Physically Disabled Books

Teaching Motor Skills to Children With Cerebral Palsy And Similar Movement Disorders: A Guide for Parents And Professionals

Sieglinde Martin

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Features:

• LEARNING MATERIALS
• Teacher Aids
• Special Needs

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Exercise & Fitness -> Injuries & Rehabilitation
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Personal Health -> Children's Health -> Special Needs Children
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

While most families of young children with cerebral palsy and similar conditions work in conjunction with a physical therapist a few times a week, it takes daily intervention to help a child reach his motor potential and become more independent. Teaching Motor Skills is the resource that parents, therapists, and other caregivers can consult to help children with gross motor delays learn and practice motor skills outside of therapy sessions. Written by an experienced physical therapist who is also the mother of a child with cerebral palsy, this comprehensive guide examines the physical characteristics of cerebral palsy and similar conditions--muscle tightness and weakness, increased or decreased flexibility, abnormal reflexes, impaired sensory perception--that affect a child's ability to sit, crawl, stand, and walk. Teaching Motor Skills offers dozen of easy-to-follow exercises with accompanying photos that parents may incorporate into many daily routines at home with the guidance and support of their child's physical therapist. Exercises address: Head control Protective reactions Proper positioning Independent sitting with and without arm support Transitional movements Daily stretching Improving muscle strength and coordination Balance training Gait training Full of anecdotes and frequently-asked-questions, with a chapter on medical interventions and bracing, and an appendix of equipment and supplies, this user-friendly guide helps parents and professionals coordinate their efforts to achieve the best possible outcome for the child.

Life Skills Activities for Secondary Students with Special Needs

Darlene Mannix

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

For educators, parents, and others involved in teaching adolescents with special needs, here is a unique collection of 190 illustrated activity sheets with related exercises, discussion questions, and evaluation suggestions to help students acquire the basic skills necessary to achieve independence and success in everyday living.

Each activity sheet focuses on a specific skill within the context of real-life situations and includes complete teacher directions for its effective use, from objective and introduction through optional extension activities and ways to assess students’ learning.

For quick access, all of these ready-to-use materials are printed in a big spiral-bound format for easy photocopying and organized into seven sections. Here’s an overview of the major topics (and sample activity titles) covered in each section:

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS—30 activities focusing on Uniqueness of Myself and Others (Spotlight on Me)…Friendship Skills (qualities of a Good Friend)…Being Part of a Family (Members of a Family)

COMMUNICATION SKILLS—15 lessons that teach Understanding Others (Being a Careful Listener)…Expressing Yourself (Be Convincing)…Conflict Resolution (Compromising)

ACADEMIC & SCHOOL SKILLS—32 activities related to Reading (Reading on the Job)…Writing (Proofreading)…math (Improving Math Skills)…Study Skills (Taking Notes)

PRACTICAL LIVING SKILLS—39 activities focusing of Getting Information (What Do You Need to Know?)…Money Management (Making a Budget)…Travel (Using a Timetable)…Driving (Car Insurance)…Home Management (Home Repairs, Preparing a Meal)

VOCATIONAL SKILLS—22 lessons featuring Present Skills and Interests (What Are You Good At?)…School Record and Planning (Finishing High School)…Working (Interviewing)

LIFESTYLE CHOICES—27 activities covering Values (What Are Values?)…Personal Habits and Choices (Teens and Drinking)…Sexual Issues (Teenage Pregnancy, HIV and AIDS)…Reputation (How You Appear to Others)…Stress (Stressful Events and Situations)

PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS—25 lessons on Handling Problem Situations (Adjusting to Change)…Making Decisions (Needs vs. Wants)…Resource Management (Staying on Task)…Goal-Setting (Realistic Goals)…Risk-Taking (Learning from Mistakes)

Also included is a list of parent activities which can be reproduced and given to parents to use in conjunction with the activities being worked on in class. You may supplement thus list with your own activities and/or worksheets to provide extra reinforcement of new skills.

You’ll find these activities are completely flexible. You can use them in any order for a variety of purposes—to introduced, teach and/or reinforce specific life skills. Moreover, the activities can easily be modified to meet individual or group needs.

The Special Educator's Survival Guide

Roger, Ph.D. Pierangelo

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Special Educator's Survival Guide 4 out of 5 stars.
37 of 46 people found this review helpful.

