 | ----------------------------------------------------------
In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart by Ruth Graham
When life's rosy dreams dissolve into difficult realities that break our hearts, God shows that he specializes in restoration. In this frank, deeply reflective book, Ruth Graham, daughter of Billy Graham, lays open the agonizing struggles of a far-from-perfect life – and in so doing, she reveals the character of a God who deeply loves hurting, fallible people. In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart searches the Scriptures for help, hope, and guidance to deal with life’s blows and our own failures. We learn that no matter where we are in our journey, God has a use for us and will never turn us away. The book also teaches us how we can offer practical, loving support to the broken hears who sit beside us regularly in our church pews and who move among us in life day after day.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| | Mental Handicap: Is anything wrong? by David C. Potter
David Potter wants to start a revolution. Not a violent revolution, but a revolution of attitude towards those whose mental ability is not ‘normal’. His experience as a Christian, a parent, and a worker with people with learning difficulties has shaped his convictions, and in this timely book he highlights several key issues, including treatment, abortion, statutory support, good neighbourliness and Christian fellowship.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Music Makers: The Bear Facts
The Teddy Horsley Bible Series is designed to build bridges between the young child’s day to day experiences of the world and major biblical themes and stories. In Music Makers, Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear’s experience of making music at home and in church brings alive the vision of praise in Psalm 50.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Naaman’s Dreadful Secret
The story of General Naaman comes from the Old Testament history book, 2 Kings, chapter 5. It shows God’s love and care for everyone, not just his own special people. Because of their kindness to their little Israelite servant girl, General Naaman and his wife learned where to go for help when disaster struck. And because in the end he was not too proud to do just as God’s prophet Elisha told him, Naaman was completely healed – and discovered for himself the true God.
--------------------------------------------------------- |
| Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues by Barry Neil Kaufman
Part one tells the story of Raun, who, when he was a year old, began to withdraw from human contact. Oblivious to his surroundings, Raun appeared deaf and blind, staring silently for hours and rocking endlessly. The diagnosis – autism – an irreversible condition. The experts offered no hope. As his parents, Barry and Samahria Kaufman, watched their son slip further into his impenetrable shell, they felt compelled to act on their own. Crossing a bridge into uncharted territory in what was to become the adventure of their lives, the Kaufnams worked intensively with their son for two and a half years, pioneering a therapy based on unconditional love and acceptance. By age 4, Raun showed no traces of his former condition. Part two explores Ruan’s surprising development and accomplishments from age four. Part three tells of five other ordinary families who, guided by the Kaufmans’ Son-Rise program, reached their own “unreachable” children. These stories offer real hope and extraordinary testimony to the power of love and limitless possibilities.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| A special child in the Family: living with your sick or disabled child by Diana Kimpton
If your child is handicapped, disabled or sick, this book is for you. The exact diagnosis doesn’t matter, for the problems, worries and fears covered here are shared by all parents in your situation. This is a book which is for parents, not just about them, and it doesn’t just list the problems you have but it suggests ways you can improve matters. It will help you balance the needs of your family, your special child and yourself, and get the best help and the fullest information available. It’s also about feelings and how to come with them, and about the great taboos that now one talks about, like death and failing to cope. The ideas here are parent-sized ones you can try yourself. Diana Kimpton has two sons with cystic fibrosis, and she has drawn on her own experience and other people’s for this book. She writes with directness and honesty, and her book is moving, inspiring and every informative.
---------------------------------------------------------- |
| Nobody Nowhere: the remarkable autobiography of an autistic girl by Donna Williams
Labelled deaf, abnormal, nut, retard, mental, moron, ‘blonk’, crazy, weird, wild and insane, Donna Williams lived in a worked of her own. She existed in a state of dreamlike recession, viewing her incomprehensible surroundings form the security of a ‘world under glass’. Few people understood her, least of all Donna herself, and she yearned to become ‘normal’. At the age of 25, Donna discovered a word, a new label, which brought with it a handful of answers, a chance for forgiveness and hope for a sense of belonging: that word was autism. Donna’s account of her struggle to come to terms with her condition and to survive the suffering enforced by an unsympathetic, ignorant world is unique insight into the workings of an autistic mind. She could have been locked up; instead, against the odds, Donna achieved a place at university, lived independently, and has now written this remarkable insider’s view of autism. Her book is a landmark in the literature of mental health, a work of outstanding courage, and one of the most extraordinary human stories you are ever likely to read.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Somebody Somewhere (sequel to Nobody Nowhere) by Donna Williams
This book continues Donna’s searing, revelatory account of her battle, demonstrating once more her unforgettable courage and determination.
