How to Build a Thriving Marriage as You Care for Children with Disabilities


Book Description

Building a vibrant and joyful marriage is always a challenge. When you add the stresses inherent in parenting children with disabilities, it becomes both more difficult and more critical. Once on the brink of divorce, Kristin and Todd Evans uncovered the unique set of skills critical for growing a fulfilling relationship amid the extraordinary challenges of caring for their two children with special needs. Now they are sharing their hard-won discoveries and inspiring marriage story with you. Weaving together insights from Scripture, research, and clinical and personal experience, Kristin and Todd offer you the practical relationship tools you need to save, strengthen, and enjoy your marriage. They help you · identify your unique needs · assess your strengths and weaknesses · set your priorities · develop healthy stress management skills · deepen your communication and connection · tackle problems as a team · find ways to rest and recharge · nurture sexual intimacy · build a strong support network · and so much more




Sharing Love Abundantly in Special Needs Families


Book Description

"With a frank and honest observation on how disability can unravel family unity, this book inspires and equips us to live out our faith as we interact with those we love." -Joni Eareckson Tada, founder & CEO, Joni and Friends Between the worry, the doctor’s appointments, and the thousand small challenges of everyday life, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and exhausted. The idea of showing abundant love to every member of your family can feel like a daunting task. Jolene Philo has been there. And in this wise, warm, practical guide, she and Dr. Gary Chapman show you how the 5 love languages can help strengthen your marriage and family life—whatever your needs. Sharing dozens of stories from parents of children with special needs children, they teach you how to: protect your marriage amidst the stress discover and speak the love language of your child—even if they’re nonverbal accommodate the love languages for children with special needs and disabilities show love to every member of your family when you have limited time, money, and energy Having a special needs child shouldn’t mean sacrificing a full family life. Learn to share love abundantly no matter your circumstances.




The Little Lion That Listened


Book Description

Little Leo is a great listener. His listening skills even save his family from danger. But Leo refuses to roar. His father worries that Leo will never earn the respect of the other animals. Only Leo's mother believes her son will roar when he is ready. Will Leo find his voice when his family needs him most? This unique addition to the New Classics Books collection contains an endearing story about doing things your own way, in your own time. Written by Nicholas Tana, with colorful illustrations by Jessie Fox, and creative story design by Matthew Molleur.




Neurodiverse Relationships


Book Description

Comprised of the accounts of twelve heterosexual couples in which the man is on the Autism Spectrum, this book invites both partners to discuss their own perspectives of different key issues, including anxiety, empathy, employment and socialising. Autism expert Tony Attwood contributes a commentary and a question and answer section for each of the twelve accounts. The first book of its kind to provide perspectives from both sides of a relationship on a variety of different topics, Neurodiverse Relationships is the perfect companion for couples in neurodiverse relationships who are trying to understand one another better.




Parenting Matters


Book Description

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.




7 Traits of Effective Parenting


Book Description

What does it look like to parent well in today’s world? In today’s complex world, parenting is a tough job regardless of whether your child is a baby or a teenager. Beyond the difficulties of navigating the changing world we live in, there are also the daily frictions of imperfect people sharing a home together. In 7 Traits of Effective Parenting, Daniel P. Huerta offers hope and parenting guidance for you to become a thriving parent. Based on extensive research, Huerta presents a collection of seven powerful character traits designed to help parents grow and thrive as they take on the task of nurturing and raising kids. Parents will be encouraged to navigate family life with grace and love so that their kids ultimately see God’s transformative power, love, and influence. In this book, parents will learn the necessity of adaptabilitythe foundational nature of respectthe importance of intentionalitywhy parenting requires steadfast love and connectionto set healthy boundarieshow to keep imperfections from hurting your relationship with your kids




Self-Reg


Book Description

There’s no such thing as a bad kid. That’s what a lifetime of experience has taught Dr. Stuart Shanker. No matter how difficult, out of control, distracted, or exhausted a child might seem, there’s a way forward: self-regulation. Overturning decades of conventional wisdom, this radical new technique allows children and the adults who care for them to regain their composure and peace of mind. Self-Reg is a groundbreaking book that presents an entirely new understanding of your child’s emotions and behavior and a practical guide for parents to help their kids engage calmly and successfully in learning and life. Grounded in decades of research and working with children and parents by Dr. Shanker, Self-Reg realigns the power of the parent-child relationship for positive change. Self-regulation is the nervous system’s way of responding to stress. We are seeing a generation of children and teens with excessively high levels of stress, and, as a result, an explosion of emotional, social, learning, behavior, and physical health problems. But few parents recognize the “hidden stressors” that their children are struggling with: physiological as well as social and emotional. An entrenched view of child rearing sees our children as lacking self-control or willpower, but the real basis for these problems lies in excessive stress. Self-regulation can dramatically improve a child’s mood, attention, and concentration. It can help children to feel empathy, and to cultivate the sorts of virtues that most parents know are vital for their child’s long-term wellbeing. Self-regulation brings about profound and lasting transformation that continues throughout life. Dr. Shanker translates decades of his findings from working with children into practical, prescriptive advice for parents, giving them concrete ways to develop their self-regulation skills and teach their children to do the same and engage successfully with life for optimal learning, social, and emotional growth.




Disability and the Church


Book Description

Pastor Lamar Hardwick was thirty-six years old when he found out he was on the autism spectrum. This revelation prompted him to reconsider the church's responsibilities to the disabled community. Insisting that the good news of Jesus affirms God's image in all people, Hardwick offers practical steps and strategies to build stronger, truly inclusive communities of faith.




Cerebral Palsy


Book Description

When a child has a health problem, parents want answers. But when a child has cerebral palsy, the answers don't come quickly. A diagnosis of this complex group of chronic conditions affecting movement and coordination is difficult to make and is typically delayed until the child is eighteen months old. Although the condition may be mild or severe, even general predictions about long-term prognosis seldom come before the child's second birthday. Written by a team of experts associated with the Cerebral Palsy Program at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, this authoritative resource provides parents and families with vital information that can help them cope with uncertainty. Thoroughly updated and revised to incorporate the latest medical advances, the second edition is a comprehensive guide to cerebral palsy. The book is organized into three parts. In the first, the authors describe specific patterns of involvement (hemiplegia, diplegia, quadriplegia), explain the medical and psychosocial implications of these conditions, and tell parents how to be effective advocates for their child. In the second part, the authors provide a wealth of practical advice about caregiving from nutrition to mobility. Part three features an extensive alphabetically arranged encyclopedia that defines and describes medical terms and diagnoses, medical and surgical procedures, and orthopedic and other assistive devices. Also included are lists of resources and recommended reading.




Vibrant and Healthy Kids


Book Description

Children are the foundation of the United States, and supporting them is a key component of building a successful future. However, millions of children face health inequities that compromise their development, well-being, and long-term outcomes, despite substantial scientific evidence about how those adversities contribute to poor health. Advancements in neurobiological and socio-behavioral science show that critical biological systems develop in the prenatal through early childhood periods, and neurobiological development is extremely responsive to environmental influences during these stages. Consequently, social, economic, cultural, and environmental factors significantly affect a child's health ecosystem and ability to thrive throughout adulthood. Vibrant and Healthy Kids: Aligning Science, Practice, and Policy to Advance Health Equity builds upon and updates research from Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity (2017) and From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development (2000). This report provides a brief overview of stressors that affect childhood development and health, a framework for applying current brain and development science to the real world, a roadmap for implementing tailored interventions, and recommendations about improving systems to better align with our understanding of the significant impact of health equity.