This book is excellent. It really defines the role and job of a special education teacher. In fact my principal was so impressed with it that he ordered it for all the special education teachers in my building. Another principal also ordered it for her special education teachers.

Great for Parent's Too! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Special Education Survival Guide is one of my top reference books, as I assist in developing my child's I.E.P. The book is up to date, and gives a lot of example's and "what-if's." I couldn't do a proper I.E.P. without this valuable resouce.

Editorial Review:

Written for educators who work with special children and teens, this second edition of a best-selling classic offers a practical guide to every facet of the special education teacher’s job, from teaching in a self-contained classroom or resource room to serving on a multidisciplinary team. This easy-to-follow format, takes you step by step through the various stages required to understand the referral process, parent intakes and conferences, evaluation, interpretation, diagnosis, remediation, placement, individual education plans, classroom management, medication, educational law, and more.

Instruction of Students with Severe Disabilities (6th Edition)

Martha E. Snell, Fredda Brown

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Instruction of Students with Severe Disabilities 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

A new edition to a long series of books by M. Snell summarizing the most up-to-date information on educating children with severe developmental disabilities. A must book to have in your library if you have an interest in this population ... comprehensive, excellent references, concise presentations of content, leading authorities contributing to this edition etc.

The information is accurate and useful 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Strengths: The information is useful and it is a good resource. I have begun to put tabs on pages for future reference.

Weaknesses: This book presents poorly, it appears to be a new printing of an old book. The material presented would be easier to take in and retain, in fewer words.

I also feel that it would make the book easier to read through if there were more visual supports, for example: charts, pictures, graphs, and internet links.

Editorial Review:

This highly successful book addresses the full range of curriculum topics involved in educating individuals with severe disabilities. Instruction of Students with Severe Disabilities examines the principles behind teaching students with severe and multiple disabilities. This edition includes more information on alternative assessment, a stronger focus on positive behavior interventions and supports, and additional strategies on peer relationships.

Steps to Independence: Teaching Everyday Skills to Children With Special Needs

Bruce L. Baker, Alan J. Brightman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent resource! 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

No parent OR special education teacher should be without this book! Easy to read, and the content is excellent! Step-by-step approaches to teaching everyday skills to children with special needs, but would be just as valuable to ANY parent! After reading this book, I have found it easier to establish goals for my students and everyone is using the same approach to teaching everyday living skills (play, toileting, self-help, PLUS behavior management)! It is working fabulous! The students are learning more with less frustration! A must-have for your resource library!

Acquiring Skills for Life 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I've been looking for a book like this for quite some time. Here's what it covers:
Chapter 1: Setting Out
Chapter 2: Targeting a Skill
Chapter 3: Establishing Steps
Chapter 4: Picking Rewards
Chapter 5: Setting the Stage
Chapter 6: Teaching
Chapter 7: Observing Progress and Troubleshooting
Chapter 8: Get Ready Skills
Chapter 9: Self-Help Skills
Chapter 10: Toilet Training
Chapter 11: Play Skills
Chapter 12: Independent Living: Self-Care Skills
Chapter 13: Independent Living: Home-Care Skills
Chapter 14: Independent Living: Information Skills
Chapter 15: Plugging into the Personal Computer Revolution
Chapter 16: Behavior Problems
Chapter 17: Initiating a Behavior Management Program
Appendix A: Get Ready Skills
Appendix B: Self-Help Skills Inventory
Appendix C: Self-Help Skills Programs
Appendix D: Play Skills Programs
Appendix E: Information Skills Programs
Index

Editorial Review:

Univ. of California, Los Angeles. Consumer text provides step-by-step guidance for parents in managing behavior challenges, strengthening partnerships with teachers, and using technology. Discusses how to help children develop skills in seven different areas of behavior. Previous edition: c1997. Softcover.

Relationship Development Intervention with Children, Adolescents and Adults

Steven E. Gutstein, Rachelle K. Sheely

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Mental Health -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Mental Health -> General AAS
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Personal Health -> Children's Health -> Autism & Asperger's Syndrome

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Esoteric tone overwhelms the practical suggestions 2 out of 5 stars.
40 of 61 people found this review helpful.

