Mental-retardation Reviews

Blue Institution

Published in Paperback by iUniverse, Inc. (2004-04-19)

Author: Ernie Kish

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Average review score:

Captivating

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-16

This has been one of the best books I have read. The character of Scott was captivating. The author's writing kept me wanting more. I actually couldn't put the book down. Mr. Kish's insight and expressions throughout the book are nothing short of amazing. So much spirit came through this book. I felt as though I knew Scott personally. His
intelligence, his humor. The descriptions of each of the other patients, their struggles, their characters...the staff..all of it just brought me into their world for a short period of time through Scott's eyes; the author's words. I have learned much from this book, it made me think of things I never thought of or never knew regarding institutional living and how things can be perceived. And the feelings...so easily expressed through Mr. Kish's words. The ending was very sad, but inevitable. The author's words, everything, every part of this book allowed the story to flow.

Consistent

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-22

I would say a look at the new counter-cultural text since Ken Kesey's, "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." A gem in itself if carefully scrutinized. Consistent through-out. The writing style was punctuated by prolific poetic prose. Well thought-out and patiently constructed. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thought Provoking (to say the least)

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-28

I've heard the term being used in discusing Blue Institution's merit around a brightly lit coffee table filled with cocktales of all sorts, "Haunting...the story of a young man afflicted with Huntington's chorea while living in an institution for the developmentally delayed, (see, you've got us doing it now Ernie Kish, 'developmentally delayed') gives a voice to the voiceless." Yea. I heard about it and didn't think too much about it until somebody said it was Huntington's chorea that Woody Guthrie had. Not everybody knows about that. So I look into the local book store and order me up a copy and Bang...! Right away I'm struck in the face...captured...only able to stop reading...got up to page 3 where you're already immersed in drama...only to have to stop to get into my car and drive away. So much drama, three people involved in a confusing situation only to be compounded by another who takes total charge just to preserve the dignities of a schedule and manhandling a client whether it be for his good or not only because the schedule could not be broken. That's how intense this author is.

Stirred my emotions. It made me laugh and it made me cry.

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-23

This is a very sensitively written work. There's too much detail written into the book for it not to be based on a true story. The author really does a good job at bringing out all those wonderful words and uses them with craft to stir your emotions. I mean he really gets you going at times. My husband also liked it and I overheard him talking about it at a dinner party we went to the other evening. My husband is a big Tom Clancy fan and I a big Nicholas Sparks fan. It's funny that my husband and I both enjoyed reading Blue Institution. It's the kind of book I think Oprah Winfrey would recommend to her audience, and perhaps she will if she hasn't already. It's a story about a young man who stuggles with a terrible disease in an at times horrible setting. Yet, he tries to maintain his sense of humor and even feels sympathy for the rest of his "friends" that live in this state institution. I don't want to spoil your reading of Blue Institution so I won't give away any more details. I hope you enjoy it as much as I.

This is a good book.

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-18

I laughed for about 20 minutes after reading the last chapter, then remembered something in the middle of the book and found myself trying to find it. After I found what I was looking for I mentally congradulated the author for what he did and/or how he did it. It's not your typical story. I feel you too will enjoy reading this book. You may find some surprises also. It was also a learning experience for me as I'm studying teaching in a special environment. I only wish some of my college textbooks read this well.

Steps to Independence: Teaching Everyday Skills to Children with Special Needs, Third Edition

Published in Paperback by Brookes Publishing Company (1997-01)

Authors: Bruce L. Baker, Alan J. Brightman, Jan B. Blacher, Louis J. Heifetz, Stephen P. Hinshaw, Diane M. Murphy, and Jan Blacher

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Average review score:

Every care giver should have one

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-28

This book makes a teacher out of every one who reads it. Whether you are a parent, guardian, relative, teacher of a child with special needs, this book will give you the tools to teach essential skills and enable you to use them effectively.
This book was recommended to me and I recommend it to every else.

A Must Have For Parents struggling With Training

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-12

This book is a must have for parents struggling with training there children independence skills. It ofter so many easy to do exercise to get your little or big one independence. My 3 year old is finally bushing his teeth, because this book showed easy to do steps to get him going. I highly recommend this book to any parent struggling with training there children independence. It offers easy steps by step solutions in teaching your child what you have been trying to teach them for months . Try it, its a great training tool for independence.

