11. The Sensory Processing Disorder Answer Book
Cover image courtesy of Sourcebooks
I don't know that these are really the top 250 questions parents ask, or whether this all-question format really does service to the material. But Delaney's answers are pretty terrific, clear and understandable and genuinely useful. Because the format scatters the information about, I wouldn't recommend this as your first book on SPD, but if you already know some and want to learn more, it will probably answer questions you have, whether they're among the ones officially asked or not. 4 Stars
12. The Sensory Team Handbook for Preteens
Cover image courtesy of Nancy Mucklow
Author Nancy Mucklow, the parent of a pre-teen with sensory issues, couldn't find any sensory-integration resources appropriate for that age group, so she went ahead and wrote one herself. It's an upbeat, friendly guide to helping the senses work together as a team, and strengthening weaker players. 4 Stars
13. Starting Sensory Integration Therapy
Cover photo courtesy of Sensory Resources
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. 4 Stars
14. Understanding Sensory Dysfunction
Cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Rather than a comprehensive look at sensory integration, this mom-written book focuses on the way SI looks in kids with other disabilities. That will be a relief for parents who've read more general SI books and found their own child's sensory problems to be much more twisty and tricky. 4 Stars
15. Living Sensationally
Cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Living Sensationally is not a parenting book, but it leads readers through a process that's important for parents of children with sensory proccessing challenges: realizing how their own sensory profiles may affect the way they react to their children's behaviors and needs. In your own way, you, too, may be a sensor or an avoider, a bystander or a seeker. If that conflicts with your child's sensory challenges, you're the one who will have to work hardest to learn to live with it, and this book has lots of good suggestions. 3 Stars
16. Parenting a Child With Sensory Processing Disorder
Cover image courtesy of New Harbinger
Change "Sensory Processing Disorder" to "Special Needs" in this book's title and you'll have a truer sense of what it's about. Not really a sensory-processing book at all, this book gives thoughtful and practical advice on handling the strains a special-needs child puts on marriages, siblings, extended family relationships, checkbooks, and parental nerves. So why the SPD misdirection? 3 Stars