My overall impression of this book is that is contrived and forced in places. The book is structured around a layered model of progress; essentially progressing the student from the lowest level of competence on through higher levels. One might presume that the authors were stuck for a teaching metaphor and grabbed the apprentice-expert metaphor as scaffolding on which to hang the lessons. The book is replete with various lesson plans and tactics for enagaging the AS person's interest. To be fair, a reasonable amount of what is here is worthwhile reading and reflecting on - once you filter out the esotericism of much of the language.

However, the book seems to stumble as it tries to fill its 400 odd pages with 'advanced' lesson plans. Some of the section titles made me wonder was this a case of Asperger Syndrome meets Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The AS subject moves through Novice, Apprentice, Challenger, Voyager and Partner levels as just one example. There are sublevels within each of these. Finding one's unique idenitity and place in the environment etc, are major objectives.

The tenor of a lot of this, for me at least, verged on almost cultish twaddle. I prefer a reasonable scientific tenor to any behavioural modification programme. However, others may find the book's approach illuminating and helpful.

The book emphasises coaching and that the real business of interventions is coaching. My problem with this is that it doesn't tie coaching into any particular theory - though if you take one of the authors' RDI courses presumably the theory will be revealed. There is a growing emphasis on putting intervention programmes on some sort of scientific footing, and it behooves the authors of such programmes to produce the goods on the worth of their offerings. I would recommend looking at Succeeding with Interventions for Asperger Syndrome Adolescents for a different approach.

The latter sections of the book, in my opinion, presume a lot of the AS subject. In particular the use of others to faciliate interaction, learn about emotions and generally mediate social interactions is just not a an easy thing to acomplish with an AS subject. The 'partner' that turns up today may not be there tomorrow. So how do you coach an AS teenager to fall back on there own resources?

The authors state that the book is suitable for use by parents, adolescents and adults, teachers and therapists (not many left out there). Personally I found this to be the most questionable claim of the whole book. How on Earth can it be a manual satisfying the requirements of such different audiences. It is verging on cyncical to suggest it has so much to offer to so many.

In conclusion, there are aspects of the book that are useful and other aspects that I found incongrous, if not downright peculiar. If I had a larger budget, I would definitely prefer Kathleen Quill's book, Do-Watch-Listen-Say even though it is not explicitly aimed at adolescents, and couple it with one of the Boystown Teaching Basic Social Skills to Youth as a more convincing pair. It is a personal choice, and different people may have different requirements.

Editorial Review:

Establishing and maintaining emotional bonds with family, colleagues and friends is particularly difficult for people on the autism spectrum. This volume contains over 200 activities and exercises for social and emotional development. Activities cn be undertaken independently or with a teacher or therapist. This title is also available in a two-volume set with "Relationship Development Intervention with Young Children", ISBN 1-84310-720-1.

Train Go Sorry: Inside a Deaf World

Leah Hager Cohen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not only is it extremely well-written, it covers a multitude of salient issues of Deaf culture 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The book is marvelous for its accurate insights into Deaf culture. It uses a Deaf residential school setting as the basis for the many subplots so we get an inside look at deaf people - It is an ingenious device. We see the various aspects of Deaf culture from many points of view as Ms. Cohen explores issues through the various characters in the book. All the characters are very interesting and fully drawn. You feel as though you know each one of them when you're done.

I am a hearing man who has been involved in the Deaf community for over 30 years. I teach ASL at a college and have read just about all the books available on Deaf culture. This is the book that I now require for my level two students. It gives so much "inside" information about deaf people. And she does it through the many fascinating lives of each character, most of them deaf, a few hearing.

If you are an ASL student or know a deaf person, you should definitely read this book. If your professor doesn't now about this book yet, tell him or her to read it. Even if you've never met a deaf person I think that you will find this to be a great read. It is breezy yet poignant and you keep turning the page to see what happens next to each person involved.

Editorial Review:

This portrait of New York's Lafayette School for the Deaf is not just a work of journalism. It is also a memoir, since Leah Hager Cohen grew up on the school's campus and her father is its superintendent. As a hearing person raised among the deaf, Cohen appreciates both the intimate textures of that silent world and the gulf that separates it from our own.

How to Reach and Teach ADD/ADHD Children: Practical Techniques, Strategies, and Interventions for Helping Children with Attention Problems and Hyperactivity

Sandra F. Rief

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Quite Theoretically Sound 4 out of 5 stars.
34 of 35 people found this review helpful.

