Multiple-Births Books

"Coping with Physical Loss and Disability" by Rick Ritter, MSW, is a jarring book at 92 pages. When I first got it, I thought it would be a regular self-help book, and I admit I was skeptical. But I opened it and it turned out to be a workbook.

There are six sections of the book, going from what your original loss was to how you could ask for and get help for it. In fact, I really had to consider that particular question. "Describe your loss in detail" was another. That was one of those where I had to write my feelings, and like many with disabilities I've told the story so many times, I figured I'd gotten it to a science. It was a blah story with which I started out, therefore; one I'd told a million times.

Then, something happened inside of me. I got angry. I don't do that too much; usually I'm at most irritated and that's that. Life is irritating to me these days for various personal reasons, so that was what the answer was like till that particular switch in my head went off. All of a sudden, there was a real answer. I actually started yelling "What? You want to know about the stupid primary care physician who said one leg was shorter than the other, when it turned out I had a blood clot in it? You want to know about my parents? What...?"

In the end, the question tore something out of me that I hadn't expected at all.

If you read this book, be prepared to do it slowly. At the end, you'll find a section of resources that is very intense. The author even stuck in movies that deal with disability! The book itself will take you to places inside that you didn't know existed, like that bit of anger -- believe me, I had more than one of those. I cried, I threw things, I felt sorry for myself, I sat for long periods of time thinking hard about questions my mind refused to answer but that on the other hand it wanted to. That test of my own will-power hurt a lot sometimes. But believe me when I say, it's very much worth it.

"Coping with Physical Loss and Disability: A Workbook" - Rick Ritter, MSW; LovingHealing Press 2006.

As we prepared for our oldest daughter's amputaion, I searched for something to help guide us along as a family. This work book is wonderful. Although my daughter was emotionally ready for her loss, Rick Ritter was able to better address some of what we may have missed prior to her surgery. I strongly recomend this book for anyone dealing with physical loss them selves or that of a loved one. Joi Warburton, Las Vegas, NV

After reading the other reviews I purchased this book. I have a degenerative muscle disease for which there is no treatment. Although I have coped fairly well up to this point, I was finding myself more and more isolated. As I answered the questions, I felt it would be better if I were going through this process with a professional. I answered as fully as I was able, but there doesn't seem to be any suggestions as to what to do with this information. The book suggests that you share your answers with three people. In my case that wasn't possible.I can see that it would be useful in conjunction with therapy. Without that professional input, the book left me hanging.

Rick Ritter has written a superb self-help workbook that will benefit readers who have suffered a physical loss or disability. Ritter has included 50 questions to be answered by the reader. He recommends these answers be shared with at least three other people. In responding to these questions, the reader is able to reflect on his or her disability or physical loss. The book engages the reader in discovering ways to deal with their physical loss. To those readers who have experienced such a loss, the workbook will provide a sense of empowerment to those still in grief or depression.

Ritter himself has experienced his own disability. As a social worker(MSW), he has had the opportunity to work with 100 people who have suffered a physical loss or disability. His workbook provides a roadmap for readers to follow to reach attainable goals.

Also included are interesting short stories of people he has worked with ranging from amputation, breast cancer, muscular dystrophy, AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, and quadriplegia. He recounts how these people were able to cope with their loss.

Having a disability or having suffered a physical loss doesn't necessarily lead to unhappiness. How one responds to that loss is what really matters. Rick also uses spirituality, support systems, and holistic methods as an approach to coping with the loss. Resiliency is crucial in facing any loss or disability.

As a mother of a son with cerebral palsy, I can see how this workbook could be very useful. He is now a happy young man working as an attorney. His disability didn't stop him from being productive. Also, having battled my own muscle disease along with rheumatoid arthritis, I found it helpful. As the daughter of a mother transfused with HIV contaminated blood, I can see how this workbook could have benefited her.

The resources included at the end of his book are certainly a bonus. He has listed helpful organizations, suggested reading, and films relating to physical loss and disability.

Rick Ritter has given his readers a wonderful gift. "Coping with Physical Loss and Disability" is an empowering book that will benefit many readers. I highly recommend this workbook. Thank you, Rick for caring. Your workbook will be appreciated by many people.

