Use this alphabetical index to find books that have been reviewed for the Harried Parent's Book Club.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J-L | M-N | O | P-Q | R | S | T | U-V | W-Z
Sleepless in America: Is Your Child Misbehaving or Missing Sleep?
Cover image courtesy of PriceGrabber
By Mary Sheedy Kurcinka; 331 pages. Subtitle: Tactical Strategies to Help Your Family Get the Sleep It Deserves.
Bottom Line: If you're up to your ears in behavior books -- weighing different styles of behavior charts and rewards, negotiation and analysis, time-outs and time-ins, positive and negative discipline -- this cozy volume's modest notion that all your child and family needs is adequate sleep may seem impossibly simplistic. So, fine, your situation probably is more complicated than that. Still, you've got to love a parenting book that gives you permission to take a nap.
Bottom Line: If you're up to your ears in behavior books -- weighing different styles of behavior charts and rewards, negotiation and analysis, time-outs and time-ins, positive and negative discipline -- this cozy volume's modest notion that all your child and family needs is adequate sleep may seem impossibly simplistic. So, fine, your situation probably is more complicated than that. Still, you've got to love a parenting book that gives you permission to take a nap.
Smart But Scattered
Cover image courtesy of Guilford Press
By Peg Dawson, EdD, and Richard Guare, PhD; 309 pages. Subtitle: The Revolutionary 'Executive Skills' Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential.
Bottom Line: The cover of this book boasts that it will boost any child's ability to "get organized, resist impulses, stay focused, use time wisely, plan ahead, follow through on tasks, learn from mistakes, stay in control of emotions, solve problems independently, be resourceful." That's a tall order, but looking at these as executive-skills issues rather than bad attitude is the right idea -- whatever your child's particular cognitive abilities.
Bottom Line: The cover of this book boasts that it will boost any child's ability to "get organized, resist impulses, stay focused, use time wisely, plan ahead, follow through on tasks, learn from mistakes, stay in control of emotions, solve problems independently, be resourceful." That's a tall order, but looking at these as executive-skills issues rather than bad attitude is the right idea -- whatever your child's particular cognitive abilities.
A Smile as Big as the Moon
Image courtesy of PriceGrabber
By Mike Kersjes with Joe Layden; 276 pages. From the Book Cover: "This is truly a triumphant story of the power of the human spirit."
Bottom Line: The power of the human spirit? Yes. And the power of one teacher who had an impossible idea and made it happen. There are plenty of books that focus on the battles parents fight for their children, and they're worth celebrating. But let's hear it, too, for the special education teachers who work small miracles, unsung. In Kersjes' case, the miracle's as big as the moon.
Bottom Line: The power of the human spirit? Yes. And the power of one teacher who had an impossible idea and made it happen. There are plenty of books that focus on the battles parents fight for their children, and they're worth celebrating. But let's hear it, too, for the special education teachers who work small miracles, unsung. In Kersjes' case, the miracle's as big as the moon.
Social Skills for Teenagers and Adults With Asperger Syndrome
Cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
By Nancy J. Patrick; 208 pages. Subtitle: A Practical Guide to Day-to-Day Life
Bottom Line: If your child has a hard time understanding the unspoken, contradictory, and ever-changing ways of social humans, this book may have something to offer, whether there's a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome or not. It gives calm, logical, specific, and practical steps to understanding where other people are coming from, and how conversations need to go. The journal at the end helps put your young person in charge of the change.
Bottom Line: If your child has a hard time understanding the unspoken, contradictory, and ever-changing ways of social humans, this book may have something to offer, whether there's a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome or not. It gives calm, logical, specific, and practical steps to understanding where other people are coming from, and how conversations need to go. The journal at the end helps put your young person in charge of the change.
Some Kind of Genius
Cover image courtesy of FSB Associates
By Janice DeBlois and Antonia Felix; 242 pages. Subtitle: The Extraordinary Journey of Musical Savant Tony DeBlois.
Bottom Line: Savantism and Tony DeBlois are both fascinating subjects, and the book does indeed mix science, woman-against-the-system drama and personal inspiration, but the compelling part got lost in the shuffle. While Some Kind of Genius is certainly readable and interesting, it would have been a better book for focusing on just one of those styles.
