This week I'm going to talk about Being the Other One by Kate Strohm. This book is full of first person accounts of being the sibling of a child with special needs. This book is focused on being realistic, not uplifting. I found much of it to be down heartening. However, if I were a sibling of a child with special needs I may find this refreshing, and liberating. As a parent, though, I found it discouraging.

This week's book is Engaging Autism by Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D., and Serena Wieder, PH.D. This book is quite comprehensive, including topics from early symptoms of autism to how to handle meltdowns. It's important to keep in mind that all advice in this book revolves around the Floortime Approach.

This week's book review is on Love and Logic Solutions for kids with Special Needs by David Funk. I was a little disappointed in this book as it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I had committed it to being in the line-up before I picked it up and read from it. It is geared toward educators of kids with special needs. It does have a lot of examples, which is nice. I expected more tips for handling difficult situations than were given. It's not that this is not a worthwhile book, as much as not the type of book I was expecting it to be.

This week I wanted to tell you about the book Kids In The Syndrome Mix by Martin L. Kutscher MD with contributions from Tony Allwood PhD and Robert R. Wolff MD. This book is a good one if you are in the beginning stages of trying to figure out what is going on with your child. There are chapters on many different disorders, and the authors address the problem that many of these disorders occur together. Some of the disorders discussed are ADHD, LD, Asperger's, Tourette's, and Bipolar. This book is helpful if you need some basic information on many different disorders.

I was hoping we could open up some dialog! I don't mind if it's off topic for the week, if you have questions to put out there, or if you know of a great resource to share, let us know! In case some of you are new to blogging, there should be a link at the bottom of the post that says "post a comment" or something similar. If you click on this, you should be able to write a comment. You don't have to "follow" to do this, it should allow you to comment anonymously. If there are any technical glitches, or if you need additional help, feel free to email me at leebrjenifer@msn.com

This week I want to talk about The Bipolar Child by Papolos and Papolos. This is THE book about childhood onset bipolar. If your child is bipolar, or if you are trying to discover whether or not your child is bipolar, this book can be helpful. It does not replace a neuropsych evaluation by a clinical psychologist, however, as many disorders have overlapping symptoms. This book has it all, symptom lists, sample logs, information on how to have your child evaluated and how much that should cost, and information on medications. It also has information on how the brain works, and IEPs and navigating the school system.

This week I wanted to tell you about A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Special Needs edited by Colleen Sell. This book is a lot like the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, with many stories by different people. I really liked that most of the stories focused on simple accomplishments. It's quite well-written for this type of anthology, and many of the contributors are professional writers. Here are some of the parts I liked best:

"I once heard someone say that having a child born with special needs is like stepping off a plan expecting to arrive in Cancun, Mexico, but discovering you've landed in Beijing, China, instead. You don't understand the language or culture, and you don't have the correct attire for the place. It's so different from what you expected, you feel completely disoriented and depressed. But eventually, as you learn the language and understand the culture, you embrace that foreign land as your own." --Ellen Tomaszewski

"This had to be the best day of my life -- a real diagnosis. What a relief!" -- Vivian Joy Phillips

"A famous quote, by Elizabeth Stone, says that having a child is like having your heart walking outside of your body. I think that's absolutely true. But for me, having a child is also like having a walking, talking ulcer." -- Leesa Gehman

Overall, this book is filled with inspiring stories about children with many different types of special needs, and it doesn't feel sugar-coated or too negative. I has a very real, and honest feel to it. Parents share some of the hardest moments, and some of the most rewarding moments. Many of the stories are about that moment when they finally realize that things are going to be okay...different than expected, but okay.