Book Reviews
Nobody's Perfect: Living & Growing with Children Who Have Special Needs by Nancy B. Miller, Ph.D., M.S.W.
Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1994.
Book Review by Debbie Light:
I found Nobody's Perfect, Living & Growing with Children Who Have Special Needs by Nancy B. Miller to be an excellent resource for parents whose kids have special needs.  Nancy Miller offers practical suggestions for parents on everything from interacting with your friends and family, working with the professionals in your child's life to handling the resulting changes in your marriage.  Stories from four moms are intertwined throughout the book to illustrate the myriad of feelings a parent might experience.  I looked forward to these family stories as they followed the child's journey from birth through childhood. The author began Nobody's Perfect explaining the four stages of adaptation that a Mom or Dad experiences when parenting a child with special needs.  The model is shown as an interconnecting set of stages that are experienced in many individual ways.  I felt that the author showed empathy and a real understanding of the families' experiences by arranging the "stages" in this way.  As the parents in the profiles know, just when you think you have everything "all together", life throws you a curve.  Understanding this and being prepared for it is a vital part of parenting a child with special needs. This book would be a good resource and support for a parent with a newly diagnosed child with special needs or a parent who is currently parenting a special child.  Brookes Publishing: (800) 638-3775 or www.brookespublishing.com©

Quick Guides To Inclusion: Ideas for Educating Students with Disabilitiesby Michael F. Giangreco, Ph.D. (ed.).
Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1997.
Book Review by Janet Hancock:
How often the obvious becomes obvious only through the lens of experience.  My initial response to the five Quick-Guides discussions of Inclusion, Parents, Paraprofessionals, Support Services and Positive Behavioral Supports, was how simple, how clear, how obvious.  Then I was embarrassed remembering my ignorance and lack of creativity when I was a teacher, a paraprofessional and a parent of a child with disabilities.  But I, like most teachers and parents, did mature, and I began to recognize that I had incorporated many of the Guidelines-At-A-Glance listed at the beginning of each of the Guides.
The introductory letter to each Guide-Line is written by someone who has been there.  "Assignment of support service staff is undoubtedly well intended, but it doesn't always work smoothly."  The Guide-Lines are concise reminders of the one-page discussion of each topic.  And throughout, there is the simple, common sense approach of children learning what they live.  It's so obvious that the physical, instructional and social environments need to be structured thoughtfully and intentionally by teams of concerned adults.  This book reminds us, parents, teachers and support staff, precisely what inclusion looks like.  Michael has also published Quick Guides to Inclusion 2 (1998) and Quick Guides to Inclusion 3 (2002), all of
which are available from Parent to Parent's lending library.  Brookes Publishing: (800) 638-3775 or www.brookespublishing.com  ©

We would like to thank The John LeClair Foundation, The Lintilhac Foundation, Inc., and The Kelsey Trust for the financial support of this project.  We would also like to acknowledge the generous donation of books to our lending library from Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co. and Woodbine House.

Special Needs Bookmark and Bibliography Update
This Spring, Parent to Parent was awarded several grants by local foundations to produce  "Check it Out" bookmarks, which feature 7 recommended books on special needs topics such as specific diagnoses, family relationships, coping, inspiration, and advocacy. Books were selected with input from Parent to Parent staff, families with children with special needs, health and education professionals, special needs organizations, members of support groups, and publishers.  Most books on the list have been published within the last 5 years and represent best-selling works that are written for parents/ care-givers.  Our intent is to help communities develop more current resources on special needs topics and bolster our free lending library.  In an effort to more thoroughly reach out to the local communities, distribution included over 500 public, school, and college libraries, 65 bookstores, and 39 pediatric practices in Vermont (representing 107 pediatricians).
This ambitious project is just one example of how Parent to Parent implements ideas and develops programs, and through the continuing connections that we make with families, professionals, and community members we can identify issues and take additional steps toward seeking positive change.  We're delighted to share with you some of the feedback we've received so far.

"Prior to receiving these resources I had no familiarity with Parent to Parent of Vermont.  When I started at this library in 1999, 63% of our health section was 11 to 25 years old.  Each year I buy more new materials, but I cannot possibly fill every need and rely on Interlibrary Loan.  Parents of special needs children have complained to me in the past about the lack of resources locally and in Vermont.  Parent to Parent of Vermont could fill a tremendous need in the state. Keep up the good outreach!" - Cindy Karasinski, Director, Goodrich Memorial Library, Newport

"Before we received the bookmarks and bibliography our special needs collection did not include any of these recommended books.  Thanks to your recommendations, we have already purchased some titles.  If we don't have a book available in our collection, we would try to obtain a copy through inter-library loan.  We have also created a display to promote the availability of these resources."  - Librarian, Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston

"The bookmarks are really wonderful.  It's about a lot more than just the info on the bookmark.  When my daughter was a baby, I remember going into bookstores and libraries looking for any book at all about kids who weren't "typical kids."  I wondered how I would possibly be a good enough parent, what other parents had found helpful, etc.  Well, there wasn't one single book.  Nothing.  That in itself made me feel so much worse.  Not only did I have to cope with all this, and figure out how to do it well, but those parents out there like me made up such a small group that there weren't even any books to help us with it.  It felt so lonely.  Now, thanks to you that is changing!"  - Parent

To view the titles listed on our bookmark and corresponding bibliography, please visit our webpage:
http://www.partoparvt.org/ConnectionsInitiative.html   If you would like to request materials to be sent by mail, call 1-800-800-4005 or send an email with your mailing address to p2pvt@partoparvt.org  Please note that quantities are limited. ©

New Titles Added to Our Lending Library
There were new titles added in May. We are posting this list on our webpage: http://www.partoparvt.org/BB.html©

Lost & Found
Please look around your home or office to see if you have a book or video belonging to Parent to Parent that you forgot to return (it happens to us all!).  We are missing quite a few titles from our lending library.  We would really appreciate it if you could return them to us so we may share the collection with other families who are on a waiting list.  Please drop off resources or mail to: Parent to Parent of Vermont, 600 Blair Park Road, Suite #240, Williston, VT  05495-7549. ©

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