Bottom Line: Savantism and Tony DeBlois are both fascinating subjects, and the book does indeed mix science, woman-against-the-system drama and personal inspiration, but the compelling part got lost in the shuffle. While Some Kind of Genius is certainly readable and interesting, it would have been a better book for focusing on just one of those styles.
Special Children, Challenged Parents
Cover image courtesy of Brookes Publishing Co.
By Robert A. Naseef, Ph.D; 291 pages. Subtitle: The Struggles and Rewards of Raising a Child With a Disability.
Bottom Line: Struggles, yes; rewards, not so much. And really, there's only one struggle this book is concerned with, and that is parents' overwhelming grief at the loss of their dreams for their child. If you're at that stage in parenting a special-needs child, this book will be tremendously empowering and comforting. If not, you may be tempted to yell "Snap out of it! It's not all about you!"
Bottom Line: Struggles, yes; rewards, not so much. And really, there's only one struggle this book is concerned with, and that is parents' overwhelming grief at the loss of their dreams for their child. If you're at that stage in parenting a special-needs child, this book will be tremendously empowering and comforting. If not, you may be tempted to yell "Snap out of it! It's not all about you!"
Special Needs Advocacy Resource Book
Cover image courtesy of Rich Weinfeld and Michelle Davis
By Rich Weinfeld and Michelle Davis; 315 pages. Subtitle: What You Can Do Now to Advocate for Your Exceptional Child's Education.
Bottom Line: If you're thinking of becoming an advocate for somebody else's children or hiring an advocate for your own, this book makes a compelling case for the need for advocates and provides a portrait of what a good one will do. If you've been going it alone, though, or intend to, beware -- this volume may just knock the confidence right out of you.
Bottom Line: If you're thinking of becoming an advocate for somebody else's children or hiring an advocate for your own, this book makes a compelling case for the need for advocates and provides a portrait of what a good one will do. If you've been going it alone, though, or intend to, beware -- this volume may just knock the confidence right out of you.
The Special Needs Planning Guide
Cover image courtesy of Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
By John W. Nadworny and Cynthia R. Haddad; 310 pages. Subtitle: How to Prepare for Every Stage of Your Child's Life.
Bottom Line: Planning for the legal and financial needs of even a "normal" family can be overwhelming, but add a child with special needs to the equation and the degree of difficulty soars. Authors Nadworny and Haddad have family members with disabilities, so they know the problems firsthand -- and try to guide you gently away from them in a calm, compassionate, and only mildly panic-inducing guide. There's even a CD of helpful files to get you going.
Bottom Line: Planning for the legal and financial needs of even a "normal" family can be overwhelming, but add a child with special needs to the equation and the degree of difficulty soars. Authors Nadworny and Haddad have family members with disabilities, so they know the problems firsthand -- and try to guide you gently away from them in a calm, compassionate, and only mildly panic-inducing guide. There's even a CD of helpful files to get you going.
Speech and Language Development and Intervention in Down Syndrome and Fragile X
Cover image courtesy of Brookes Publishing Company
Edited by Joanne E. Roberts, Robin S. Chapman, and Steven F. Warren; 305 pages. From the Back of the Book: "This definitive volume is key to supporting the communicative competence of people with Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome at every stage of life."
Bottom Line: 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.
Bottom Line: 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.
Starting Sensory Integration Therapy
Cover photo courtesy of Sensory Resources
By Bonnie Arwine; 128 pages. Subtitle: Fun Activities That Won't Destroy Your Home!
Bottom Line: If you're looking for a book that's actually about starting sensory integration therapy -- finding a therapist, interpreting test results, understanding what goes on during sessions, coordinating insurance payments -- this isn't it. There are sure some way cool games to play with your child, though. The book's less about starting therapy than bringing all that therapeutic goodness home.
Bottom Line: If you're looking for a book that's actually about starting sensory integration therapy -- finding a therapist, interpreting test results, understanding what goes on during sessions, coordinating insurance payments -- this isn't it. There are sure some way cool games to play with your child, though. The book's less about starting therapy than bringing all that therapeutic goodness home.
