Memoirs Special Needs

At the peak of the Cold War, Mitchell Minor was born to a military family living on Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan. Unknown to his parents, the base's groundwater was contaminated from firefighter foams (PFAS/PFOA), de-greaser, and jet fuel. His mom drank the poisonous water which caused Mitchell’s small head (microcephaly) and other birth defects. This book is for every family who feels overwhelmed and for friends and family to better understand how to help. The Minor family invites you to experience God’s love during their 30-year journey with Mitchell.

The world Annette Hines knew exploded when her infant daughter Elizabeth was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease—a degenerative, life-limiting illness. Annette’s joy quickly turned to apprehension and she knew nothing would ever be the same again. Butterflies and Second Chances is the inspiring true story of a mother’s special needs journey, and her struggle to secure the best possible life for her child in the face of bureaucratic resistance and marital crisis. It is a story of sacrifice, dedication, and the life-altering adjustments a special needs parent has to make when ...

This is my story. After a lifetime of trying to help everyone else get their lives together, I have finally figured out how to get mine together. I am now 72 years old, semi-retired from a business I created to help young adults with autism function in the world. I live in Mexico with my loving partner. I have fulfilling relationships with my adult children and grandchildren.

At the age of thirty, just as everything was falling into place for him, Lee Pesky died of brain cancer. For his father, Alan, grief came with the realization that he had lost the chance to love Lee as he was—not as he wanted him to be. Ambitious, successful, and always striving for more, Alan had a hard time relating to a son who struggled with learning disabilities at a time when there was little understanding or help for kids who had them. Their relationship was complicated, and now, Lee was gone.

The remarkable story of how a mother moved from rage to hope after learning her youngest child was dying and harnessed her grief to transform the lives of others. Harnessing Grief will hearten listeners through Maria Kefalas' journey of understanding how to find hope and purpose amongst the most tragic of circumstances.

Anna grew up in a house that was loving, even if her mum was ‘a little eccentric’. They knew to keep things clean, to stay quiet, and to look the other way when things started to get ‘a bit much for your mum’. It’s only when her mother reaches her 70s and Anna has a family of her own, that the cracks really start to appear. More manic. More irrational. More detached from the world. And when her father, the man who has calmed and cajoled her mother through her entire life is diagnosed with cancer, the whole world turns upside down.

When the newly qualified vet, James Herriot, arrives in the small Yorkshire village of Darrowby, he has no idea of the new friends he will meet or adventures that lie ahead. From the author whose books inspired the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small, this first volume of unforgettable memoirs chronicles James Herriot's first years as a country vet, with the signature storytelling magic that has made him a favourite the world over.

Owen-known to his family as "little buddy" or "Little B"-has a rare genetic disorder that leaves him largely confined to a wheelchair. Before being united with Haatchi, Little B was anxious and found it difficult to make friends. Haatchi-an adorable Anatolian Shepherd puppy-was abused and left for dead on railroad tracks. He was struck by an oncoming train, and although his life was saved, his leg and tail were partially severed. Haatchi was left massively disabled and totally dispirited.

Margaret Mohrmann has devoted most of her professional life to caring for children, and in Attending Children she shares the remarkable education those children and their families have given her. Her narratives are both painful and hopeful, tragic and funny, full of remarkable characters and sometimes bizarre families.

Patti M. Hall’s life is pitched into an abyss of uncertainty when a golf ball-sized tumour is discovered in her teenage son’s head and he is diagnosed with gigantism, a disease of both legend and stigma. After scrambling to access a handful of medical experts in the field, Patti learns that her son could grow uncontrollably, his mobility could be permanently limited, and his life could be cut short without timely and aggressive treatment. Patti’s attention shifts fully to her son, away from her relationships as well as her own career and health.

Mike had managed to achieve his childhood dream of becoming a stand-up comedian in the San Francisco comedy scene of the 1980s. He was appearing on television and rubbing shoulders with the big stars of the day. His future was bright and the last thing he needed was a woman to come along who would shake his ideas of what true happiness was. But, come along she did, daring him to achieve something even greater than fame and fortune.

Andreas Souvaliotis was raised at a time when being on the autism spectrum wasn't easily diagnosed or even discussed. Minds like his were simply considered odd. He also knew from an early age he was gay, and it terrified him as he was growing up with openly homophobic parents in one of Europe's least tolerant societies. Andreas' differences made him an outsider, right through to his mid-40s. And then suddenly, everything changed. Misfit is the extraordinary memoir of a man who realized there was strength in his strangeness, that it could be used as a force for good.

Strange Son is the dramatic story (part memoir, part groundbreaking science) of how the author learned to communicate with her severely autistic son through meeting Soma Mukhopadhyay, a poor, single mother from Bangalore, India, whose own son, Tito, is a genius who is also severely autistic.

In Everything Is Going to be K.O. Kaiya Stone writes about her own experiences of living with specific learning difficulties: from struggling at school to being diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia while at university, to performing her own one-woman stand up show inspired by her journey. Always funny and unfailingly honest, Kaiya outlines the frustrations of having SPLDS but also the ways in which they have fuelled her creativity.

Lange Zeit fragt sich Angelina Boerger: Bin ich einfach chaotisch und kann nicht gut mit Stress umgehen oder steckt vielleicht mehr dahinter? Mit Ende 20 erhält sie schließlich die Diagnose "AD(H)S im Erwachsenenalter" und ist erleichtert: Endlich hat die Kirmes in ihrem Kopf einen richtigen Namen. Schätzungsweise 2,5 Millionen Erwachsene sind in Deutschland von der Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-/Hyperaktivitätsstörung, kurz AD(H)S, betroffen. Die Symptome bei Erwachsenen sehen in der Regel anders aus als bei Kindern, und auch das Bild des klassischen "Zappelphilipps" ist längst überholt.

We all know the fairy-tale. An everyday girl meets her Prince Charming, they get married, have children and ride off into the sunset. Sadly, this isn't always the case and Christine McGuinness is keen to change the stereotype that marriage, fame and fortune brings an easy and blissful life. This is Christine's first audiobook, where she tells the world her life story for the very first time. While telling her story, Christine was diagnosed with autism, as revealed in this book for the very first time.

I wrote this book because I wanted the world to know the story of my special needs son Lloyd C. Darby lll. Affectionately known as DJ, which stands for Darby Junior. When people triumph over their circumstances as my wife and I have, there are usually hidden lessons others can benefit from contained within the events. However, if we don’t share our stories with the world, no one will ever hear about them.

This book is about one mom's journey in raising a child with special needs. Her daughter Lydia has Down syndrome. This is the story of their life together. Kerry Lynn Patton shares the blessings, trials, and what their family has learned by having Lydia in their lives. This is not meant to be a “How To” book for raising a child with special needs, but rather a book to encourage moms, dads, family, and friends. This delightful book is written in whimsical and heartfelt “snippets" for the listener to enjoy a little at a time or easily in one sitting.

There are 1.3 billion people around the world who identify as having a disability. When you include friends and family, the disability market touches 53 percent of all consumers. It is the world’s largest emerging market. Unleash Different reveals how companies like Google, PepsiCo, and Nordstrom are attracting people with disabilities as customers and as employees. Replacing “nice to do” with “return on investment” allows market forces to take over and the world’s leading brands to do what they do best: serve a market segment - in this case, the disability market.

While most people meet their child for the first time in a delivery room, some parents have to meet their child in the reception area of an administrative building. Not Always Happy is a humorous and sharp chronicle about adopting and raising a son with Down syndrome from the Maine foster care system. The author quickly learns that life is best lived by expecting the unplanned when she makes the decision to become a parent in her late forties.