Intrigued by a book on family issues in the Harried Parent's Book Club? Read more about it through excerpts from the books below. For excerpts on other topics, go to the full index.
1. Book: Breaking Bread, Nourishing Connections
Photo courtesy of Brookes Publishing Company
Authors: Karin Melberg Schwier and Erin Schwier Stewart
Excerpt Title: "Nourishing Connections"
Quote: "Make a visual shopping list. Clip pictures of items for purchase from grocery fliers or magazines. Save the labels from the food containers to use on the next shopping trip. This can also be helpful for someone with limited language or speech skills." ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "Nourishing Connections"
Quote: "Make a visual shopping list. Clip pictures of items for purchase from grocery fliers or magazines. Save the labels from the food containers to use on the next shopping trip. This can also be helpful for someone with limited language or speech skills." ... Go to full excerpt
2. Book: Breakthrough Parenting
Cover image courtesy of Judy Winter
Author: Judy Winter
Excerpt Title: "Dealing With Staring"
Quote: "Staring is part of the deal that comes with giving your child every opportunity to be fully included in society. The good news is that it often gets easier to handle once you come to love and accept your child unconditionally. The next time someone stares at you or your child, give the benefit of the doubt -- and think of it as an opportunity to enlighten this person." ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "Dealing With Staring"
Quote: "Staring is part of the deal that comes with giving your child every opportunity to be fully included in society. The good news is that it often gets easier to handle once you come to love and accept your child unconditionally. The next time someone stares at you or your child, give the benefit of the doubt -- and think of it as an opportunity to enlighten this person." ... Go to full excerpt
3. Book: Damaged Angels
Cover image courtesy of PriceGrabber
Author: Bonnie Buxton
Excerpt Title: "What Families Need"
Quote: "Judging from the experience of families I know, all over the world, the needs of children with FASD and their parents are almost never met. Yet investing in FASD families would go a long way toward preventing parent burn-out -- keeping families together, reducing the numbers of alcohol-affected adolescents who drop out of school and wind up on the street, and reducing expensive social problems such as poverty, homelessness, and crime." ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "What Families Need"
Quote: "Judging from the experience of families I know, all over the world, the needs of children with FASD and their parents are almost never met. Yet investing in FASD families would go a long way toward preventing parent burn-out -- keeping families together, reducing the numbers of alcohol-affected adolescents who drop out of school and wind up on the street, and reducing expensive social problems such as poverty, homelessness, and crime." ... Go to full excerpt
4. Book: Helping Children With Complex Needs Bounce Back
Cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
From the Book: Helping Children With Complex Needs Bounce Back
Authors: Kim Aumann and Angie Hart
Quote: "Dedicated adults needed to work in a busy, demanding and fraught working environment. This is a long-term position so you must have staying power, excellent communication skills and the ability to plan and organize family life for everyone. No previous experience required but you will need to be a good negotiator, determined to make the most of things, and have an excellent sense of humor." ... Go to full excerpt
Authors: Kim Aumann and Angie Hart
Quote: "Dedicated adults needed to work in a busy, demanding and fraught working environment. This is a long-term position so you must have staying power, excellent communication skills and the ability to plan and organize family life for everyone. No previous experience required but you will need to be a good negotiator, determined to make the most of things, and have an excellent sense of humor." ... Go to full excerpt
5. Book: I Am Potential
Cover image courtesy of Da Capo Press
Authors: Patrick Henry Hughes, With Patrick John Hughes and Bryan Stamford
Excerpt Title: "When Life Knocks You on the Ground, You Pick Yourself Up and Move On"
Quote: "Something inside her had reached the boiling point, and it just had to come out. 'You know what?' she cried. 'I'm strong! I'm facing challenges people can't even imagine, and I'm coping. I am handling it. Maybe my son is not progressing like other children, and maybe he won't be a star athlete or a great brain surgeon someday. Maybe he'll never even reach the lofty perch of being average, like all the rest. But I'll tell you this ... he'll be everything he's able to be.'" ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "When Life Knocks You on the Ground, You Pick Yourself Up and Move On"
Quote: "Something inside her had reached the boiling point, and it just had to come out. 'You know what?' she cried. 'I'm strong! I'm facing challenges people can't even imagine, and I'm coping. I am handling it. Maybe my son is not progressing like other children, and maybe he won't be a star athlete or a great brain surgeon someday. Maybe he'll never even reach the lofty perch of being average, like all the rest. But I'll tell you this ... he'll be everything he's able to be.'" ... Go to full excerpt
6. Book: Married With Special-Needs Children
Cover image courtesy of Woodbine House
Authors: Laura E. Marshak and Fran Pollock Prezant
Excerpt Title: "How to Make Talking Less Distressing"
Quote: "No matter how long you have been married, you sometimes need to teach your partner what you need rather than get upset when he or she doesn't intuitively anticipate your needs. If you need your spouse to simply be close and listen without offering 'solutions,' clearly explain this. If you have already done so, do it again and again if necessary. When it comes to marriage, there is little 'one trial learning.'" ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "How to Make Talking Less Distressing"
Quote: "No matter how long you have been married, you sometimes need to teach your partner what you need rather than get upset when he or she doesn't intuitively anticipate your needs. If you need your spouse to simply be close and listen without offering 'solutions,' clearly explain this. If you have already done so, do it again and again if necessary. When it comes to marriage, there is little 'one trial learning.'" ... Go to full excerpt