Excellent resource!

Helpful Votes: 16 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2003-03-15

No parent OR special education teacher should be without this book! Easy to read, and the content is excellent! Step-by-step approaches to teaching everyday skills to children with special needs, but would be just as valuable to ANY parent! After reading this book, I have found it easier to establish goals for my students and everyone is using the same approach to teaching everyday living skills (play, toileting, self-help, PLUS behavior management)! It is working fabulous! The students are learning more with less frustration! A must-have for your resource library!

Book Brief

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-02

The book is formatted very well. It has helped me approach my child in a new manner with excellent results. Some of the tasks we take for granted are broken into smaller steps that can be overlooked. This book helps you identify missing steps and provides multiple methods of application. It isn't a "one size fits all" approach. It gives good ideas for praise and correction if consistently followed.

The page layouts are easy to read and the cartoons are cute. Everything addressed in this book has samples to serve as a guide for you. The appendices has more ideas for aiding with independence. Overall, the application of this book, used in a routine, is great for any age and any skill level.

Acquiring Skills for Life

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-13

I've been looking for a book like this for quite some time. Here's what it covers:
Chapter 1: Setting Out
Chapter 2: Targeting a Skill
Chapter 3: Establishing Steps
Chapter 4: Picking Rewards
Chapter 5: Setting the Stage
Chapter 6: Teaching
Chapter 7: Observing Progress and Troubleshooting
Chapter 8: Get Ready Skills
Chapter 9: Self-Help Skills
Chapter 10: Toilet Training
Chapter 11: Play Skills
Chapter 12: Independent Living: Self-Care Skills
Chapter 13: Independent Living: Home-Care Skills
Chapter 14: Independent Living: Information Skills
Chapter 15: Plugging into the Personal Computer Revolution
Chapter 16: Behavior Problems
Chapter 17: Initiating a Behavior Management Program
Appendix A: Get Ready Skills
Appendix B: Self-Help Skills Inventory
Appendix C: Self-Help Skills Programs
Appendix D: Play Skills Programs
Appendix E: Information Skills Programs
Index

Low protein cookery for phenylketonuria

Published in Hardcover by Published for the Harry A. Waisman Center on Mental Retardation and Human Development [by] the University of Wisconsin Press (1977)

Author: Virginia E. Schuett

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Average review score:

very helpful

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-03

I bought this because my future sister-in-law has PKU. Her mother recommended it, and the book does a good job of explaning questions I wouldn't even think to ask. It is full of information, recipes, and other resources. Some of the contact information for the specialty food distributors is out of date, but easily updated by doing an internet search of the companies and penciling in the new information. I'm not the best qualified reviewer for this book, but as far as I am concerned, it is an excellent resource.

Bravo!!!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-29

These women are saints!! There is not enough room on this forum to describe how amazingly awesome this book is. My 1 year old Niece has PKU, and luckily enough my nephew-in-law absolutely LOVES to cook. I got this for him (along with the PKU bread maker recipes) as a Christmas gift and he flipped! He said everything in the book looks fantastic, and there is literally everything from apples to zucchini. If you're needing a low protein diet book, or even just wanting to eat healthier, this is by far the best one out there. Thanks again to Virginia Schuett and Dorothy Corry for taking the time to make low-protein foods not so boring! Generations of PKU/Kidney patients and their families will be thanking you for years to come! I know this grateful Great-Aunt does.

Really Yummy Recipies!!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-22

The food in here is really good stuff! I especially love all the cookie recipies, I haven't made one I don't like! All the special food is expensive, but it's worth it. I really don't know how people managed a PKU diet before the book came out. If you can find the second edition, though, it's almost exactly the same page for page, and I like the spiral binding better, so the book lays flat when you're cooking.

