GROWING UP HANDICAPPED

Although intended for parents and professionals, this guide may be too cursory for either. Dr. Ayrault, a counselor to handicapped children and herself handicapped, certainly knows the territory well, and she's covered some of it before in previous books--You Can Raise Your Handicapped Child and Helping the Handicapped Teenager Mature. This new work swiftly characterizes common parental responses, emphasizes the importance of whole-family involvement, and suggests ways of shaping behavior and enforcing discipline which will assure a more positive self-image and improve chances for independence--a primary goal. She looks briefly at the conflicts of the teenage years and early adulthood, urges early--and realistic--vocational planning, and introduces the standard psychological tests, explaining their diagnostic purposes. Throughout, she draws on her own files for examples and includes cases of combined handicaps (e.g. physical impairment and low IQ or learning disability) but she does not consider each subject in depth, and the streamlined discussion won't satisfy those looking for fuller exposition or contingency ideas. Useful appendices list local and federal agencies as well as descriptions of assorted aids (long-handled comb, bathtub rail, telephone holder, one-armed can opener).