Special Needs Books - Page 6

My Lobotomy

Howard Dully, Charles Fleming

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Three Rivers Press Amazon Marketplace: 23 new & used starting at $8.10

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Professionals & Academics -> Medical
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Special Needs

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

At twelve, Howard Dully was guilty of the same crimes as other boys his age: he was moody and messy, rambunctious with his brothers, contrary just to prove a point, and perpetually at odds with his parents. Yet somehow, this normal boy became one of the youngest people on whom Dr. Walter Freeman performed his barbaric transorbital—or ice pick—lobotomy.

Abandoned by his family within a year of the surgery, Howard spent his teen years in mental institutions, his twenties in jail, and his thirties in a bottle. It wasn’t until he was in his forties that Howard began to pull his life together. But even as he began to live the “normal” life he had been denied, Howard struggled with one question: Why?

“October 8, 1960. I gather that Mrs. Dully is perpetually talking, admonishing, correcting, and getting worked up into a spasm, whereas her husband is impatient, explosive, rather brutal, won’t let the boy speak for himself, and calls him numbskull, dimwit, and other uncomplimentary names.”

There were only three people who would know the truth: Freeman, the man who performed the procedure; Lou, his cold and demanding stepmother who brought Howard to the doctor’s attention; and his father, Rodney. Of the three, only Rodney, the man who hadn’t intervened on his son’s behalf, was still living. Time was running out. Stable and happy for the first time in decades, Howard began to search for answers.

“December 3, 1960. Mr. and Mrs. Dully have apparently decided to have Howard operated on. I suggested [they] not tell Howard anything about it.”

Through his research, Howard met other lobotomy patients and their families, talked with one of Freeman’s sons about his father’s controversial life’s work, and confronted Rodney about his complicity. And, in the archive where the doctor’s files are stored, he finally came face to face with the truth.

Revealing what happened to a child no one—not his father, not the medical community, not the state—was willing to protect, My Lobotomy exposes a shameful chapter in the history of the treatment of mental illness. Yet, ultimately, this is a powerful and moving chronicle of the life of one man. Without reticence, Howard Dully shares the story of a painfully dysfunctional childhood, a misspent youth, his struggle to claim the life that was taken from him, and his redemption.


From the Hardcover edition.

Rewind, Replay, Repeat: A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Jeff Bell

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hazelden Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $6.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Special Needs
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Memoirs

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The revealing story of one man's struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and his hard-won recovery

Nagging doubt: It's a part of everyday life. Who hasn't doubled back to check on a door or appliance? But what if one check wasn't enough? Nor two or three? And what if nagging doubt grew so intense that physical senses became all but useless? Such was the case for Jeff Bell, a husband, father, and highly successful radio news anchor—and one of the millions of Americans living with obsessive-compulsived disorder (OCD). Bell's frank and forthright memoir recounts the depths to which this debilitating anxiety disorder reduced him—to driving his car in continuous circles, scouring his hands in scalding water, and endlessly rewinding, replaying, and repeating in his head even the most mundane daily experiences. Readers will learn what OCD feels like from the inside, and how healing from such a devastating condition is possible through therapy, determination, and the support of loved ones.

Recovered, Not Cured: A Journey Through Schizophrenia

Richard McLean

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Allen & Unwin Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $8.74

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Special Needs
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Memoirs

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

For all interested in learning about schizophrenia, how to seek treatment and how to cope with it 4 out of 5 stars.
47 of 47 people found this review helpful.

I stumbled accidentally on this book. Running a search through the online database at a local library branch, the title popped up on the screen. I cross-referenced it with the opinions of other readers from Amazon.com and decided it'd be an interesting overview of this incredible disease - schizophrenia.

I found out after checking the book out that it won the Australian Book of the Year for 2004, which intrigued me further. Having read it, I am also of the opinion that it deserves the award. The book is short and easy to read (in terms of narrative), but it reveals the complexities of the disease. The author narrates his experiences from the moments the symptoms appeared to the medication phase that restored order in his daily existence.

The book is written in snippets of experiences and often the reader is hurled one story after another of the patient's psychosis, paranoia, search for codes or deciphering of codes and secret messages, the delusions of voices the author heard and his reactions to them. In addition to these experiences, he inserts numerous e-mails from other schizophrenia patients he'd received or read on mental illness-online boards, as well as messages from family members of mental patients and how they coped with them. Since he is a graphics designer by trade, he'd added plenty of visual representations of his internal torments.