Kidney Disease

Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2002-05-17

This book is one of the best helps in the world for those who are going to follow the "very low protein diet" for kidney disease to delay dialysis. The renal dietitians at JHU use this as their Bible in developing diet plans for Dr. Walser's patients. There are a number of helpful suggestions at the start of the book to teach you how to read labels and weigh foods. There are also lists that help you find low protein foods which are updated on the PKU web site. The restrictions on protein for the "very low protein" diet for kidney disease are not as severe as those for PKU, but this book teaches you how to meet those limitations.

Wonderful resource for families & individuals with PKU.

Helpful Votes: 13 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 1999-06-18

Just keep in mind that it is not a great place to find vegetarian recipes. People with PKU cannot tolerate protein and take a special supplement to provide it. Therefore these recipes will not provide the protein that your average vegetarian will be looking for.

If, however, you or a member of your family has PKU, you should definitely get this book and read the whole thing. TWICE!

Christmas in Purgatory

Published in Paperback by Human Policy Press (1974-06)

Authors: Burton Blatt and Fred Kaplan

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Average review score:

Important

Helpful Votes: 15 out of 17 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-01

Those who would dismiss this book as overgeneralized and flawed forget that institutions were originally established not to protect disabled people from society, but society from disabled people.

Popular notion of the time held disabled people would be much more of a hindrance than help to society, and looked odd. Thus, if they were locked up, society would know where they were at all times while being able to pretend that they did not exist to begin with. Indeed, when Blatt and Kaplan's expose appeared, it set off controversy from those who had the audacity to defend the charges against very quickly turning public sentiment.

Although they are certainly free to articulate what they consider flaws with the book, it is difficult to believe that critics of this work would actually want to downplay the seriousness of these (and other) investigations if they were in those instutitions. Indeed, I strongly suspect they would want to be treated like human beings and given adequate care and a stimmulating environment.

As a diabled person myself, the contents of the book hit very close to home. Fortunate enough to be born in 1979, I realized that had I been born 20 years earlier, I most likely would have been one of the unfortunate people in the institutions investigated in this essay. While I previously had been aware of the disability rights movement's work in this area, reading this book gave me a whole new perspective on my work as a disability rights activist.

Because this book was never positioned as an indictment of all facilities, I am suprised by the rather hostile nitpicking and the blanket statement allegations. I believe this says more about the individuals reviewers than the quality of the authors themselves, and should not be weighted when looking at this book.The institutions in this essay were picked because the actual practices stood in sharp contrast to the "help and loving environment" they promised parents and relatives that patients would get. Woe is the person who even suggests that this was not as bad as people have made it out to be.

If it is difficult to believe the conditions doccumented in this book, it is because of the continued ease with which society is encouraged to view disabled people as helpless children, rather than potential Supreme Court nominees, doctors, lawyers etc...Ironically, baby and bath allegories demonstrate the urgency with which this book should be designated as required reading for anybody considering a degree in social sciences or a job in a related field.

Heart-breaking, but important in historical value.

Helpful Votes: 25 out of 25 total.
Review Date: 1999-06-24

This book is the first to do a photographic expose on the condition of our nation's institutions for the mentally retarded in the 1960's. This was done on the heels of Senator Robert Kennedy's visits to several of his state's institutions and revelation of the horrific state he found them in. This is not an easy book to look at especially when looking at the children and how they were housed, contained, etc. It shows first the worst conditions that the author and photographer found and then documents an institute on the cutting edge at the time. Kaplan brings us face to face with how our ignorance and expectations can be self-fulfilling prophecies for those entrusted to our care. I found it an important book to keep as a reminder of where we have been so as not to return there.

Eveyone Should read this book

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2003-03-06

I was told of this book in a meeting at of the company I work for.
We Provide Care to MR/DD people. This book is very disturbing and also enlighting. It makes me feel good to know that we, as a society have for the most part worked to change what these poor souls went through. A must read.

Shocked

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2002-03-04

I was introduced to Christmas in Purgatory in 1996, when I took a course at Western Washington University called Introduction to Execeptional Children. There was no introduction to the essay, it was simply named in an assignment. Needless to say, I was horrified. I'm placing an order for it today as I feel that students taking courses related to people with disabilities need to see this. The book cannot be found on the national library system (in Norway), and therefore I've decided to buy a copy and donate it to my local university.