Nancy A. Draper (Author) A Burden of Silence: My Mother's Battle with AIDS

Reviewed by Christina Gonzalez, LMHC for Reader Views (5/06)

The author starts this very unique workbook with a compelling quote from Christopher Reeve, "So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable". This book is a way to help those who have found their dreams become impossible, find new ways to restructure their life, their ways of thinking and their ways of being in order to find ways to help their dreams become inevitable.

This book is oriented towards those who have experienced some type of a physical loss, whether from a disability, accident or including serious, chronic illnesses and pain. His examples range from people who have suffered knee injuries to quadriplegics, to individuals who have undergone a mastectomy from breast cancer to debilitating illnesses like muscular dystrophy. I would see value for individuals with ANY chronic health condition benefiting enormously from this book.

The author suggests that individuals who use this book consult with at least three people in their lives with whom they can share the results of the exercises which is very wise. The author takes the reader through a series of written exercises and anecdotes through six main chapters: Past and Future, Self Care and Support, Dealing with Loss: Feelings and Beliefs, Understanding Disability, Transforming Circumstance, and The Ongoing Process of Loss and Recovery. Each of these remain only questions and words on paper until the reader takes these questions and looks into their lives and then shares them with another.

As a therapist I will be recommending this book to my clients who are struggling with any chronic health issues. I would love to use this workbook with my clients in their therapy as well as suggest they share the information obtained about themselves with others in their lives. The author includes some excellent exercises to help the reader determine what people in their lives might be supportive to this process of recovery from physical loss and/or any chronic health condition.

The appendices include some excellent resources regarding therapeutic techniques and alternatives, suggested reading for coping with loss and disability, films on issues related to physical loss and disability, guidelines for watching films, and a listing of organizations and other resources that can help individuals coping with loss and disability.

As the mother of a child with Cerebral Palsy and as a psychotherapist myself, I found this book to be highly valuable for people dealing with any type of physical loss. As I mentioned above, just buying the book will not do anything. Filling out the exercises will help, but will not make a huge change. Filling out the exercise, following the author on the journey that he is leading the reader on and sharing with those close to the reader will make a great deal of difference. Some of the exercises I found helpful for those suffering from debilitating mental or emotional illnesses and even less acute health conditions such as asthma or others. This book is highly recommended to any individual who has suffered a physical loss and is still struggling to find their dreams. It would make a great gift from a supportive loved one who is also willing to make a stand to be there with the reader as they go through these exercises, and it would make an excellent aid to an individual who is currently seeing a therapist. I would not recommend this to someone who just wants to do the exercises randomly, haphazardly or in order to just keep their answers to themselves and not share them with another.

EXCELLENT SOURCE FOR A MOTHER EXPECTING TWINS!TELLS YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. PLEASE ALL THAT ARE HAVING TWINS~TAKE IT EASY~BECAREFUL WHAT YOU DO. I DID, BUT STILL LOST MINE AT 21.5 WKS. JENNIFER~MOTHER OF SAMANTHA & TRAVIS BORN ON MAY 15, 1999

This book helped me through the hardest time of my life. It exampled what I was going through and why I was going through it better than any other book I read on pregancy.

I thank God every day for my little gifts and having the strength to endore the pregnancy and the birth. This book helped me through both. I would recommend it to anyone expecting a multiple birth.

This book helped me out a lot, I found out I was expecting twins when I was 16 wks. It was a surprise. It also helped me with explaining to my husband that we were having twins. Excellcent book to read to explain everything you need to know about expecting and having twins.

My husband and I are expecting twins. We have read about five different books regarding pregnancy, birth and raising multiples, but this was the best book by far. It includes an incredible amount of practical information, including a great set of check lists that will help you prepare for birth. This is the book that I recommend to every couple that I know who are expecting more than one baby.

This book is full of helpful tips and hints. It's a no-frills design, but it packs a lot of information. Out of all the books on parenting multiples that I have read, this one has given me the most/best information. I HIGHLY recommend it.

I have this book in my professional library. I work with couples and families, and I have come across more families with multiple births in recent years than ever before. This book is useful for me and useful for my clients. I truly appreciate the fact that the author is a practicing professional as well as the fact that she is a mother of multiples. Her knowledge from both the personal and professional standpoints shows in her book. At the same time, the book is informative, easy to read, and entertaining. It makes a M.O.M. feel understood and helps her feel less stressed about her own experience because she is not alone.

