Natalie Hale
About.com 2012 Readers' Choice Award Winner, Favorite New Special-Needs Parenting Book!
Down Syndrome Parenting 101 is a savvy book for parents, grandparents, teachers, and anyone who shares life with a person with Down syndrome! It's full of uplifting advice and best practices gleaned from the author's personal and professional experiences raising a son, now an adult, and teaching educators and parents how to teach children with Down syndrome to read.
Down Syndrome Parenting 101 offers inspired takes on a host of important issues, from learning to recognize and celebrate your child's personality and gifts to finding a great teacher for him, and from insisting your child pull his own weight to giving your child his space as an adult. The author--equal parts mentor, humorist, enthusiast, and realist--takes readers by the hand and walks them through the various life stages, experiences, and people they will encounter with their child including: getting to know and fall in love with your child, interacting with medical professionals, literacy, discipline, school, transitioning, and independence.
Chapters are short, a plus for busy parents, and can be read individually or sequentially. Throughout, many characters--the author's son, friends, and students--appear, serving as anecdotal evidence in support of the author's points and adding to the storytelling effect. As an added bonus, the book includes a Foreword by Martha Beck, parent of a child with Down syndrome and author of the New York Times bestseller, Expecting Adam. Turn to this upbeat book for credible, realistic advice and for a dose of bibliotherapy when you need validation and perspective.
Debbie on Goodreads wrote:My daughter is 29, and I purchased this book because we've been experiencing our first, quasi-consistent battle-of-wills over going to bed in the evening. This turn of events been difficult, even heart-breaking for me because Jess and I have had a healthy respect for each other for nearly 3 decades. I didn't know what to do, so I resorted to this book, with honestly, little hope for an answer. I haven't even gotten to the chapter on non-compliance yet, but I can tell you, I already feel so comforted, so affirmed and so not-alone as the single-working-mother I've been for most of her life.
Natalie's book will make you laugh out loud (a lot), touch your heart (even more) and gently open a pathway for even deeper connection with the exquisitely beautiful being that was the inspiration for you to be reading this book in the first place.
Buy this book! You won't be disappointed, I promise. It is rich with resources and love and support - no matter how old or young your loved one with Down Syndrome is.
This book is very good. It has a lot of good information and advice for anyone caring for a child with disabilities, not just Down Syndrome. I would recommend this book to anyone how has family with Down Syndrome.
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