With even more practical information and direct answers to families' questions, the second edition of this easy-to-read guide is a proven resource for helping parents meet the demands of raising a child with a disability. You'll get updated, expert advice on a wide range of medical and educational issues as well as detailed coverage of the daily and long-term care requirements of specific disabilities, including mental retardation autism hearing impairment Down syndrome visual impairment communication disorders seizure disorders spina bifida ADHD cerebral palsy genetic syndromes New to this edition are chapters exploring nutrition, dental care, legal rights and benefits, and the transition to adulthood, as well as information on development and commonly used medications. Answers to frequently asked questions follow the chapters, addressing common parent concerns like sleep, behavior, medication, and potential complications.
Raising a child with a disability can often be more isolating and frustrating than any parent ever imagines. Finally, here is a book that honestly describes the inner needs and range of issues parents with disabled children face. Changed by a Child invites parents to take a moment for themselves. Each of the brief readings offers comfort and hope as they capture the unique challenges and joys of raising a disabled child.
Dr. Robert A. Naseef, a psychologist and father of a son with autism, details the daily blessings and challenges of raising a child with disabilities, offering sensitive, real-world advice along the way.
Based in cutting-edge research in neuroscience, education, and the principles of attachment-based teaching, this important guide for parents offers tools and practices to help children transcend language-based learning difficulties, do better in school, and gain self-confidence and self-esteem. If your child has a language-based learning difficulty—such as dyscalculia, dyslexia, and auditory processing disorder—they may have to work twice as hard to keep up with their peers in school. Your child may also have feelings of frustration, anger, sadness, or shame as a result of their learning differences. As a parent, it hurts to see your child struggle. But the good news is that there are proven-effective strategies you can learn to help your child be their best. This book will show you how. Helping Your Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities outlines an attachment-based approach to help your child succeed based in the latest research. This research indicates that a secure attachment relationship between you and your child actually optimizes their learning ability by enhancing motivation, regulating anxiety, and triggering neuroplasticity. In this book, you’ll discover why it’s so important to accurately assess your child, find new perspectives on LBLDs based on the most current studies, and discover tips and strategies for navigating school, home life, and your child’s future. Most importantly, you’ll learn how your own special bond with your child can help spark their interest in reading, writing, and math. Every child is unique—and every child learns in his or her own way. With this groundbreaking guide, you’ll be able to help your child thrive, in school and life.
Supporting and encouraging all members of the family when a child has a physical disability. If you have a child with a physical disability, how can you plan your family’s life in a way that is inclusive for everyone? What can you do to create a family where every member pulls his or her own weight (in appropriate measure), meets challenges, and has moments in the spotlight along the way? Most parents of a child who has a physical disability want their child to have fun, be responsible, make friends, and take acceptable risks—in short, to feel like “just one of the kids”—and they want to make sure that the needs of the whole family are met, too. Just One of the Kids is designed to help parents focus not on what could have been but instead on what can be, so that they, their children, and the grandparents thrive as individuals and as a family. The advice from psychologists Kay Harris Kriegsman and Sara Palmer is valuable for any family with children who have a physical disability, from any cause. Their warm and encouraging book is full of family stories, tips, and tools. Parents of children with physical disabilities can help them develop the skills needed to meet life’s challenges and launch into independence. Parents, building on that foundation and acknowledging each person’s contributions, interests, and aspirations, create an inclusive and resilient family.
Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.
Meet Addie!-A very special kid, with many characteristics that make her particularly unique. No matter what, Addie is always ready for an adventure-especially when she gets to discover what makes others different too. Follow along with Addie on her trip to the Zoo, where she meets amazing animal friends and learns about their many disabilities. In this ultra-inclusive series, author Stephanie Wolfe, with the help of her daughter, Addie, aims to help parents open the door to conversations with their children about disabilities and normalize the ability for kids to explore their curiosity and ask kind questions about people they don't understand.
Introduction to the core concepts of teaching and supporting children with disabilities alongside their peers will help teachers ensure that all children meet their potential.
Although the general public in the United States assumes children to be generally healthy and thriving, a substantial and growing number of children have at least one chronic health condition. Many of these conditions are associated with disabilities and interfere regularly with children's usual activities, such as play or leisure activities, attending school, and engaging in family or community activities. In their most severe forms, such disorders are serious lifelong threats to children's social, emotional well-being and quality of life, and anticipated adult outcomes such as for employment or independent living. However, pinpointing the prevalence of disability among children in the U.S. is difficult, as conceptual frameworks and definitions of disability vary among federal programs that provide services to this population and national surveys, the two primary sources for prevalence data. Opportunities for Improving Programs and Services for Children with Disabilities provides a comprehensive analysis of health outcomes for school-aged children with disabilities. This report reviews and assesses programs, services, and supports available to these children and their families. It also describes overarching program, service, and treatment goals; examines outreach efforts and utilization rates; identifies what outcomes are measured and how they are reported; and describes what is known about the effectiveness of these programs and services.