prose is Ms. Vanderlaan's beautiful poetry. Indeed it is through her poetry on AuthorsDen that I became aquainted with her work.
She is a strong, talented person who has the gift of telling a story, whether in prose or poetry.
Show and Tell is a powerful book - it is hard reading at times when you read what the children had to endure, but it is with purpose - there is triumph.

This is not a book for treating ADHD specifically. The authors attempt to get to the source of ADHD rather than treat the symptoms. The theory, which is explained in the first half of the book, is that ADHD is caused by physical discomfort and not a mental condition in of itself. The theory is that children either miss a vital stage of development in which they learn to crawl or they fail to adequately develop physiologically during that period (which should last at least six months according to the authors). According to the authors 75% of ADHD cases are caused by children who do not develop correctly. The second half of the book is essentially a physical therapy program in which an adult working with a child can overcome the child's deficiencies.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND this book FOR ADULTS suffering from ADHD.
The authors may be on to something in searching for the cause of ADHD in discomfort (they made me a believer) but the type of discomfort that fits their theory doesn't apply to me.
They claim that their therapy program has been effective in healing the body and stopping ADHD at the source. Considering the favorable reviews given before mine I would assume that the physical-therapy program has been successful for the other reviewers. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to grade-school teachers who are in the best position to notice the type of behavior described in the book in their students and have the opportunity to share the book with the child's parents when diagnosis may be possible.

The type of warning signs exhibited by the child for whom this book would be useful include: a tendency to stand during class (to write while standing), a tendency to wrap legs around the front legs of a chair, the tendency to keep the legs straight (in a slouching position) while sitting.
Children suffering from this physiological disorder also have sloppy hand-writing or will be observed spending a significantly greater amount of time writing than the other students, in order to keep their writing legible.
A child exhibiting both a difficulty in school (paying attention) but also in playing sports (coordination such as dribbling a basketball while walking) should set off an alarm to this condition. The signs may be subtle. One child discussed in the book was an excellent baseball player, however, in making a catch he had a tendency to bend his legs and then drop down to his knees after every catch (he does this every time, because his body wants to align a certain way with the lower body bent and the upper body straight due to the inadequate physiological development that the authors argue is the cause of ADHD). The authors suggest that the condition may develop because of an infant spending too much time on his/her back while sleeping in a crib and not providing enough "belly time." The authors suggest that the common practice of keeping a child on his back when napping has been encouraged as a successful way to prevent SIDS but as an unintended consequence children are not spending enough time on their bellies and learning to crawl.

Note: I realized after reviewing this book that it was originally released as "Stopping Hyperactivity: A New Solution." The original title was more appropriate and I can only guess that the publisher wanted to cash in on the popularity of ADHD. Had the book retained its original name I would have given it a five star review. The new name "Stopping ADHD: A Unique and Proven Drug-Free Program for Treating ADHD in Children and Adults" is misleading and inappropriate for the subject matter. I would not have purchased this book under the original title.

This book is excellent. I teach 2nd grade and see the symptoms as described in the book. One of my parents actually took her daughter to the clinic in Indianpolis and worked with her child the prescribed exercises. The different in this student was amazing. Her grades improved, her attention span improved, and her social skills and acceptance by peers improved. I needed to purchase my own copy of this book to become more informed and recommend it to other parents of ADHD children.

Having tried multiple alternative therapies to treat our daughter's adhd/dyslexia/dyspraxia we were suspect that anything would work. Since our daughter did not crawl properly as a baby, this therapy made sense - go back and have her crawl. The results were impressive - almost a year after starting the therapy she is more organized, pleasant, and compliant. She mostly does her homework independently. She is on target for her grade although her writing and spelling are still weak, they are improving. Her coordination is outstanding now. She used to trip over everything and fall 1X/week on the playground. Now she never falls. School is so much easier for her than it used to be. She is able to stay seated and her writing is less labored. Combining this therapy with the Feingold diet (she still had residual anger issues, plus lots of allergies which led us to believe Feingold might help her), we have a child who is almost neurotypical in every way. This is not a quick fix and takes much dedication, but the results we feel are worth it.

The exercises in this book have definitely changed my life. I can remember better, focus better, and organize better. Although this book is geared toward helping children, I am over 40, and these exercises worked for me. I was diagnosed with ADD just a few years ago. This book is well-written, well organized, and very genuine in voice. I fully recommend this book to anyone who shows signs of this STNR reflex still bothering them. I believe this is a breakthrough in ADD and ADHD treatment.