Dr. Le-Bucklin has written a well-organized and easy-to-digest book that is a must-have for parents expecting twins. She combines insightful, personal experiences with her strong medical background to give a blend of information that both educates and entertains. This book addresses many of the questions, worries, and practical considerations that parents of multiples face straight from early pregnancy to infancy and beyond. An excellent reading experience!

Insightful and detailed, unlike any other book on the subject of twins. Dr. Le-Bucklin can relate to the reader from personal experience. The tips are realistic for "real life" application and incredibly effective. This book would make a great gift for moms expecting multiples!

This book is a must have for anyone who already has twins or is expecting twins! It is full of helpful tips and even definitions and explanations of common medical terms that a mother and father of multiples will hear throughout the pregnancy. It was both an informative and enjoyable read with fun twin facts and touching personal stories. It includes the author's own experience with the pregnancy of her own twins, uniquely given from a pediatrician and patient's perspective. I'd recommend it to all women and their families who will be blessed with their own pair of twins!

Moms of twins will feel this book is a heart-warming letter or conversation from a sister or best friend sharing her personal experience with her own twins. Real-life anecdotes create a connection between you and the author, forming a "sisterhood" of moms of multiples where shared experiences are both informative and entertaining. I found myself chuckling at some of the stories and nodding in confirmation at others. The best part is the confidence in knowing that the information comes from a mom of multiples who is also a successful pediatrician with serious professional credentials.

This book is a wonderful resource for parents of twins. I would recommend this to anyone having a multiples. It is very complete and has something for all ages.

(...) this book covers EVERYTHING FOR EVERYBODY! It will take you from pregnancy through the college years and beyond, and has information for the stay-at-home parent as well as the working parent, for those dealing with special needs to those coping with multiple loss. The information/advice is sensible because it is based upon the experiences of mothers of multiple birth children who belong to the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs. This group definitely knows what parenting twins, triplets, quads and more is all about! The highlighted quotes included in the book show that this is a book written about real-life situations, with real-life solutions.

I just read this book and my twins are 8 months old, but I wish I knew about it when I was pregnant. This book covers everything from feelings you may experience when you first find out your expecting twins to how close adult twins are to each other. It draws much of its information from surveys filled out by members of twins and multiples clubs throughout the nation so the info is first-hand, down-in-the-trenches info! Throughout the book there are interesting and helpful stories from moms of multiples. This is good, useful info. Also, the book has lots of interesting statistics about twins such as the fact that the Yoruba tribe in Africa has a twinning rate of 1 in 22 births! Wow!

I was given this book by my minister when my mother died. I found the quotations it offered very thought provoking especially since it is not dominated by Christian themes. Her funeral service was of her Christian faith of which I am not a part. This book helped me come to terms with her death in my own way with wisdom from Emerson, Shakespeare, Whitman, and the Chuang Tzu just to name a few. I recommend it to anyone who would like to refer to a text for quotations and wisdom on death, marriage, birth, and coming of age.

We found this book when looking for ideas on wedding ceremonies. We pulled our entire ceremony from passages in this book and felt the passages helped us create a personal and empowering service. We have since been able to use the book on a number of occasions - particulary at the death of a close cousin. Many of the passages we read helped to comfort us, but one in particular, spoke to us about our cousin in a way we did not otherwise discover.

Triplefun is the story of a courageous woman and her struggle to survive and flourish with the extraordinary welcoming of triplets. Lia Shackelford gives good advice, handy tips and interesting ideas to make life more bearable with the onslaught of an instant family. She uses humor to disclose the real trials within a marriage that are inevitable among new triplet families. She is honest about her fears, which alone takes courage, but in the end chooses life over comfort or even what may be the valid concerns of women involved in such complicated pregnancies.
As a mother of 4 year old triplets myself, I can honestly say that this book would be a bona fide treasure to anyone expecting or in the company of new multiples. It also gives insights into the world of multiples for anyone who may be a family member of the mother or father of triplets or more. I wish I could make my family read it! It would have been nice if her book were around when I was pregnant. Alas, there is a genuine shortage of useful books for mothers of more than twins - as it is so much more. The only thing I might add would be that three swings are a must for some families, especially those with more than just higher order multiples.
This book is a great buy for the average multiple mommy who wants to struggle less to find her own answers when answers can be found by simply reading.

