The following books on Down syndrome and related issues have been reviewed for the Harried Parent's Book Club. They are sorted by Guide Rating, with five stars being best.
1. Building a Joyful Life With Your Child Who Has Special Needs
Cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
You may have read books and completed questionnaires and written essays about how your child experiences things and what he or she needs to be happy and content. But when's the last time you figured those things out about yourself? This handy workbook, co-written by the mom of a child with Down syndrome, is all about doing just that. Get a pencil. 4 Stars
2. The Down Syndrome Transition Handbook
Cover image courtesy of Woodbine House
Even if your child doesn't have Down syndrome, you'll find helpful information in this handbook for dealing with special-education transitions, special-needs trusts, guardianship, supported employment and housing, government benefits, and all those other adulthood issues you've been trying not to think about. Simons is a parent who's lived through her son's transition and has a lot of information and opinions to share. 4 Stars
3. I Just Am
Cover image courtesy of Five Star Publications Inc.
If you're looking for a book to explain Down syndrome to children or teens -- anyone, really, who responds to photos and captions better than long detailed text -- I Just Am is an excellent choice. Through photos and good-humored captions, Bryan Lambke tells about his life as a person with Down syndrome, and a person with two jobs, and a person with two girlfriends, and a person who loves nachos and pizza, and asks "If this isn't 'normal,' what is?" 4 Stars
4. Road Map to Holland
Cover image courtesy of PriceGrabber
Chances are, if you have a child with special needs, somebody somewhere has directed you to the Emily Perl Kingsley essay "Welcome to Holland." Using that chestnut as a starting point, Road Map to Holland tells the story of one family's process of adjusting when one of their twins has Down syndrome, in a way that's both personal and universal. You don't need to be dealing with DS to enjoy this book; if you have a special child, you've traveled these roads. 4 Stars
5. Count Us In: Growing Up With Down Syndrome
Cover image courtesy of Harcourt
The cover explains: "At ages 19 and 22, respectively, Jason Kingsley and Mitchell Levitz shared their innermost thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams, their lifelong friendship, and their experiences growing up with Down syndrome." The dialogues that make up this book took place from 1990-1993, and were originally published in 1994. The book has now been re-issued with an afterword updating readers on a dozen years of adulthood for its authors. They're enjoyable company, and have interesting insights into DS life, and life in general. 3.5 Stars
6. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children With Special Needs
Cover image courtesy of Health Communications, Inc.
If you've ever read a Chicken Soup book, you know what's waiting for you here -- close to 100 stories, each just two or three pages long, telling tales to warm your heart. In this volume, the stories are about children with special needs (including Down syndrome), and indeed, they are an inspiring bunch. Even if you're usually unmoved by Chicken Soup stories, you may find some tears brewing here. Let them fall. It feels good. 4 Stars
7. Sexuality: Your Sons and Daughters With Intellectual Disabilities
Cover image courtesy of Brookes Publishing
You may think it's not necessary to talk to your child with Down syndrome about sex, but think again -- about that conversation, and about your conviction that your child can never have a full, satifsying adult life. This book has a lot to say on both subjects. 4 Stars
8. The Short Bus
Cover image courtesy of Jonathan Mooney
On a 35,000 mile round-trip journey across the U.S. in one of those stubby special-ed buses, Mooney meets people who vary from society's ideal of "normal" in various ways, from a deaf-blind child in Virginia to a transgendered artist in Maine to a young woman with Down syndrome in Ohio -- all of whom have in common difficult school experiences, and more comfort in their own skins than Mooney's been able to muster. If you've wondered where your child fits in the world, the lessons the author learns here may benefit you and yours as well. 4 Stars
9. The Facts of Life ... and More
Cover image courtesy of Brookes Publishing Company
What sort of life do you see for your child with Down syndrome? If it involves lifelong chastity and childishness, the authors of the essays in this book want you to know that you're probably dreaming. They argue -- on behalf of people with disabilities, and against well-meaning families and staff who think otherwise -- that sexuality is a part of life that should not be denied, and that denial will be circumvented in dangerous ways. 3.5 Stars
10. Parenting Your Complex Child
Cover image courtesy of AMACOM
Parenting books generally come in one of two types: Experts offer suggestions on how to raise your child, with maybe some case studies thrown in; or parents share their stories of struggle and triumph, with maybe some practical advice thrown in. In this book, Morgan tries to do both -- and maybe proves why they really don't mix. 3.5 Stars
11. Speech & Language Development & Intervention in DS and FXS
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 Down syndrome or Fragile X syndrome, you may well find information to make the effort useful. 3 Stars
