Carly's Voice: Breaking Through Autism


Arthur Fleischmann - 2012
    Doctors predicted that she would never intellectually develop beyond the abilities of a small child. Although she made some progress after years of intensive behavioral and communication therapy, Carly remained largely unreachable. Then, at the age of ten, she had a breakthrough. While working with her devoted therapists Howie and Barb, Carly reached over to their laptop and typed in "HELP TEETH HURT," much to everyone's astonishment. This was the beginning of Carly's journey toward self-realization. Although Carly still struggles with all the symptoms of autism, which she describes with uncanny accuracy and detail, she now has regular, witty, and profound conversations on the computer with her family, her therapists, and the many thousands of people who follow her via her blog, Facebook, and Twitter. In Carly's Voice, her father, Arthur Fleischmann, blends Carly's own words with his story of getting to know his remarkable daughter. One of the first books to explore firsthand the challenges of living with autism, it brings readers inside a once-secret world and in the company of an inspiring young woman who has found her voice and her mission.

Dealing with Difficult Parents: And with Parents in Difficult Situations


Todd Whitaker - 2001
    It shows you how to deal with the parent who is bossy, volatile, argumentative, aggressive, or maybe the worst - apathetic. It provides specific phrases to use with parents to help you avoid using "trigger" words which unintentionally make matters worse. It will show you how to deliver bad news to good parents, how to build positive credibility to all types of parents, and how to foster the kind of parent involvement which leads to student success.

Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues


Lindsey Biel - 2005
    Now as awareness of this condition reaches an all-time high, this comprehensive guidebook offers cutting-edge advice to parents of SI children. Written by an occupational therapist and a parent with a child with SI dysfunction, "Raising a Sensory Smart Child makes it easy for readers to recognize and understand their child's sensory issues and to find the best treatment for their child's needs.

Hands Free Mama: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters!


Rachel Macy Stafford - 2014
    We check our email while cooking dinner, send a text while bathing the kids, and spend more time looking into electronic screens than into the eyes of our loved ones. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it's no wonder we're distracted.But this isn't the way it has to be. Special education teacher, New York Times bestselling author, and mother Rachel Macy Stafford says enough is enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections.Finding balance doesn't mean giving up all technology forever. And it doesn't mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. In these pages, Rachel guides you through how to:Acknowledge the cost of your distractionMake purposeful connection with your familyGive your kids the gift of your undivided attentionSilence your inner criticLet go of the guilt from past mistakesAnd move forward with compassion and gratefulnessSo join Rachel and go hands-free. Discover what happens when you choose to open your heart--and your hands--to the possibilities of each God-given moment.

Masterminds and Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World


Rosalind Wiseman - 2013
    It’s a place where asking for help or showing emotional pain often feels impossible. Where sports and video games can mean everything, but working hard in school frequently earns ridicule from “the guys” even as they ask to copy assignments. Where “masterminds” dominate and friends ruthlessly insult each other but can never object when someone steps over the line. Where hiding problems from adults is the ironclad rule because their involvement only makes situations worse.  Boy world is governed by social hierarchies and a powerful set of unwritten rules that have huge implications for your boy’s relationships, his interactions with you, and the man he’ll become. If you want what’s best for him, you need to know what these rules are and how to work with them effectively. What you’ll find in Masterminds and Wingmen is critically important for every parent – or anyone who cares about boys – to know. Collaborating with a large team of middle- and high-school-age editors, Rosalind Wiseman has created an unprecedented guide to the life your boy is actually experiencing – his on-the-ground reality.  Not only does Wiseman challenge you to examine your assumptions, she offers innovative coping strategies aimed at helping your boy develop a positive, authentic, and strong sense of self.

Always Too Soon: Voices of Support for Those Who Have Lost Both Parents


Allison Gilbert - 2006
    When author Allison Gilbert lost both parents at age 32, she could not find any books that spoke to her with the same level of compassion and reassurance that she found in the support group she belonged to, so she decided to write one of her own. The result is a sensitive and candid portrayal of loss that brings together experiences from famous and ordinary grief-stricken sons and daughters that explores the regrets, heartache and sometimes, relief, that accompanies pain and healing.Always Too Soon provides a range of intimate conversations with those — famous and not — who have lost both parents, providing readers with a source of comfort and inspiration as they learn to negotiate their new place in the world. Contributors include Hope Edelman, Geraldine Ferraro, Dennis Franz, Barbara Ehrenreich, Yogi Berra, Rosanne Cash, and Ice-T, as well as those who lost parents to the Oklahoma City bombing, the World Trade Center bombings, drunk driving, and more.

The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly about the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs


Denise Brodey - 2007
    As she struggled to make sense of her new, often chaotic, often lonely world, what she found comforted her "most" was talking with other harried, hopeful, and insightful parents of kids with special needs, learning how they coped with the feelings they encountered throughout the day.In "The Elephant in the Playroom," moms and dads write intimately and honestly about the joyful highs and disordered lows of raising children who are ?not quite normal.? Laying bare the emotional, medical, and social challenges they face, their stories address issues ranging from if and when to medicate a child, to how to get a child who is overly sensitive to the texture of food to eat lunch. Eloquent and honest, the voices in this collection will provide solace and support for the millions of parents whose kids struggle with #ADHD, #sensory disorders, childhood #depression, Asperger's syndrome, and autism?as well as the many kids who fall between diagnoses.Offering readers comfort, community, and much-needed perspective, "The Elephant in the Playroom" has become essential reading for parents of special needs kids.