I recommend this book to all readers interested in learning about the symptoms of schizophrenia, how to seek treatment and how to learn to cope with the disease.

-by Simon Cleveland

Editorial Review:

This very personal exploration of schizophrenia explores each stage, from the early signs and reactions from friends and family to seeking help and the challenges of recovery. McLean bravely shares his paranoid delusions and offers both a verbal and a visual experience by including digital artwork he created to help objectify and control his impulses and fears. As McLean relates his experiences step by step, issues of sexuality, identity, and drug abuse are discussed, along with the overarching issues relating to mental health and the medical profession. Messages from online posters who either have suffered from mental illness or have cared for the mentally ill are included throughout, adding more perspectives to the author's personal experiences. This powerful combination of words and pictures provides a unique and poignant insight into a hidden, internal world.

When Rabbit Howls

Truddi Chase

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Berkley Trade Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $4.45

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Special Needs
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 84 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Truddi Chase began therapy to discover why she suffered from blackouts. What surfaced was terrifying: she was inhabited by 'the Troops'-92 individual personalities. This groundbreaking true story is made all the more extraordinary in that it was written by the Troops themselves. What they reveal is a spellbinding descent into a personal hell-and an ultimate deliverance for the woman they became.

"Fascinating...unusual and very emotionally touching." (Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, the psychiatrist who treated Sybil)

"Extraordinary...A nightmarish story." (The Chicago Tribune)

"Startling...powerful." (The San Francisco Chronicle)

"Horrifying, compelling...extremely disturbing." (Psychology Today)

"Remarkable...alarmingly real and courageous." (Toronto Sun)

"Provocative reading...fascinating." (Library Journal)

"Searing...a truly moving and thought-provoking work...an unplifting and inspiring story of a survivor." (Sojourner: The Women's Forum)

The Voice: A Memoir

Thomas Quasthoff

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Pantheon Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $10.55

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Arts & Literature -> Composers & Musicians -> Classical -> Vocalists
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Arts & Literature -> Composers & Musicians -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Voice is the profoundly inspiring memoir of one of the most sought after and admired classical singers in the world--a man who has arrived at the summit of his artistry by overcoming extraordinarily daunting odds.

Thomas Quasthoff, the German bass baritone, stands a shade over four feet tall, his severely underdeveloped arms and hands the result of thalidomide poisoning while he was in his mother's womb. But through stunning determination enlivened by an impish sense of human, Quasthoff has overcome his physical limitations and Dickensian childhood, cultivating his musical genius and thrilling classical music lovers with his sublime voice.

What shines through Quasthoff's astonishing story is his staunch refusal to wallow in self-pity, to see himself as a victim. Whether he is evoking a harrowing childhood marked by multiple agonizing surgeries, relating folksy family anecdotes, expressing his devotion to his students as a professor of voice, expounding on his love of jazz and American popular music (he is a great admirer of Stevie Wonder), or unburdening himself of his wickedly outspoken views on art and disability, Quasthoff's unerring sense of humanity, boisterous conviviality, and fierce honesty are always on display.

The Voice is utterly winning--a memoir to both marvel at and enjoy.

Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism

George McGovern

Amazon Price: $11.20 List Price: $14.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Plume Amazon Marketplace: 60 new & used starting at $2.92

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Special Needs
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Women
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Recovery -> Alcoholism

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

To Drink or Not To Drink - Only the Drinker Decides 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

'Terry' is the heart-wrenching tale of the life and death of Terry, daughter of George McGovern. I was reduced to tears in the book's first 40 pages as he recounts her tragic death. The book was very personal to me because I have lost a daughter (in an auto accident) and alcohol abuse and dependence have disrupted my life. Of course, the setting is familiar to me as a resident of the Madison area (indeed the Teresa McGovern Treatment Center is located adjacent to my favorite local place to walk). And McGovern's quixotic 1972 presidential campaign was the first of many political campaigns upon which I have worked.

Teresa McGovern simply could not stop drinking and in the end effectively drank herself to death. The book tells the excruciatingly sad tale how this bright, sensitive girl grew into an alcohol dependent. Despite untold attempts by herself and her family to get her to stop drinking, in the end the booze won.

The book is a cautionary tale for 'recovered alcoholics' - Terry did stop drinking for some 8 years and had several other substantial bouts of sobriety. In the end, sobriety was more painful than drinking despite the incredibly painful consequences of her drinking. If you think you have the booze beaten, remember that it lurks in wait for you.

