A remarkable memoir from the best-selling author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August.
Buzz Bissinger’s twins were born three minutes—and a world—apart. Gerry, the older one, is a graduate student at Penn, preparing to become a teacher. His brother Zach has spent his life attending special schools. He’ll never drive a car, or kiss a girl, or live by himself. He is a savant, challenged by serious intellectual deficits but also blessed with rare talents: an astonishing memory, a dazzling knack for navigation, and a reflexive honesty that can make him both socially awkward and surprisingly wise.
Buzz realized that while he had always been an attentive father, he didn’t really understand what it was like to be Zach. So one summer night Buzz and Zach hit the road to revisit all the places they have lived together during Zach’s twenty-four years. Zach revels in his memories, and Buzz hopes this journey into their shared past will bring them closer and reveal to him the mysterious workings of his son’s mind and heart. The trip also becomes Buzz's personal journey, yielding revelations about his own parents, the price of ambition, and its effect on his twins.
As father and son journey from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, they see the best and worst of America and each other. Ultimately, Buzz gains a new and uplifting wisdom, realizing that Zach’s worldview has a sturdy logic of its own: a logic that deserves the greatest respect. And with the help of Zach’s twin, Gerry, Buzz learns an even more vital lesson about Zach: character transcends intellect. We come to see Zach as he truly is: patient, fearless, perceptive, kind—a man of excellent character.
Price: $15.19
Encouragement and inspiration for special needs families
God has a unique and magnificent purpose for every child-a purpose that is no less important for special-needs children. Through the story of her own ongoing struggles and victories raising her autistic son, Kelly Langston brings to light God's promises for exceptional kids and highlights covenants that assure special-needs parents of their children's potential and beauty.
Price: $10.34
This book tells the story of a hurting family, an amazing little girl and a mysteriously faithful God.
Emily wasn't born perfect - so one might think.
She was born with Down Syndrome and many would jump to the conclusion that she would have very little hope for a life with any significance. Two years later came the diagnosis of leukemia. What little hope remaining turned to no hope whatsoever - or so one might think.
The life of this little girl, with all its perceived imperfections, had great meaning. Her loving nature and courage touched the hearts of everyone she met. She also taught them how to value their own lives - even with their many "imperfections."
Note: A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will help families with special needs children, those who are battling pediatric cancers, as well as parents grieving the loss of a little one.
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Love me. Love me. I'm not what you expected, but oh, please love me.
That was the most defining moment of my life. That was the beginning of my story.
From the outside looking in, Kelle Hampton had the perfect life: a beautiful two-year-old daughter, a loving husband, a thriving photography career, and great friends. When she learned she was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband, Brett, were ecstatic. Her pregnancy went smoothly and the ultrasounds showed a beautiful, healthy, high-kicking baby girl.
But when her new daughter was placed in her arms in the delivery room, Kelle knew instantly that something was wrong. Nella looked different than her two-year-old sister, Lainey, had at birth. As she watched friends and family celebrate with champagne toasts and endless photographs, a terrified Kelle was certain that Nella had Down syndrome—a fear her pediatrician soon confirmed. Yet gradually Kelle's fear and pain were vanquished by joy, as she embraced the realization that she had been chosen to experience an extraordinary and special gift.
With lyrical prose and gorgeous full-color photography, Bloom takes readers on a wondrous journey through Nella's first year of life—a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes. It is a story about embracing life and really living it, of being fearless and accepting difference, of going beyond constricting definitions of beauty, and of the awesome power of perspective. As Kelle writes, "There is us. Our Family. We will embrace this beauty and make something of it. We will hold our precious gift and know that we are lucky."
Price: $13.38
Dr. Ross Greene provides a compassionate, practical approach to treating "explosive" children. Rather than viewing their behavior as willfully disobedient, he draws upon recent advances in the neurosciences and his extensive experience working with challenging children at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in explaining that the difficulties of these children stem from brain-based deficits in two critical developmental skills: flexibility and frustration tolerance. These children may suffer from oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and bipolar disorder. Often misdiagnosed under the broad umbrella of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), they are too readily treated with drugs that can exacerbate their behavior. In a departure from treatments relying on rewarding and punishing, Dr. Greene's approach helps us grasp the underlying problems of explosive children, defuse explosive episodes, and reduce tension and hostility levels for the entire family by providing valuable tools for coping.
Price: $8.06
Through vivid stories of the experiences of their patients (both adults and children), Drs. Hallowell and Ratey show the varied forms ADD takes -- from the hyperactive search for high stimulation to the floating inattention of daydreaming -- and the transforming impact of precise diagnosis and treatment.
Price: $2.97
The Out-of-Sync Child broke new ground by identifying Sensory Processing Disorder, a common but frequently misdiagnosed problem in which the central nervous system misinterprets messages from the senses. This newly revised edition features additional information from recent research on vision and hearing deficits, motor skill problems, nutrition and picky eaters, ADHA, autism, and other related disorders.
Price: $7.71
Based on a popular
New York Times article, a hilarious and compulsively readable memoir by a former Second City writer who combats his Asperger Syndrome and reinvents himself by creating a list of “best practices” to manage his quirky behavior and try to save his marriage.
At some point in nearly every marriage, a wife finds herself asking, what is wrong with my husband’s brain?! In David Finch’s case, this turns out to be an apt question. Five years into his marriage, David and his wife Kristen learn that he has Asperger Syndrome, an autism spectrum condition characterized by egocentricity, unusual and sometimes repetitive behaviors, and impaired social reasoning. The diagnosis explains David’s life-long quirks, his difficulty socializing, and his need for things to go according to plan. But it doesn’t make him any easier to live with.
Determined to change that, David embarks on an ambitious journey to understand and rein in the symptoms of the disorder which have wreaked havoc on his marriage. With the analytical fervor typical of an Aspie and with Kristen’s patient help, David compiles a list of best practices—hard-won epiphanies that arise from fights, from self-reflection both comic and painful, and once from watching SportsCenter: “be her friend first and always,” “use words,” “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s life,” and “laundry: better to fold and put away than to take only what you need from the dryer.” Over the course of two years, the Journal of Best Practices leads David to surprising insights, transforming him into a better husband, father, and all-around better guy… albeit one who sometimes quacks in public.
Wickedly funny and undeniably winning, The Journal of Best Practices offers a unique window into living with an autism spectrum disorder and proof that a true heart can conquer all, even the brain.
Price: $12.01
A true story of one Mom's battle to get her child off ADHD medication and living a "normal" life. Have you a child whose been diagnosed with ADHD or ADD or even ODD? Are you at the end of your rope? Are you confused about how best to care for your child? Should you give them stimulant medication or treat them via their diet or even a combination of both? I know exactly what you are going through as I went through it with my son. Against my better judgement I let the doctors put my child on medication but it was a huge mistake. Find out more about our journey to treat my child's "condition" and see if you can use what I learned to help your family today.
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