Dr. Miriam Bender should be applauded for her tireless research in revealing a misunderstood subject/label "ADHD". I have completely read this book and have started using the exercises with my child with positive results so far. The author, Nancy E. O'Dell organizes and addresses the subject very clearly so any layman can completely understand. If you have a child with hyper activity and are sincerely looking to rid your child of medication, it is in my opinion that you should study this book.
I am very pleased with the concept out lined in the book as it gives real solutions to a frustrating behavior condition that many children/adults experience in their daily lives.
Curt de la Cruz
www.selfhelp-motivation.com

Another great book I have used in my SDC classroom with low cognitive functioning special needs children. I would recommend it highly.

I have used this book quite a bit with my 9 year old daughter with DS, since she was about 5. It is very well written and encouraging, full of information. I have given it to all my daughter's teachers as there are activities that can be done in a classroom.

I love this book. I wish I'd gotten it when my son was little! It provides great information about how to teach kids with DS to read, but also has great stories of real kids and their accomplishments. I'd recommend that anybody with a DS child buy the book early (when their baby is little), and read the first few chapters. It'll inspire them, mitigate some of the worries they have about their child's future, and introduce them to the important concept that although people with DS are generally slower to develop, their learning disabilities can be mitigated by teaching them in a way that is effective for the way they think (e.g., kids with DS are visual learners), rather than the "standard" way. My four year old has actually had better success with the Love and Learning videotapes and books than the flash card approach described in the book, but the principal is pretty much the same.

it is extremely helpful, in only 2 months my daughter at 6 years old was up to 30 site words without picture cues. (Her first attempt at actually reading) The book contains alot of helpful activities, simply spelled out in step by step directions for anyone to understand.

I have taught 5 children with down syndrome how to read, based on the information I recieved from this book. I work in the school district with children with DS and tutor them after school as well. I could never have had the success I have had without the information the author provides in this book.

This book teaches us what everyone should know about Autism and I can't thank Miss O'Neill enough for her insight. And her poetry is lovely!
Autism is a different way of being and should be respected and appreciated.

My 7 year old son is autistic and has opened doors in my mind and in my heart to things that I never knew existed. He changed how I view the world entirely. I've never ounce wished for him to be like other children, nor would I ever teach him that something is 'wrong' with him.
He is unique person, an interesting person. He is different and that's okay, differences is what makes our world beautiful. I am so glad that I found this book and I not only recommend it as a 'must read' but as a 'need to read' for anyone on the spectrum or for anyone who's life has been IMPROVED by an autistic person :)

I am Autistic, and I love this book. Autism is not a condition, it is a personality type. This book succeeds in making that point. This book is all about acceptance of the Autistic individual, a refreshing change from books about eradicating Autism from the face of the earth. I would also recommend "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau. I believe that it is another book about how an Autistic person views the world. It is of my own opinion that I think he was Asperger's Syndrome.

Ms. O'Neill gave me a chance to see and feel some of the things my beautiful 6 year old son does. He is Autistic and truly a gift. The words to thank Ms. O'Neill for this opportunity of letting this "big worlder" inside my sons private world, escape me. I had highlighter ready and used it often. I will refer back to many passages for years to come.
I was unable though, to give this the highest rating due to the very personal experiences and generalization of them for all autistics the author gave. I felt the authors pain from past discriminations and crule treatment especially in a public school setting. My son is now in 1st grade and fully mainstreamed. He is obviously different to the other children. The kids in his kindergarten class last year and now in 1st grade are nothing but affectionate, kind, patient and understanding. I do not feel it is wrong to mainstream some Autistics. They are individuals and each situation is unique. What is good for one may not be for another.
I also believe this book may not be for the parent of a newly diagnoised child especially if the child is very young. There are portions of the book that are hard to handle for even the experienced parent like myself. What I mean by "handle" is Ms. O'Neills statements that lead me to think she is totally against any intervention at all. While some parents might be looking for the "cure", which in my opinion is pointless and also is denying your childs special gifts , others want to help their child learn to deal with the big world around them. Our goal should be to find a balance. We should give them all chances of being able to cope with life, possibly become independent and to rejoice in who they are and what a gift they are to us and the world.
I encourage you to read this book, though I caution any reader who might not understand this is one persons experiences and may not reflect all Autistics lives.

I will struggle to find words to describe this book, though I can say I think it is beautiful and it is one of my favourites. This is such a lovely, strong, positive look at the autistic experience. It is practical and well informed, realistic, and yet inspirational. I don't know what else to say other than read it, and perhaps a warning... as a person on the spectrum myself, during and after reading this book I felt so much more relaxed and comfortable about being me that I felt even more disconnected than ever from the neurotypical people with whom I must share my life. This book is not just a book for autistic people though... it will give invaluable insight and advice to anyone who wants to see 'through the eyes of aliens'.

This author, while she writes with crystalline and seemingly fragile prose, is absolutely uncompromising in her view that autistic people are a unique form of human being who should not be forced to conform to the standards of other people.