Rachel in the World: A Memoir

Published in Hardcover by University of Illinois Press (2007-10-01)

Author: Jane Bernstein

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Average review score:

Review of Rachel in the World

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-21

Again, Jane Berstein has done an incredible job describing the challenges of raising a child with a disability and the struggles of transitioning that child to the adult world. The roadblocks she faced and overcame demonstrate her true love for her daughter and her determination to give Rachel that best possible life despite her disabilities. Thank you Jane for chronicling these challenges so that others may learn from your experience. I have recommended this book to colleagues and other families.

An Important Book

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-12

I so admire this book and author. There hasn't been enough written about the transition to adulthood for people with cognitive disabilities. Here we get an honest, incredibly well-told story of a complex, ever-shifting mother-daughter relationship. The book has room for ambivalence, contradiction, determination, despair--all of the things that make life, well, life. If, as the parent of a child with a disability, you find yourself stretching to the point of elasticity, giving even beyond the fact of total depletion, and then, the very next moment, wanting more for yourself, not to mention more FROM your child, this book is for you. It's lyrical candor will disarm you exactly as it provides the only solace that is credible.

Astonishing

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-17

I've long been a fan of Bernstein's work, from her novels to her scorchingly brave memoir about her sister's murder, Bereft. Rachel in the World shows the same kind of bravery. This is no treacly feel-good tome about what it is like to raise a special needs daughter and send her out in the world. Instead, Bernstein shows both her love and her irritation, and her anger at a system that doesn't exactly make it easy to do what is best for Rachel. Beautifully written and filled with photos that are like prose poems.

remarkable portrayal

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-11

Once again Jane Bernstein has achieved a remarkable portrayal, adeptly balancing her intensely personal feelings with an objective view of Rachel, her mentally retarded daughter (a description Bernstein sometimes finds more appropriate than the more politically correct euphemism of "intellectually impaired"). The Rachel we met as a little girl in Loving Rachel, Bernstein's moving account of discovering her daughter's mental and physical liabilities, has grown into a young adult, craving freedom and independence in the "real world" beyond the safe haven her mother has spent years developing. Bernstein's experience of wading through the labyrinth of "the system" in order to achieve her goal of finding the right living situation for Rachel proves to be confounding and frustrating, and as social services cuts become more frequent, even scary. Add to that Rachel's own conflicted emotions, along with her constant chattering and insatiable demands, and it seems inevitable that Bernstein will succumb to the overwhelming pressures of her role as Rachel's protector and provider, while at the same time trying to maintain her own sanity. But in her own inimical fashion, and written with the honesty that she is famous for, Bernstein proves that she is up to the task, even if at times she doubts her own strength and fortitude. On the surface a story about a young woman facing a life she may not be ready for, Rachel in the World is really about the love of a mother for her daughter. And I can't wait for Rachel to grow older so Bernstein can write the next chapter in their lives.

Stasia's Gift

Published in Paperback by Crossway Books (1993-03)

Authors: Brian Kelley, Alsie Kelley, and Mark R. Littleton

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Average review score:

Needed to hear that someone else has experienced this

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-09-30

My now 5 year old daughter was born with a rare syndrome and is severely handicapped. The doctors describe her as being in a persistive vegetative state along with physical problems of being trached, Gtube fed, and seizures. I kept thinking that there have to be people who are in situations close to ours, but never hear of them. I stumbled onto this book in our church library and am amazed how this book mirrors our experiences. There may not be many who can personally relate but for the few of us out there, these words are invaluable.

Having a handicapped daughter the book touched my very soul.

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-18

My child is now 11 years old. After suffering a near drowning experience when she was 12 months, my days months and years seemed never ending. I endured heartache after heartache and no one could give me any answers. One day I was going to a Christian Book Sale and found "Stasia's Gift". My daughter's disability is so severe and the story the Kelley's wrote about their daughter answered so many questions and gave me the hope to endure what ultimately will happen and why I am walking this walk. I thank God for Stasia's life and rejoice in her death and know that she is the angel watching over my little one as well. To think they will walk hand in hand into the Father's arms one day gives me great peace. Unfortunately my marriage ended because of this, but my life will go on and so will Alexandra's. God has truly blessed me with a child and has given me a purpose to be on this earth.