10 Days to a Less Defiant Child: The Breakthrough Program for Overcoming Your Child's Difficult Behavior


Jeffrey Bernstein - 2006
    In 10 Days to a Less Defiant Child, child and family psychologist Dr. Jeff Bernstein has developed a ground-breaking 10-day program to help parents gain back control over their defiant child or teen. This powerful and exceptionally reader-friendly guide explains what causes defiance in kids, why it's so destructive to the family, and shows parents step-by-step how they can end the behavior. Simple-to-follow and extremely effective, 10 Days to a Less Defiant Child will bring much-needed relief to the millions of frustrated parents out there living with defiant children.

Too Much of a Good Thing: Raising Children of Character in an Indulgent Age


Dan Kindlon - 2001
    In this powerful and provocative book, the author of the bestselling Raising Cain maps out the ways in which parents can reach out to their indulged children, teach them engagement in meaningful activity, and promote emotional maturity and a sense of self-worth.

Talking Back to Facebook: The Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age


James P. Steyer - 2012
    Jim Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, the nation’s leading kidsand- media organization, and the father of four children, knows that many parents and teachers—unlike their technology-savvy kids—may be tourists in the online world. In this essential book, Steyer—a frequent commentator on national TV and radio— offers an engaging blend of straightforward advice and anecdotes that address what he calls RAP, the major pitfalls relating to kids’ use of media and technology: relationship issues, attention/addiction problems, and the lack of privacy. Instead of shielding children completely from online images and messages, Steyer’s practical approach gives parents essential tools to help filter content, preserve good relationships with their children, and make common sense, value-driven judgments for kids of all ages. Not just about Facebook, this comprehensive, no-nonsense guide to the online world, media, and mobile devices belongs in the hands of all parents and educators raising kids in today’s digital age.

5 Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter


Vicki Courtney - 2008
    Youth culture commentator Vicki Courtney helps moms pinpoint and prepare the discussions that should be ongoing in their daughters' formative years.To fully address the dynamic social and spiritual issues and influencers at hand, several chapters are written for each of the conversations, which are:1. You are more than the sum of your parts2. Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up3. Sex is great and worth the wait4. It’s OK to dream about marriage and motherhood5. Girls gone wild are a dime a dozen—dare to be virtuousThe book is linked to online bonus features offering invaluable tips on having these conversations across the various stages of development: five and under, six to eleven, twelve and up.

How To Talk So Kids Can Learn


Adele Faber - 1995
    This breakthrough book demonstrates how parents and teachers can join forces to inspire kids to be self-directed, self-disciplined, and responsive to the wonders of learning.

Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism


Ron Suskind - 2014
    It is the saga of Owen Suskind, who happens to be the son of one of America's most noted writers, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Ron Suskind. He's also autistic. The twisting, 20-year journey of this boy and his family will change that way you see autism, old Disney movies, and the power of imagination to heal a shattered, upside-down world.

Not What I Expected: Parenting a Special-Needs Child--From Diagnosis to Acceptance and Beyond


Rita Eichenstein - 2015
    As diagnosis rates continue to rise for autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, and other developmental differences, parents face a maze of medical, psychological, and educational choices – and a great deal of emotional stress. Many books address children’s learning or behavior problems and advise parents what they can do to help their kids, but until Not What I Expected: Help and Hope for Parents of Atypical Children there were no books that explain what the parents are going through - and how they can cope with their own emotional upheaval – for their own sake, and for the wellbeing of the whole family.   With compassion, clarity, and an emphasis on practical solutions, Dr. Rita Eichenstein's Not What I Expected: Help and Hope for Parents of Atypical Children walks readers through the five stages of acceptance (similar to the stages of grief, but modified for parents of special-needs kids). Using vivid anecdotes and suggestions, she helps readers understand their own emotional experience, nurture themselves in addition to their kids, identify and address relationship wounds including tension in a marriage and struggles with children (special-needs and neurotypical), and embrace their child with acceptance, compassion and joy.

Parenting ADHD Now!: Easy Intervention Strategies to Empower Kids with ADHD


Elaine Taylor-Klaus - 2016
    Watching your bright, vibrant child struggle with ADHD can make you feel helpless, especially when you don’t have the tools to help them succeed. There is a great deal of help available for children with ADHD, but there simply aren’t enough resources for parents of ADHD children—and you need support just as much as your child.The National Institute of Mental Health recognizes that frustration, blame, and anger are common in families with ADHD children. Children with ADHD need guidance and understanding from parents to reach their full potential. Yet it can feel impossible to manage the challenges you experience as a parent in order to be the support your child needs.Diane Dempster and Elaine Taylor-Klaus are ADHD coaches, educators, and the cofounders of ImpactADHD. They started off just like you, feeling frustrated and lost about how to help their ADHD children—and how to take care of themselves as well. Since that time, they have become national leaders in the world of ADHD, representatives of the voice of parents, and the go-to experts for parenting children with ADHD. They have successfully armed thousands of parents with the tools they need to help themselves and their children with ADHD.In Parenting ADHD Now! Diane and Elaine combine their practical know-how and professional expertise to offer immediate, actionable strategies you can use to guide and support your ADHD child compassionately and effectively.The material presented in this book is grounded in three main concepts: Apply the Coach-Approach to Parenting – This unique method gives you permission to pay attention to yourself, build up your own confidence and self-esteem, and apply these tools when working with your child with ADHD. Use Real, Practical Strategies – Learn to effectively navigate the complex terrain of ADHD, confidently minimize ADHD-related stress in your family, and foster your child’s independence. Focus on the Parent – This is not about “fixing” your ADHD child. This is about shifting your focus inward and empowering yourself so that you can empower your child as they navigate life with ADHD. You can dramatically improve life for your child with ADHD. With Parenting ADHD Now! you will learn to set healthy limits, find compassion and acceptance, change your habits, laugh instead of cry, understand instead of yell, and thrive instead of just survive.