By this, she does not mean that autistic people should not learn, or that there are no difficulties associated with autism -- critics often read it as if she says this, but she clearly discusses autism's unpleasant side. She also clearly demonstrates ways to teach autistic people, although, like much of her book, she seems to base her details on a combination of her personal experience and some dubious but well-accepted research. There are more factual errors than it would be possible to list in a review, but this ends up not mattering much to me in the end. Most autistic authors overgeneralize about what the experience of autism is like; O'Neill is no exception to that rule.

What bothers me most about this book, however, is the view that autistic people are fragile creatures that must be shielded at all costs from the "big world". One would think, reading this, that we were all special little dolls made of porcelain. It makes me suspect that the author has experienced the horrors of being abandoned to the clutches of an uncaring and hostile world, but has not experienced the at-least-equal horrors of being overprotected to the point of imprisonment. As such, she unflinchingly advocates residential homes for autistic adolescents, and naively believes that it is possible to tell a good one from a bad one by visiting. Having been placed in a beautiful, abusive residential home as a teen, I'm forced to disagree. You can't judge a book by its cover -- as surely the delicate face on the cover of this book full of tough ideas shows -- and you can't judge a residential home by its appearance on visiting day. Thinking we could led my whole family into grief that none of us have recovered from. After experiences like that, I'm quite willing to take my chances with the abuse the "big world" could dish out -- at least in the outside world you can pack up and move on if you don't like a place.

The only other noteworthy potentially dangerous advice in the book is the author's equally naive belief that herbal remedies are automatically safer than traditional medicines. Plants can be just as poisonous as extracted chemicals, and while I have used a few herbal remedies, I used them with that knowledge in mind.

The author, who has a gentle writing style that belies the strength of her plea for acceptance, never once wavers and says, "Well, in this case autism should be cured." She doesn't believe in prolonging suffering. She believes that unusual-but-harmless things about autism -- like augmentative communication techniques and stimming -- should not be stopped in a person just because more neurotypical movements and communication styles are the social norm. She does not believe in social norms that exclude certain kinds of people, and she explains why very well.

Even among the other books that urge acceptance of autism, a person is unlikely to run across a book with such a pervasive and unswerving attitude of this kind, even in the years since its publication. This is an important book, a historic book, and a book which, if read properly, can translate to an attitude of accepting *all* autistic people as real and valid human beings as we are, and learning to teach us and learn along with us rather than force us into a mold we can never fit. It is a rare book that can cause me to discard nearly all of my misgivings about the details, but this is one of them. I would recommend reading it along with William Stillman's _Demystifying the Autistic Experience_. I would prefer to give this a 9 out of 10 stars, or 4.5 out of 5, but since there are only 5, rounding up can't hurt.

The very nature of this topic is difficult to accept given its sadness. However, with only the very-well-made movie to capture its subject, this book helps define everything, thereafter. Nothing can alleviate the weight of its subject matter; but, it does help one to interpret the man, more than the mystique. Ultimately, it makes you glad that Mr. Merrick did have a graceful exit from life given the dire physical deformity that shaped it.

This book cannot help but touch every human being who reads it! With so many disabled people in our world, and our pre-occupation with appearances and the body beautiful, the elephant man story covers all the physical and emotional aspects of living with an extreme disability with dignity and humility for all readers to experience. Of course the help and support he and others must receive all helps. Peter Ford presents his extensive research findings on those that came to the elephant man's aid in a personable way. Although the film is based on his life, the book reflects Joseph Merrick's life in reality, politely comparing the differences between his film persona and his real life condition. It helped me to fill in the gaps left after watching the film and left me with a thankfulness of how well off my family and I are.

'Tis true my form is something odd
but blaming me is blaming God,
Could I create myself anew
I would not fail in pleasing you.

If I could reach from pole to pole
or grasp the ocean with a span,
I would be measured by the soul -
the mind's the standard of the man.

I bought this book many years ago, unfortunately I made the mistake of lending it to someone and I never got it back. This is a remarkable book. I was touched by Joseph Merrick years ago. For the past nine years, I have been running the Joseph Carey Merrick Tribute Website. It is a site dedicated to Joseph, the person - not Joseph, the disability. I'm presently heading a London and Leicester (UK) campaign to have a commemorative plaque erected in his honour. He deserves to have a permanent tribute. He has done a great deal to advance medical science, through his skeleton, and thanks to him, there will one day be a cure for Proteus Syndrome. It's time the world said 'thank you'. Please give your moral support by visiting the site. I'm not sure if web addresses can be mentioned here, so simply type the following in your web browser: Joseph Carey Merrick Tribute Website

Very good and in-depth book on the life of not only Joseph Merrick, but also Mr. Treves and many other people who happened into his life. Can you imagine even for one minute being in this guys shoes? I mean can any of us even begin to grasp the sort of life Joseph must of had to deal with? Can you imagine being so utterly repulsive looking (sorry, but he was) that just one glance at your face would make people flee, children cry, and women pass out, I mean think about just how horrible that would have been. He also suffered from chronic pain, and smelled something awful. Yet, beyond that he was such a kind, gentle, shy, caring, lovable and curious individual, who by all accounts would of been completely normal and was highly intelligent. What a life, what a great true story of a very strong determined soul.

