Straight Forward Parenting

Special Issues

We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind with a tender heart. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

How To Help Children Through A Parent’s Serious Illness. Suitable for parents/adults
by Kathleen McCue

This book helps children from the moment a parent is diagnosed with a serious or life threatening illness along with what happens throughout the illness. It gives ways to communicate with children about difficult situations as well as ways to help children work through and deal with the changes that occur when dealing with a serious illness.

Helping Gifted Children Soar. Suitable for parents/adults
by Carol Strip with Gretchen Hirsch

This resource is a helpful tool for parents of gifted children. It gives ways to work with your child on an emotional level as well as understanding testing and screenings to identify giftedness, understanding how to help your child to learn, learning options for gifted, many parenting and teaching strategies.

Special Kids Need Special Parents: A Resource for Parents of Children with Special Needs.
by Judith Loseff Lavin

The label "special needs" applies to a tremendous range of children, from those with physical issues like spinal bifida or deafness to mental or emotional differences like ADD or Down syndrome. While each of these difficulties comes with its own specific set of frustrations and delights, families with special needs children face many similar challenges: finding qualified child-care and therapy; dealing with the daily realities of teasing, pain, and hospitalizations; and the impact that these special needs can have on relationships between parents, siblings, and extended family. "Special Kids Need Special Parents" is designed to cover these non-area-specific realities, and author Judith Loseff Lavin writes from a point of view many parents are sure to appreciate: her daughter was born with a cleft lip and palate, and Lavin knows exactly what she's talking about when issuing statements like "the severity of the disability is not necessarily correlated to the amount of stress." Various chapters attempt to cover the perspective of parent, child, and other siblings, and each chapter ends with a short list of important points. Behavioral and emotional topics are discussed first, including depression, grief, teasing, guilt, and techniques for encouraging appropriate behavior from your child, regardless of his special needs. Using video to teach body language and social skills is one practical suggestion; comments like "just because someone has a birth defect or is disabled doesn't mean she is automatically sensitive" are welcome reminders that each child is to be treated as an individual. Physical issues like chronic pain, hospitalization, and prosthetics are covered in later chapters, and with the understanding of emotional issues gained from the earlier parts of the book, readers will feel totally prepared to act as their child's advocate with teachers and doctors alike. The age of your children is irrelevant to the usefulness of this book--even if your child is already a teen, you'll find plenty of great advice in navigating the continual issues of those with special needs.

The Explosive Child.
by Ross W. Greene

Flexibility and tolerance are learned skills, as any parent knows if they've seen an irascible 2-year-old grow into a pleasant, thoughtful, and considerate older child. Unfortunately, for reasons that are poorly understood, a few children don't "get" this part of socialization. Years after toddler tantrums should have become an unpleasant memory, a few unlucky parents find themselves battling with sudden, inexplicable, disturbingly violent rages--along with crushing guilt about what they "did wrong." Medical experts haven't helped much: the flurry of acronyms and labels (Tourette's, ADHD, ADD, etc.) seems to proffer new discoveries about the causes of such explosions, when in fact the only new development is alternative vocabulary to describe the effects. Ross Greene, a pediatric psychologist who also teaches at Harvard Medical School, makes a bold and humane attempt in this book to cut through the blather and speak directly to the (usually desperate) parents of explosive children. His text is long and serious, and has the advantage of covering an enormous amount of ground with nuance, detail, and sympathy, but also perhaps the disadvantage that only those parents who are not chronically tired and time-deprived are likely to get through the entire book. Quoted dialogue from actual sessions with parents and children is interspersed with analysis that is always oriented toward understanding the origins of "meltdowns" and developing workable strategies for avoidance. Although pharmacological treatment is not the book's focus, there is a chapter on drug therapies. --Richard Farr

Our Labeled Children: What Every Parent and Teacher Needs to Know About Learning Disabilities.
by Robert J. Sternberg, Elena L. Grigorenko

A hard-hitting look at the problems of-and solutions for-diagnosing and teaching children with learning disabilities.

Twenty percent of all school aged children in this country have been labeled Learning Disabled. But what is a genuine learning disability and how does it differ from garden-variety poor learning? How can we more accurately assess and then teach to learning strengths instead of to weaknesses? In this passionately argued yet clear-headed book, internationally acclaimed cognitive psychologist Robert Sternberg and research scientist Elena Grigorenko tackle these controversial issues, urging that we must first understand the full range of factors that contribute to learning disabilities (and sometimes to their misdiagnosis) in order to improve the American educational and diagnostic systems.

From the biological bases of dyslexia and other disabilities, to the tests that do and do not accurately assess learning abilities, to the social and educational pressures that contribute to misdiagnosis in this country, Our Labeled Children clearly outlines the issues that concern both parents and teachers, ultimately pointing to clear strategies for improving our system to help children with all manner of learning problems

The Family Nutrition Book.
by William Sears, Martha Sears

Set your children up for a lifetime of healthy eating with "The Family Nutrition Book" by Dr. William Sears and his wife, Martha. From telling good fats from the bad ones to feeding the most persnickety of eaters, the Searses will give you the know-how to feed your family well.

The Bipolar Child.
by Demitri F., Md. Papolos, Janice Papolos

"The Bipolar Child will help families understand the out-of-control child. It includes moving, well-written, and sensitive accounts from many families who have experienced early onset of this very disabling disorder. The good news is, however, that there is treatment and it works."
--Laurie Flynn, Executive Director, The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Research Institute

How To Raise An Adopted Child.
by Judith Schaffer, Christina Lindstrom

A comprehensive how-to book that anticipates many of the situations that adoptive parents may encounter, interspersing hundreds of questions from parents of adopted children and the thoughtful answers.

Helping Your Kids Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way.
by M. Gary Neuman

The creator of the nationally recognized Sandcastles Divorce Therapy Program--which has helped thousands of children understand divorce and cope with the emotional fallout that comes with it--now provides a practical guide to helping the one million children who must cope with divorce annually. 86 illustrations .

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