The book does highlight the lack of any predictably succesful treatment for alcoholism. She tried many times to get cured, although she did not, apparently, try any non-AA programs. In one section McGovern simply records police, hospital, and detox center reports as she was taken repeatedly to detox. At the end of her life she was basically drinking to the point of incoherence and incontinence every day. One does wonder why the authorities did not attempt to have her committed involuntarily - but whether that would that have worked is highly doubtful.

One thing McGovern does not mention is the woefully inadequate insurance coverage for AODA treatment. Even if you have insurance, it is likely that your policy severely limits the amount that will be paid to cover treatment.

A powerful, honest, deeply felt book. The reader wants to reach out to McGovern and remind him that, in fact, he did try to help his daughter, it didn't work and her death from alcohol abuse really was not his fault. To drink or not to drink - only the drinker decides.

Editorial Review:

George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic nominee for President, offers a tragic family drama while confronting the choices of his own life in this story of a daughter's fatal fight with alcoholism. Told in direct prose, the tale is a harrowing one. Teresa Jane McGovern, the middle child of five, began drinking at age 13, was hospitalized for depression after her arrest for smoking pot at age 19, cleaned up for a while in her 30s, but then spiraled out of control until she froze to death in a parking lot after a drinking binge. Her father openly examines his role and the causes of his daughter's demise.

As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl

John Colapinto

List Price: $14.00 By: Harper Perennial Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $4.10

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Special Needs
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Gender Studies -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 161 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Once you begin reading As Nature Made Him, a mesmerizing story of a medical tragedy and its traumatic results, you absolutely won't want to put it down. Following a botched circumcision, a family is convinced to raise their infant son, Bruce, as a girl. They rename the child Brenda and spend the next 14 years trying to transform him into a her. Brenda's childhood reads as one filled with anxiety and loneliness, and her fear and confusion are present on nearly every page concerning her early childhood. Much of her pain is caused by Dr. Money, who is presented as a villainous medical man attempting to coerce an unwilling child to submit to numerous unpleasant treatments.

Reading over interviews and reports of decisions made by this doctor, it's difficult to contain anger at the widespread results of his insistence that natural-born gender can be altered with little more than willpower and hormone treatments. The attempts of his parents, twin brother, and extended family to assist Brenda to be happily female are touching--the sense is overwhelmingly of a family wanting to do "right" while being terribly mislead as to what "right" is for her. As Brenda makes the decision to live life as a male (at age 14), she takes the name David and begins the process of reversing the effects of estrogen treatments. David's ultimately successful life--a solid marriage, honest and close family relationships, and his bravery in making his childhood public--bring an uplifting end to his story. Equally fascinating is the latest segment of the longtime nature/nurture controversy, and the interviews of various psychological researchers and practitioners form a larger framework around David's struggle to live as the gender he was meant to be. --Jill Lightner

Learning to Fall: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life

Philip Simmons

Amazon Price: $11.20 List Price: $14.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Bantam Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $4.80

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Leaders & Notable People -> Religious
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Special Needs

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Now I find myself in late August, with the nights cool and the crickets thick in the fields. Already the first blighted leaves glow scarlet on the red maples. It’s a season of fullness and sweet longings made sweeter now by the fact that I can’t be sure I’ll see this time of the year again....
— from Learning to Fall

Philip Simmons was just thirty-five years old in 1993 when he learned that he had ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and was told he had less than five years to live. As a young husband and father, and at the start of a promising literary career, he suddenly had to learn the art of dying. Nine years later, he has succeeded, against the odds, in learning the art of living.

Now, in this surprisingly joyous and spirit-renewing book, he chronicles his search for peace and his deepening relationship with the mystery of everyday life.

Set amid the rugged New Hampshire mountains he once climbed, and filled with the bustle of family life against the quiet progression of illness, Learning to Fall illuminates the journey we all must take — “the work of learning to live richly in the face of loss.”

From our first faltering steps, Simmons says, we may fall into disappointment or grief, fall into or out of love, fall from youth or health. And though we have little choice as to the timing or means of our descent, we may, as he affirms, “fall with grace, to grace.”

With humor, hard-earned wisdom and a keen eye for life’s lessons — whether drawn from great poetry or visits to the town dump — Simmons shares his discovery that even at times of great sorrow we may find profound freedom. And by sharing the wonder of his daily life, he offers us the gift of connecting more deeply and joyously with our own.