With twelve viewings so far, David Lynch's "The Elephant Man" has been my favorite movie for about twenty years, indeed one of the very few movies I would call a masterpiece. So it is quite a mystery why I should have waited so long to read this biography of its protagonist, Joseph Carey Merrick, whom the movie, following errors in the source material itself, incorrectly names John.

Having already seen a decent BBC documentary on the subject ("The Curse of the Elephant Man"), I was not totally unaware of the facts of the case, and I already knew for instance that Joseph spent some time in the countryside, something which Lynch decided not to depict in his film so as to achieve a more complete immersion in his bleak, black and white vision of Victorian London (indeed, one type of shock a fan of the movie will encounter while reading the book comes from its occasional touches of colour : I remember being struck by the blue bunsene light that lit the Elephant Man's face when Treves first met him.)

What is most surprising about the book, is how the film managed to be so faithful to Merrick's psychology (Lynch's John is the true Joseph, not some Hollywood fantasy), while altering many elements in the background, most of the secondary characters being dramatically different.

To mention a few of the changes from reality to film :

Joseph's manager as a freak, Tom Norman, was turned by the screenplay into Freddie Jones' very Dickensian Bytes, who beat and exploited his freak. Actually, Tom Norman was one of the few decent persons whom Joseph encountered before his change of fortune, enabling him to save as much as £50 (enough to live for a year without working) over his short career. The true evil was in fact the British government, which decided to ban all exhibitions of freaks as indecent (and references to Joseph's "nakedness" suggests that they may well have been), thereby forcing them out of the market and depriving them of their livelihood. To the writers' discharge, though, it might be argued that the fictional Bytes was a composite of Norman and the evil Austrian impresario who robbed Joseph of his savings in Belgium, which somewhat minimizes the gratuitousness of an all-too-typical Hollywood slur on the entrepreneur.

One of the famous scenes of the movie, in which Joseph attends a pantomime, is asked by Treves to "stand up" before the audience and is applauded by them, is a complete reversal of the true incident. Actually, Joseph attended the show incognito, and the most stringent precautions were taken to keep the rest of the audience unaware of his arrival, presence and departure (but then, the screenwriters needed their second "stand up" scene for dramatic reasons.)

In the film, Anne Bancroft's Mrs Kendal is shown visiting Joseph regularly at the hospital. Actually, the actress never met him in person, though she did send him her photograph and other presents. On the other hand, Princess Alexandra, who is shown much more sparingly in the film, did visit him several times, and send him Christmas cards.

The scene in which Michael Elphick's night porter introduces a bunch of drunks and prostitutes into Joseph's rooms may also be an exaggeration from much more minor real-life incidents. Also, on his return to London, Joseph did not find refuge in the toilets, but in the waiting room of the railway station. As for the model church he made, Lynch hides the fact that Joseph was actually using commercialized cut-and-assemble models from the local bookstore, which the nurses helped him assemble. The film makes it appear that Joseph had some wonderful artistic gift and was very dexterous, whereas his enormous right hand prevented him from even working in the cigar industry.

One thing I was curious about was Joseph's religion, as the film has very little to say about it, or about religion at the hospital in general. His mother was a Baptist, and the Bible was a book he had read several times over. When at the London Hospital, he was "confirmed" by an Anglican "bishop" (I am using scare quotes because as a Catholic I believe Anglican "bishops" are not validly ordained and, being mere laymen, do not have the power to confirm anyone) and allowed to participate in church services at the chapel.

Howell and Ford's book is truly a biography everyone should read. It gives an excellent picture of Victorian London, conditions in Poor Houses, the whole milieu of country fairs and freak shows and life at the London Hospital. It also contains a two-page autobiographical piece by Joseph himself, and the relevant extract from Treves' famous "The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences", but it is well-researched enough to point out the few errors and inaccuracies in these primary sources themselves. It also corrects erroneous interpretations in Ashley Montagu's earlier book on the subject.

All in all, this is a superb read, which could serve as concrete argument against a culture of death which is too ready to consider some lives not worth living. "Happy every hour of the day", after all, was how Joseph himself described his life at the hospital. And his happiness is one of the things most readers will paradoxically end up envying him.