7. Book: More Than a Mom
Cover image courtesy of Amy Baskin and Heather Fawcett
Authors: Amy Baskin and Heather Fawcett
Excerpt Title: "Request a Work Schedule Change With a Flexibility Proposal Memo"
Quote: "Karen would like to work flextime, so that she can be home with her daughters after school. That would allow her to schedule more therapy appointments for Helen, as well as help the girls with their homework. It would also save the family significant babysitting costs. She will request a 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. workday." ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "Request a Work Schedule Change With a Flexibility Proposal Memo"
Quote: "Karen would like to work flextime, so that she can be home with her daughters after school. That would allow her to schedule more therapy appointments for Helen, as well as help the girls with their homework. It would also save the family significant babysitting costs. She will request a 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. workday." ... Go to full excerpt
8. Book: More Than a Mom
Cover image courtesy of Amy Baskin and Heather Fawcett
Author: Amy Baskin and Heather Fawcett
Excerpt Title: "Writing a Letter of Intent"
Quote: "If you were to suddenly die or become incapacitated, that alone would be traumatic for your child. The last thing he would need would be for his own medical needs, routines, and daily life to be thrown into upheaval as well. You can guard against that by writing a Letter of Intent, providing your child's guardians with practical informaton to guide them in making decisions and interacting with your child." ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "Writing a Letter of Intent"
Quote: "If you were to suddenly die or become incapacitated, that alone would be traumatic for your child. The last thing he would need would be for his own medical needs, routines, and daily life to be thrown into upheaval as well. You can guard against that by writing a Letter of Intent, providing your child's guardians with practical informaton to guide them in making decisions and interacting with your child." ... Go to full excerpt
9. Book: Sibshops
Cover image courtesy of Brookes Publishing Company
Authors: Don Meyer and Patricia Vadasy
Excerpt Title: "What Siblings Would Like Parents and Service Providers to Know"
Quote: "Throughout their lives, brothers and sisters may play many different roles in the lives of their siblings with special needs. Regardless of the contributions they may make, the basic right of siblings to their own lives must always be remembered. Parents and service providers should not make assumptions about responsibilities that typically developing siblings may assume without a frank and open discussion." ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "What Siblings Would Like Parents and Service Providers to Know"
Quote: "Throughout their lives, brothers and sisters may play many different roles in the lives of their siblings with special needs. Regardless of the contributions they may make, the basic right of siblings to their own lives must always be remembered. Parents and service providers should not make assumptions about responsibilities that typically developing siblings may assume without a frank and open discussion." ... Go to full excerpt
10. Book: Epilepsy
Cover image courtesy of demosHealth
Author: Orrin Devinsky, MD
Excerpt Title: "Video Games and Epilepsy"
Quote: "Media reports have heightened public awareness that playing video games can rarely trigger seizures, but video games do not cause epilepsy. Playing video games is a common and prolonged activity for many kids. Because epilepsy is a common disorder, some seizures while playing video games are coincidental." ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "Video Games and Epilepsy"
Quote: "Media reports have heightened public awareness that playing video games can rarely trigger seizures, but video games do not cause epilepsy. Playing video games is a common and prolonged activity for many kids. Because epilepsy is a common disorder, some seizures while playing video games are coincidental." ... Go to full excerpt
11. Book: To the Left of Inspiration
Cover image courtesy of Katherine Schneider
Author: Katherine Schneider
Excerpt Title: "But I Didn't Sign Up for This: Parenting a Child with a Disability"
Quote: "Realize that your family will no longer be anonymous like "normal" families. The equipment you have to carry, the visibility of the disability, etc. make quick trips to the mall or last-minute getaways with your spouse with a babysitter holding down the fort things of the past. Your organizational and planning skills, as well as your public speaking and advocating skills, will grow by leaps and bounds." ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "But I Didn't Sign Up for This: Parenting a Child with a Disability"
Quote: "Realize that your family will no longer be anonymous like "normal" families. The equipment you have to carry, the visibility of the disability, etc. make quick trips to the mall or last-minute getaways with your spouse with a babysitter holding down the fort things of the past. Your organizational and planning skills, as well as your public speaking and advocating skills, will grow by leaps and bounds." ... Go to full excerpt
12. Book: Supportive Parenting
Cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Author: Jan Starr Campito
Excerpt Title: "Understanding Your Child's Diagnosis"
Quote: "Can you describe the defining characteristics of the diagnosis, in terms that are accurate and that other people can easily understand? Do you understand how your child's disability is similar to and different from other related or easily confused conditions? Can you apply the diagnosis to your own child, seeing which characteristics are currently present and to what extent?" ... Go to full excerpt
Excerpt Title: "Understanding Your Child's Diagnosis"
Quote: "Can you describe the defining characteristics of the diagnosis, in terms that are accurate and that other people can easily understand? Do you understand how your child's disability is similar to and different from other related or easily confused conditions? Can you apply the diagnosis to your own child, seeing which characteristics are currently present and to what extent?" ... Go to full excerpt