Ms. Shackelford's straight forward, upbeat style of writing and amazing honesty in telling about her and her husband's struggles to become a family make tripleFun an awe inspiring book. And one that is sure to strike a chord with readers of any age or family experience. After all, who isn't secretly fascinated with multiple births. Whether it's twins, triples, quads, etc. giving birth to and caring for so many at once seems not only unbelievable, but impossible to those of us who are without children or had the standard one at a time. My hat off to Ms. Shackelford and all parents of multiples. Now how about book two - the toddler years. And more pictures of Amanda, Michaela and Trevor.

My daughter (a fraternal 7 yr old twin) checked this book out at the library. We loved it so much I'm here ordering one for us to keep. It explained the difference in the kinds of twins in a simple way. It gave some very interesting facts & stories and some funny things too. I think anyone that knows a twin would enjoy it.

Nicole Rubin (a twin herself) offers a multiplicity of twinship facts and "factoids" from biology, history, psychology, math, and zoology (all easier to master than those words might imply!). The varied format and perspectives keeps things moving, and will appeal to a wide audience

Rubin answers scientifically-oriented questions as "Where Do Twins Come From?" and "What are the Odds" clearly and factually. However, she also presents many entertaining anecdotes and stories about twins, often of the "Gee whiz" variety: The twins separated at birth who discover astounding similarites when they meet years later, the 3,000 sets of twins (there's a photo of them) who meet annually in Twinsburg, Ohio, and famous twins such as Abigail Van BUren and Ann Landers, bad guys Reggie and ROnnie Kray, Robin and Maurice Gibb, and Mary-Kate and Ashley (too famous to need a last name).

Aside from the humor (e.g., two pages of riddles such as: Q. "What do you do if twin tigers are running towards you?" A. "Run twice as fast!"). the most important sections deal with the advantages/disadvantages of twindom, and how to deal with these, either as a twin, or as an adult caregiver. Through interviews with young twins, humorous examples, and straight-on tips, we learn that while twins MAY have a special bond, others' silly questions and expectations can be a real burden too. Kids are offered some snappy comebacks ("What's it like being a twin?" "I don't know. What's it like not being a twin), and twins (and their parents/guardians/teachers) are encouraged throughout to celebrate the special bond, but develop their individuality as well. A one-page acknowledgements page contains books and a few websites (e.g., twinsmagazine.com) for further exploration.

Rubin, creator of the "Rotten Ralph" series as well as many other superb books, gives us an intriguing, light, but informative book that explores the relatively rare (no pun intended) phenomenon of twinhood, while understanding and respecting the experience.

This book is perfect for sharing with your twins when they are children to help them understand their special gift, or if you have other children who will soon have twin brothers or sisters. I think it would also be enjoyable and informative if you are a grandparent, teacher or other who interacts with twins. It gives a delightful, easy-to-read overview of twins and answers all the questions one might have if they know little about these special people. I thought the layout of the book, the photographs and information was perfect for this target audience. I highly recommend this book. I have passed it around to my entire family and everyone loved it. Buy this book!

This book was very informative and will be helpful to any child who wants to learn more about twins. There is a large variety of information and it is presented with a lot of illustrations that will help keep kids interested.

This book is a careful examination of a longstanding area in philosophy that nonetheless has tended to be consigned to the margins: the relationship between philosophy and art. This is so partly because, traditionally, each are seen as challenging the other, and at times, even demanding to threaten one another's very defining substance (or at least, status). Yet John Lysaker shows how they can enrich one another. If one allows oneself to be taken up by the text, addressed by it, Lysaker shows how philosophy can be used to illuminate just how it is that certain works of art lay claim to our lives and, if we're open to it, significantly change our lives as well.

Lysaker leads readers through a philosophical exploration into the workings of poetry in a way that, through the birth of sense, challenges the very borders of philosophical thought. Subtle and powerful.

Identical triplets are the subject of this interesting book. Told in first person by triplet Darren, the text gives young readers a feel for what it is like to be raised as an identical multiple. The first person narrative works well and kids will have fun identifying the boys in the color photos throughout. This thorough volume includes an "answer key" to identity in the photos, a glossary, resources for parents, and an explanation of the biology of multiples. Well done!