The following books on speech and language have been reviewed for the Harried Parent's Book Club. They are sorted by Guide Rating, with five stars being best.
1. The Parent's Guide to Speech and Language Problems
Cover image courtesy of Debbie Feit
Pretty much everything you want to know about your child's speech and language problems is in here somewhere. A friendly, comprehensive resource, The Parent's Guide to Speech and Language Problems leads you from suspicions to diagnosis to therapy to school and insurance battles, with plenty of company from other parents along the way. 4.5 Stars
2. Childhood Speech, Language and Listening Problems
Cover image courtesy of PriceGrabber
Whether you're trying to make sense of your child's communication problem or a speech therapist's report, this book offers a comprehensive overview of causes and treatments that can bring you up to speed. 4 Stars
3. T.A.S.C. - Tools for Achieving Social Confidence
Cover image courtesy of Sandra Furia
Learning the give and take of social conversation can be a major challenge to kids on the autism spectrum or with pragmatic language difficulties. But you may find that school speech therapists are more interested in dealing with articulation than social speech. T.A.S.C., written by a speech therapist and a special education teacher, gives a good blueprint for teaching conversation, one you can start at home or pass on to school personnel. 4 Stars
4. Teach Me How to Say It Right
Cover image courtesy of Dorothy P. Doughtery
If you've ever wondered, "What can I do at home to help my child's articulation and vocabulary?" this is the book you've been looking for. Full of easy exercises for working with your child and information on why things may be difficult for him, it's a great resource for parents who want to be at-home therapists. 4 Stars
5. What Did You Say? What Do You Mean?
Cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
A guide to understanding metaphors might be the sort of thing you'd expect to find in a high school English class, not a special-needs parenting bookshelf. But this cleverly illustrated book was instead designed to help children with Asperger syndrome decipher expressions that don't mean what they say. In fact, any literal-thinking child can benefit from this cheerful resource. 4 Stars
6. The Mislabeled Child
Cover image courtesy of Brock Eide, M.D., M.A.
The authors, founders of the Eide Neurolearning Clinic, have seen plenty of children who have received diagnoses of ADHD, autism, and mental illness -- and discovered that in some cases, the real problem was a learning or language disability. They share their expertise here with parents, at great length and maybe excessive detail. But if you've worried that professionals just don't quite get your kid, this could be a lifeline. 4 Stars
7. Speech and Language Development and Intervention in Down Syndrome and Fragile X
Cover image courtesy of Brookes Publishing Company
A gathering of research studies, this "definitive volume" is clearly not meant for parents, nor makes any claim to be so. Still, some parents (like me) do insist on cracking scholarly tomes now and then, and this one's borderline accessible. If you live and breathe DS or FXS, you may well find information to make the effort useful. 3 Stars
8. Enhancing Everyday Communication for Children With Disabilities
Cover image courtesy of Brookes Publishing Co.
This may well be an excellent book for teachers and therapists who work with children who can't communicate in obvious ways. My review here only considers what it offers for parents, which is, not as much as I'd hoped for. If you have a nonverbal child, you may find a few useful ideas here. But otherwise, it doesn't communicate that well. 2.5 Stars