From the Hardcover edition.

Life After Gastric Bypass: 6 Steps to Ensure Your Weight Loss Success

Katrina Segrave, Jerry Wayne

Amazon Price: $17.96 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: AuthorHouse Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $15.59

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Professionals & Academics -> Medical
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Special Needs

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The adage says most people won't take action until their back is up against the wall and there's nothing to do but come out swinging. My back was against the wall! But it wasn't the fact that I had sleep apnea and needed a machine just so I could draw a breath. It also wasn't the fact that I could not cross my legs; shop for clothes in regular stores; walk for more than ten minutes without my back killing me; participate in sport activities, or even sit in an airplane without a seat belt extender. I, like many of you reading this book, was already numb to all the jokes from little kids or stares from adults, so those things never became a factor of the day I knew. The day I knew that I had to do something -- the day that I absolutely had to lose weight -- was when I couldn't even wipe my own backside. When you can't even reach around your own massive belly, or reach behind your own back to clean yourself, something has got to be done. At that point I was well over 450 pounds. It was an embarrassing secret that I thought I would take to my grave! No matter what made you choose this drastic change in your body and lifestyle, you should be proud of yourself for making the decision. Contrary to popular belief, surgery is not the easy way out. It's a major life altering choice that you and your family will have to live with for the rest of your lives. But, what a life you now have to live! This book will tell the story of an overweight child who became an obese adult and then decided to do something about it when his back was against the wall. Also, with help of an expert in her field, we'll show you how to achieve your goal weight and maintain it through the proper diet and exercise long after the first incision was ever made.

The Day the Voices Stopped: A Schizophrenic's Journey from Madness to Hope

Ken Steele, Claire Berman

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Basic Books Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $6.20

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Special Needs
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Memoirs

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Resonate and Inspiring 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I chose to read `The Day The Voices Stopped: A Memoir of Madness of Hope' by Ken Steele and Claire Berman because I was interested in reading a book on the subject of mental illness. `The Day The Voices Stopped' is about Ken Steele's battle with schizophrenia; along with all the work he's done to better the care and treatment of mental health consumers. Before I read the book, I thought that the book would depress me, and that I would want to stop reading when some of the really bad parts came. But as I read, I got pulled into Ken's life. The bad parts still depressed me, but I kept on reading, desperately wanting to see Ken's happy ending. The book starts with the sudden arrival of Ken's voices; Voices that are constantly harassing and abusing him. Ken jumps from place to place, institution to institution, experiencing tragedy and joy. There are moments in the book when everything in Ken's life seems absolutely dismal, which makes his recovery and triumph over his illness all the more inspiring. The book doesn't stop on the day that Ken's voices stopped; it goes on to chronicle his advocacy for the rights of mental patients, and his struggle without the voices.

I found `The Day The Voices Stopped' to be very enjoyable. Ken bears all, not sugar-coating anything in his struggles. It's a hard, truthful look into the life of someone with schizophrenia], and someone who has been constantly abused both by his voices and people around him. Ken's story is moving and inspirational. It makes one stop and look around at the world with new eyes. The story is written for Ken's point of view, sharing both his thoughts and what his voices said. He retells his story in a detached sort of view, distancing the view from his emotions he's feeling while looking back on his life.

I highly recommended this book, but not to everyone. It is definitely not for younger kids, someone should be at least 15 if they are going to read this book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who knows someone with a mental illness and anyone who has a mental illness themselves. It really shows the thought process and emotions of someone with a mental illness, and helps us to relate to them better. I think it would be a good idea for a parent to read along with the book if their child is reading it, to help explain some things that the child might not understand.
The book is not meant to depress someone. It is meant to give people a window into the mind of someone who is mentally ill, to help them better relate to them, to offer hope. It's meant to move people without mental illness, and to inspire those who do have a mental illness, telling them that they can find their way out of the confusing fog in their minds. In sharing his experiences, Ken has given a voice to those who have been silenced.

Editorial Review:

For thirty-two years Ken Steele lived with the devastating symptoms of schizophrenia, tortured by inner voices commanding him to kill himself, ravaged by the delusions of paranoia, barely surviving on the ragged edges of society. In this inspiring story, Steele tells the story of his hard-won recovery from schizophrenia and how activism and advocacy helped him regain his sanity and go on to give hope and support to so many others like him.