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Product reviews for My Child’s Different
Val Rowe, Reviewed on Love Reading
An honest and inspirational true story of a family's journey in striving to discover a positive and supportive network for their son with special needs. The eventual result is a delight.
When Elaine Halligan came to terms with the fact that her son's challenging behaviour was due to specific special needs, she and her husband, Tony, began a long and painful process in attempting to determine a diagnosis and to secure the best educational setting to meet his needs. Her writing is vivid, emotive and at times quite harrowing. I had tears in my eyes when I read her description of being in a packed train carriage where she felt completely out of control at managing Sam's behaviour and heard herself saying: “My child is autistic. I need your support, not your judgement as I am dealing with a disabled child.” When she got off at the next station miles from home, she sat on a bench and wept. Sam immediately comforted her.
What makes this book different is that it is a highly readable story, yet acts as a self-help manual; each little chapter offers useful advice from Melissa Hood, a parenting expert, ideas for further reading and reflective comments from the author. Having worked with special needs' families, one area which often caused frustration for them was trying to find reading material which was -˜family friendly', not peppered with jargon or incomprehensible information and offered both comfort and support. Elaine's book meets that need.
Having experienced a range of schools, each with varying ways of supporting children, and being excluded from three of them, it is a joy to learn that Sam found his own creative and innovative path and is now achieving great success and self satisfaction as an adult. I especially liked reading his reflective and insightful comments on his transformational journey.
My Child's Different would appeal to any reader who is interested in children, education and the pressures of family life in modern society but above all to any parents who sense that their child is not like other children. I loved it!
Click here to read the review on Love Reading's website.
When Elaine Halligan came to terms with the fact that her son's challenging behaviour was due to specific special needs, she and her husband, Tony, began a long and painful process in attempting to determine a diagnosis and to secure the best educational setting to meet his needs. Her writing is vivid, emotive and at times quite harrowing. I had tears in my eyes when I read her description of being in a packed train carriage where she felt completely out of control at managing Sam's behaviour and heard herself saying: “My child is autistic. I need your support, not your judgement as I am dealing with a disabled child.” When she got off at the next station miles from home, she sat on a bench and wept. Sam immediately comforted her.
What makes this book different is that it is a highly readable story, yet acts as a self-help manual; each little chapter offers useful advice from Melissa Hood, a parenting expert, ideas for further reading and reflective comments from the author. Having worked with special needs' families, one area which often caused frustration for them was trying to find reading material which was -˜family friendly', not peppered with jargon or incomprehensible information and offered both comfort and support. Elaine's book meets that need.
Having experienced a range of schools, each with varying ways of supporting children, and being excluded from three of them, it is a joy to learn that Sam found his own creative and innovative path and is now achieving great success and self satisfaction as an adult. I especially liked reading his reflective and insightful comments on his transformational journey.
My Child's Different would appeal to any reader who is interested in children, education and the pressures of family life in modern society but above all to any parents who sense that their child is not like other children. I loved it!
Click here to read the review on Love Reading's website.
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03/09/2018 01:00
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