This 'manual' presents a technical and philosophical overview of the complex array of variables that factor into effective teaching of the ADHD child. The author has compassion as well as insight into the children, who often face rejection and failure. The co-occuring low self esteem can carry over a lifetime. A variety of methodologies specific to learning domains are very helpful for diagnostic purposes and lesson planning. As a principal and mental health administrator, I have this book well-placed on my shelf. I refer to it often and occasionally lend it to my staff who are searching for help with a specific child.

Glancing back at the chapters as I prepared this review, I was actually astounded at the sophisticated details embedded there. In particular I think the information that supports the "multi-sensory" approach is greatly needed. The amount of times we write "multi-sensory" activities just because it fits in an IEP is amazing. My own experience with teachers is that they basically have a very limited understanding of the neurological underpinings of sensory and perceptual limitations.

My only reservation about the book is that despite its layout, it actually is fairly theoretical. I think that when a teacher reaches for it, he or she may be looking for some more 'lesson planning' ideas and tend to gloss over the more comprehensive information. I definitely recommend the book for special education teachers who are genuinely interested in a more in-depth review, as well as for purposes of diagnostic and prescriptive planning. I also recommend it for administrators who are involved in staff development or individual supervision.
The only other concern I have is that despite the amount of information about the medication questions, it does not include enough about the tomes of research that is available to support augmenting behavioral programs with psychopharmacology. A teacher should check with his or her supervisor to gain access to this data so that they can respond to questions on this highly charged subject with sophisticated and thus helpful answers.

Editorial Review:

A comprehensive resource that addresses the "whole child, " as well as the team approach to meeting the needs of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Includes management techniques that promote on-task behavior and language arts, whole language, and multi-sensory instruction strategies that maintain student attention and keep students involved.

How To Teach Your Dyslexic Child To Read: A Proven Method for Parents and Teachers

B.H. Baumer

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

The First Book on Dyslexia to be read by Parents 5 out of 5 stars.
67 of 70 people found this review helpful.

As a parent of a dyslexic child, I've read most of the recommended books on the subject. Of all of them, this is the first one I would recommend to parents who have realized that their child is dyslexic.

The author presents most of the classical techniques in dealing with the dyslexic learning style in an exceptionally clear, concise, and very human style. She uses as a vehicle to do this her own experience in teaching dyslexic children and young adults. After using these techniques with my own daughter, I can say that many are quite helpful.

In the course of describing the learning-to-read process with dyslexic kids, the author also brings some practical thinking to the "phonics vs. whole-word" reading debate. She explains the necessity of phonics for word-attack skills in non-intuitive readers as well as the ultimate necessity of whole-word reading in order to establish fluency and comprehension.

At the end of the book she provides most-used word-lists, phonics charts, writing charts, and pictures. She tells you how to use these materials in applying the techniques previously described.

This book is not revolutionary nor does it promise a panacea for all the issues surrounding the dyslexic learning style. But, I recommend that you make it your first of several on this complex subject.

Editorial Review:

A highly organized guide for helping dyslexic children to read is broken down into three parts that discuss learning disabilities, alternative education methods, and teaching tools that are based on a phonics method.

You Don't Look Sick: Living Well With Invisible Chronic Illness

Joy H. Selak, Steven S. Overman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Its a must read, especially for beginners 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book made my laugh, cry, feel like I was not alone.....I hope Joy writes another and soon......

You Don't Look Sick: Living Well With Invisible Chronic Illness 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

You don't look sick. Although our stories may vary, this is the one phrase that all of us living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and other invisible chronic illnesses have experienced, dread, and fear the most. It's hard enough to live in pain, fight through fibrofog, and deal with lost independence but this simply utterance makes us feel like we have to explain ourselves and frankly the explanation is never quite good enough. We leave the conversation with a feeling that getting sick was somehow our fault and that we aren't getting better because we aren't trying hard enough. Somehow we are flawed human beings.

You Don't Look Sick! is the experience of one woman (with the help of her doctor). Her story is very familiar. Like most of us, her journey just to get a diagnosis was long and painful. Getting appropriate help and coming to terms with the "Chronic" part of her condition contained even more challenges. Still, the author's illustrates that although it may not be possible to rid ourselves completely of this terror, we can bring ourselves to a place where we live well. A message we could all take heart in.

Editorial Review:

Chronicles a patient's true life stories and her physician's compassionate commentary as they take a journey through the three stages of chronic illness. Getting sick, being sick and living well.