 Define Me (DVD) |
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"Defining" any human being is a nearly impossible task. Each person's distinctive interests, abilities, fears, frustrations, relationships, and dreams combine to create a complex, unique individual. Some people have characteristics that lead to a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This label describes -- to some degree -- the way that they process information and react with others, but it does not define them. Sondra Williams, from Columbus, Ohio, is a wife, mother, advocate, author, poet, and presenter, who works as a classroom aide to a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism is a part of who Sondra is, but it does not define her. Those who look for the true “definition” of Sondra find that she is an incredible woman, with a gentle character, a strong determination to succeed, a kind and generous heart, a creative mind, a resilient faith, and an enviable ability to express herself through beautiful poetry, which she terms her “dancing words.” This DVD contains Sondra's presentation entitled, "Define Me," and an interview with Laurel Hoekman, Executive director of The Gray Center for Social learning and Understanding. Through this resource, Sondra shares her insights and practical suggestions for understanding and supporting individuals with ASD.
Learning Outside the Lines (book)
Learning with YOUR purpose in mind -- not your parents', not your teacher's, not your school's Every day, your school, your teachers, and even your peers draw lines to measure and standardize intelligence. They decide what criteria make one person smart and another person stupid. They decide who will succeed and who will just get by. Perhaps you find yourself outside the norm, because you learn differently -- but, unlike your classmates, you have no system in place that consistently supports your ability and desire to learn. Simply put, you are considered lazy and stupid. You are expected to fail.
Learning Outside the Lines is written by two
such "academic failures" -- that is, two academic
failures who graduated from Brown University at the top
of their class. Jonathan Mooney and David Cole teach you
how to take control of your education and find true
success -- and they offer all the reasons why you
should persevere. Witty, bold, and disarmingly honest,
Learning Outside the Lines takes you on a journey
toward personal empowerment and profound educational
change, proving once again that rules sometimes need to
be broken.
You Will Dream New Dreams: Inspiring personal stories by parents of children with disabilities (book) Over sixty short essays by “veteran” mothers and fathers of children with varying disabilities tell the stories they wish they could have heard when they learned their own child’s diagnosis. Essays share words of validation, affirmation, support, and encouragement. Very positive reviews by Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers Neighborhood), Ann Landers, and many parent organizations.. From the time a pregnancy is identified, most parents begin building hopes, dreams, and expectations for their new baby. These dreams can be suddenly shattered when a child is diagnosed with a disability or special health care needs. Although compassionate physicians, nurses, social workers, and other health care professionals may try to provide emotional support and useful information, most parents describe feeling terribly alone with feelings they can find hard to put into words. Many parents and professionals have suggested that the diagnosis of a child’s disability initiates a mourning process in parents, much like the grief felt when a child dies. Yet the child is alive and parenting must proceed. This book is all about human connections – ‘veteran’ parents reaching out to parents who have recently learned that their child has a disability or a special health care need. The compassion and caring of these very special connections can be healing at a critical time in the life of a family. To create this book, the editors asked “veteran” mothers and fathers of children with disabilities to tell the stories they wish they could have heard at that emotionally difficult time, to share words of validation, affirmation, support, and encouragement. Although the authors of these essays have had very different experiences differences that are reflected in the stories they tell -- similar messages of hope and encouragement come through in each of the sixty-three essays.
Reflections from a Different Journey: What Adults with Disabilities Wish All Parents Knew (book)
Most parents of children with disabilities lack personal experience with adults with disabilities. Hearing from people who have lived the disability experience can provide all parents with essential information about the possibilities for their children. Reflections from a Different Journey comprises forty inspiring and realistic essays written by successful adult role models who share what it is like to grow up with a disability. Compiled by two award-winning advocates for the disabled, each eloquently written essay is an insightful source of wisdom, inspiration, and emotional support as well as a rare glimpse inside the lives and minds of people with many different disabilities--cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, learning disabilities, deafness, blindness, mental illness, developmental disabilities, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, congenital amputation, and chronic health conditions. In preparing their essays, the authors were each asked to write about something they wished their own parents had read or been told while they were growing up. The essays, which demonstrate that, first and foremost, people with disabilities are human beings with the same needs and desires as people without disabilities, are arranged thematically: "Love Me and Accept Me as I Am" essays express appreciation for parents who provided unconditional love and a sense of belonging and accepted them as whole people--including that part of them considered to be a disability."Parents Are the Most Important Experts" essays describe how their parents addressed their unique needs and became the most important experts in their lives. "Parental Expectations" essays present different approaches to expectations and standards and encourage every child to have hopes and aspirations. "Sexuality" essays explore how all children need to talk about and learn about intimacy and sexuality. "Education About Disability" essays explain why it is important for parents and children to learn all about a child's disability and how to facilitate necessary accommodations so that each child can enjoy a full life.
A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby K. Payne, Ph. D. (book) A Framework for Understanding Poverty was Dr. Ruby Payne's first book and the first book RFT Publishing Co. (now aha! Process, Inc.) published. It is fitting that the book and the company's history are intertwined. The central goal of the company is educating people about the differences that separate economic classes and then teaching them skills to bridge those gulfs. Framework is the method that delivers that message. Ruby's thesis for Framework is simple. Individuals accustomed to personal poverty think and act differently from people in the middle and upper economic classes. Most teachers today come from middle-class backgrounds. Economic class differences, in an educational setting, often make both teaching and learning challenging. Too often, teachers don't understand why a student from poverty is chronically acting out or is not grasping a concept even after repeated explanations. At the same time, the student doesn't understand what he/she is expected to produce and why. Ruby discusses at length the social cues or "hidden rules" that govern how we think and interact in society - and the significance of those rules in a classroom. Framework also illuminates differences between generational poverty and situational poverty. Ruby explains the "voices" that all of us use to project ourselves to the outside world and how poverty can affect those voices. Through the use of realistic teaching scenarios, Ruby focuses attention on sources of support, or resources, which might or might not be present in a student's life. Resources are important assets - things like mental stability, emotional support, and physical health - and the more resources students have in their lives, the better able they'll be to achieve their goals. Framework is a teacher's book. It draws on years of experience in multiple school systems, along with a wide range of academic positions. In this groundbreaking work Ruby Payne matter-of-factly presents the issues central to teaching students from poverty, then takes a pivotal next step by offering proven tools educators can use immediately to improve the quality of instruction in their classrooms
How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children, Meeting the Five Critical Needs of Children and Parents too! by Gerald Newmark, Ph. D. (book) How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children enables
parents to recognize and satisfy the critical emotional
needs that all children have:
Dr. Newmark's message has been called a "wake-up call" to
America that we are abandoning our children emotionally.
Failure to support our children's emotional health at home
and at school may be jeopardizing their future and the
entire nation. AVAILABLE IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH
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