Having a handicapped daughter the book touched my very soul.

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-18

My child is now 11 years old. After suffering a near drowning experience when she was 12 months, my days months and years seemed never ending. I endured heartache after heartache and no one could give me any answers. One day I was going to a Christian Book Sale and found "Stasia's Gift". My daughter's disability is so severe and the story the Kelley's wrote about their daughter answered so many questions and gave me the hope to endure what ultimately will happen and why I am walking this walk. I thank God for Stasia's life and rejoice in her death and know that she is the angel watching over my little one as well. To think they will walk hand in hand into the Father's arms one day gives me great peace. Unfortunately my marriage ended because of this, but my life will go on and so will Alexandra's. God has truly blessed me with a child and has given me a purpose to be on this earth.

An incredible story of faith, hope, and love.

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 1998-03-28

"Stasia's Gift" is the story of a little girl and the many lives she touched. Stacia was severely handicapped. She had only ten percent of her brain and would never talk. She would never eat by herself. She would never play like most children. She would never live to grow up. But through all that, God had a plan for her life.

When people looked into her face they saw the joy of the Lord and were brought closer to Him. Through loving Stasia, her parents came to know and love the one who had chosen to bestow her on them. Through her, they learned strength and compassion; joy and hope; and true, unconditional love.

Crimes Against Humanity: A Historical Perspective

Published in Paperback by AuthorHouse (2004-05-05)

Author: Benjamin Ricci

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Average review score:

Keeping the Faith

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-24

This important work is an unvarnished first-person account of one man's lifelong battle to secure rights for the mentally retarded citizens of Massachusetts. With no holds barred, Ricci chronicles the plight of the mentally retarded in Massachusetts during the second half of the twentieth century. In a style reflective of his unrelenting advocacy, Ricci recounts the painful decision he and his wife made to place their six-year-old son at Belchertown State School in the 1950s, the horrific medieval conditions he discovered and exposed in that institution, his founding of Advocacy Network, that organization's fight against uncaring state bureaucrats, and their hard-won, landmark federal court order to improve the lives of the mentally retarded. Crimes Against Humanity is a must-read for anyone with a social conscience.

Keeping the Faith

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-10

This important work is an unvarnished first-person account of one man's lifelong battle to secure rights for the mentally retarded citizens of Massachusetts. With no holds barred, Ricci chronicles the plight of the mentally retarded in Massachusetts during the second half of the twentieth century. In a style reflective of his unrelenting advocacy, Ricci recounts the painful decision he and his wife made to place their six-year-old son at Belchertown State School in the 1950s, the horrific medieval conditions he discovered and exposed in that institution, his founding of Advocacy Network, that organization's fight against uncaring state bureaucrats, and their hard-won, landmark federal court order to improve the lives of the mentally retarded. Crimes Against Humanity is a must-read for anyone with a social conscience.

Courage, Persistence, and Faith

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-30

Ricci's CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY is an essential read for anyone with a relative, friend, or client who suffers from mental retardation. Holding nothing back, Ricci recounts the horrendously inhumane conditions of Belchertown State School in Massachusetts during the 1950s and '60s, his formation of an advocacy group to support the retarded and their families, and a 20-year landmark federal court class-action suit to secure rights and protections for mentally retarded citizens. A work of courage, persistence, and faith.

Differences in Common: Straight Talk on Mental Retardation, Down Syndrome, and Your Life

Published in Paperback by Woodbine House (1991-11)

Author: Marilyn Trainer

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Average review score:

Great read for parents and others

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-12

Trainer is an excellent writter who cuts right to the heart of the matter. She deals frankly with some difficult topics and doesn't have much use for platitudes like "little angles", etc.

While the cover is clearly aimed at women, this is a book for us guys too. You'll enjoy the writing and be affected by the content.

Excellent and Heartwarming

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-11-01

I picked this up at a DS conference and just finished reading, at times it made me happy and at times I cried. But it helped me put my life with my 18 mo old DS girl in perspective and also gave me hope for her future. This is an excellent book that is both inspirational and eye opening. A must read.