---------------------------------------------------------- |
| It Can Get Better by Paul Dickinson and Liz Hannah
A guide for parents and carers dealing with common behaviour problems in young autistic children
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| A Real Person: Life on the outside by Gunilla Gerland
For me they were a kind of unit, a mother-father-big-sister unit, and I was another unit quite apart from them. It was none of my choosing, this not belonging to them. I couldn’t change it and I didn’t know what a person was meant to be. Inside, I was miserable. Why did they get so angry? Why didn’t they understand? From her earliest years Gunnilla Gerland knew that she was ‘different’. In this remarkable book she writes with poignant clarity of a childhood in which, surrounded by her family, she was nevertheless alone. Her behaviour, reactions, feelings, fear and perceptions, prompted by inner compulsions she could not control, provoked constant scolding, rejection and blank incomprehension. Unable to function like other people, she struggled in vain to fit in, to be recognised, despite her differences, as ‘a real person’. No one seemed able to realise that she could not help being the way she was. Only in her twenties did the author discover she has a form of autism known as Asperger syndrome. She read avidly on the subject; at last she could hold her head up, confident that her ‘differentness’ was due to a known identifiable biological disorder. She had found a niche for herself. Offering startling and deeply moving insights into a condition that has only recently achieved wide recognition, A Real Person will be of immense value to families and professionals striving to understand autistic people in their care. But it also stands firmly on its own as a work of the highest literary quality, a beautifully written account of an agonising childhood by a woman with a natural gift for writing. Its appeal is universal, its honesty devastating.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| What’s the point? by Norman Warren
Who am I? Why am I alive? What is life about? What happens after death? This book points to real answers to our deepest questions.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Simple Simon: the story of an autistic boy by Ann Lovell
Simon was loved and wanted – a beautiful baby boy. There was no reason to suspect that anything was wrong. Four anxious years later the diagnosis came as a shattering blow. Simon was autistic.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Extraordinary Kids: nurturing and championing your child with special needs by Cheri Fuller and Louise Tucker Jones
Few parents doubt that their babies will be born physically and mentally perfect. And while the vast majority are, a precious few are not. But that only makes them Extraordinary Kids! Filled with the personal experiences and anecdotes of many parents who have raised children with such limitations, Extraordinary Kids provides mothers and fathers with the hope, inspiration and insight they need to capture the unique joy of parenting their children with special needs and help them reach their full potential. Page after page you will discover how to overcome the initial shock, relay the news to your friends and family, and handle the grief and frustrations that threaten to overwhelm you. You’ll learn how to be your child’s advocate in everything from medical decisions to educational choices, as well as how to ask – and where to turn – for help. You’ll even discover the extensive network of support groups and other organisations that stand ready to assist you! Wonderful opportunities await all children – especially those who have their own distinct set of challenges! Encourage your child to become all that he or she can be and look forward to what the future holds. Then, enjoy the awesome privilege you have as parents of one of God’s prized possessions.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| And Then I Had Kids: Encouragement for mothers with young children by Susan Alexander Yates
As you read the cover title, you may have thought, ‘I know someone that this applies to.’ Or ‘That sounds like my situation!’ Susan Yates puts it this way: ‘My expectations of family life before I had kids were so different from the reality that I eventually faced with five children. I used to be critical of mums whose children had runny noses. Why don’t their mothers wipe their faces? I would wonder. I’d stare at a child in public whose hair looked like it had not been brushed for a week, or whose clothes did not match… And Then I Had Kids!’ This well-written and relevant book is one that parents of young children (and grandparents!) can identify with and be encouraged by. It is a book filled with entertaining, helpful and human advice. It is a book designed for personal encouragement. However it can also be used effectively in small groups and for personal discussion. It is the author’s prayer that you, the reader, will be ‘refreshed with laughter, and stimulated with ideas’ in order to find uniqueness as a mother.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Just Parenting by Christine Wright
A down-to-earth look at the skills, responsibilities (and fun) involved in parenting. Practical and encouraging for those experiencing life with under 5s! Ideal for anyone awaiting the birth of a child.
----------------------------------------------------------- |