Great Book

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2000-09-21

I truly feel this book is a must read for anyone with a child with Down syndrome. Marilyn Trainer was able to put into words many of the same feelings that I have had about my child with Down syndrome. She is very frank and doesn't hold back on how she feels about many issues concerning her son. I highly recommend Differences in Common!

Equal Treatment for People with Mental Retardation: Having and Raising Children

Published in Paperback by Harvard University Press (2001-10-30)

Authors: Martha A. Field and Valerie A. Sanchez

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Inspiring and helpful

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-14

This book is fabulous and it is one of a kind. I found it helpful as a guardian often faced with ethical dilemmas about when I should decide and when "my ward" should. But the book is also written for doctors, policymakers, lawyers and judges, and parents -- in fact anyone interested in the assimilation of "the retarded" into the rest of the population.
It is actually fun reading and set up so you can skip the parts less relevant to you. It made me cry a couple of times as well as giving me many ideas -- and increasing my confidence in my judgments. READ IT. It will surely affect you profoundly in one way or another.

Romance & Retardation

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-06

While this closely argued and exhaustively researched book focuses on the reproductive legal rights of our retarded adults, its real core is to ask: Why should retarded people be deprived of the same rights the rest of us enjoy simply because they are retarded.
The book punctures the veil of silence around our automatic presumptions about these people that underlies our assumptions of the necessity and goodness of paternalistic regulation.
It does this by honing in on the most emotionally arousing aspect of the question. Asking why our retarded fellow citizens can be prevented from having sex and from having children brings us up against our deepest prejudices.
The book caused me to reconfigure my opinions in these areas in what feels to me a more useful perspective of the lives of these people, some of whom are my patients. I think it is a must read for anyone involved in any aspect of the care of our retarded population.

Controversial and convincing

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-15

This book puts forth a compelling thesis: The mentally retarded should have full rights to manage their own sexual and reproductive lives. The idea sounds good, but most people would quail at its full implications. Should a severely retarded 15-year-old be allowed to bear a child? What about situations where parents fear a daughter might suffer from rape in an institution? Should they have the right to have their daughter sterilized? A Harvard law professor, Field does not dodge the hard questions. She addresses them and forces a re-thinking of conventional ideas about who should make decisions for others and why. Field writes with such authority and conviction that at the end you are likely to be persuaded that human rights apply to the retarded in ways you never imagined. Analytical and systematic, the book is rooted in a deep knowledge of the law and a concern for the shaping of social policy. It is a must-read for those who face decisions about the retarded, either within their families or in the public arena. Those concerned with human rights will also find their minds, and perhaps their causes, expanded when they read this book.

Children With Mental Retardation: A Parents' Guide (The Special Needs Collection)

Published in Paperback by Woodbine House (1993-05)

Author:

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Average review score:

Help for Parents of Children with Mental Retardation

Helpful Votes: 27 out of 28 total.
Review Date: 2000-01-10

Our Early Intervention Coordinator gave this book to me the week after our daughter was diagnosed with MR. This book is an excellent first resource for parents. It is very readable and easy to understand. You can read only the areas you are concerned about or cover to cover. In attempting to be a parent's guide, they include quotes from parents of children with MR through each section. I found this so helpful that one night I found myself up until 1AM just going through the book and reading what "other parents" had to say. Chapters cover diagnosis, the evaluation process, daily living, legal rights and advocacy.

After reading this book, I found that I was more informed and better able to ask the right questions. It also helped me to understand what I was feeling about the diagnosis. There is even a description of types of MR and causes, etc. I would recommend it as a first resource for any parent who learns their child has MR.

A practical and hopeful book for parents

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-22

This book is different. It's not the technical, dry or depressing book.
The writing is practical, straightforward and hopeful. It is the best book on special needs/mental retardation I've read so far. I wish I'd read this one first.
This book adresses the initial concerns, testing, the roles of the therapists and even the IEP. The book ends with practical parenting advice and tips. Many of the comments from parents throughout the book hit home and were a breath of fresh air.
This book belongs in the library of a special needs/m.r. parent-and probably their extended family too.

Mental-retardation Books