Children with developmental disabilities can thrive if their parents reject perfectionism and embrace “different dreams” for them, according to this guide for parents.
DeGenova (Intimate Relationships, Marriages, and Families, 2016), a former associate professor of family studies at Central Michigan University and the University of New Hampshire, advises parents on the struggles and unexpected joys of raising children who aren’t neurotypical. They may be on the autism spectrum, have Down or Mosaicism syndrome, or have a brain injury, as was the case with DeGenova’s son, Louis, who suffered a stroke while being born. In an introduction, she describes her young child’s first neurology visit and her fear, anger, and confusion at his repeated seizures. (Overall, the text is quite short, and readers may wish that there were more about Louis as an individual.) Feeling robbed of her ambitions for Louis, she was surprised by the attitudes of other mothers of non-neurotypical kids, who appeared serene and smiling. Their strength inspired her to write a book for parents facing similar circumstances. Twelve chapters, such as “Rest When You Can,” “Give Up Some Control,” and “Forgive Other People,” offer personal anecdotes—often uncomfortable confessions from DeGenova’s own experience—and instruction, which is repeated in bullet-pointed summaries at the end. Effectively cutting through taboos, she encourages parents to negotiate costs, refuse treatments or specialists that aren’t a good fit, disregard peer pressure or accusations of selfishness, and correct age-inappropriate behavior from a manipulative child. Each section includes a black-and-white photograph, sometimes of the author’s family members, illustrating its theme, and the book concludes with a list of organizations and online resources. This guide is sometimes a devastating read, but it will nevertheless soothe and empower parents who feel isolated and always “wrong” in their feelings. DeGenova counsels with compassion and humor about how to avoid very painful mistakes, such as sacrificing one’s marriage and/or health, unconsciously neglecting a neurotypical sibling, feeling guilt for grieving now-impossible milestones, and raging at well-meaning comments: “And if one more person told me, ‘God chooses only special moms for special children,’ I was going to scream!”
An intelligent self-help book that will give stressed parents practical knowledge and a sense of relief.Pub Date: June 23, 2017
ISBN: 978-1483470696
Page Count: 114
Publisher: Lulu
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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Noted jazz and pop record producer Thiele offers a chatty autobiography. Aided by record-business colleague Golden, Thiele traces his career from his start as a ``pubescent, novice jazz record producer'' in the 1940s through the '50s, when he headed Coral, Dot, and Roulette Records, and the '60s, when he worked for ABC and ran the famous Impulse! jazz label. At Coral, Thiele championed the work of ``hillbilly'' singer Buddy Holly, although the only sessions he produced with Holly were marred by saccharine strings. The producer specialized in more mainstream popsters like the irrepressibly perky Teresa Brewer (who later became his fourth wife) and the bubble-machine muzak-meister Lawrence Welk. At Dot, Thiele was instrumental in recording Jack Kerouac's famous beat- generation ramblings to jazz accompaniment (recordings that Dot's president found ``pornographic''), while also overseeing a steady stream of pop hits. He then moved to the Mafia-controlled Roulette label, where he observed the ``silk-suited, pinky-ringed'' entourage who frequented the label's offices. Incredibly, however, Thiele remembers the famously hard-nosed Morris Levy, who ran the label and was eventually convicted of extortion, as ``one of the kindest, most warm-hearted, and classiest music men I have ever known.'' At ABC/Impulse!, Thiele oversaw the classic recordings of John Coltrane, although he is the first to admit that Coltrane essentially produced his own sessions. Like many producers of the day, Thiele participated in the ownership of publishing rights to some of the songs he recorded; he makes no apology for this practice, which he calls ``entirely appropriate and without any ethical conflicts.'' A pleasant, if not exactly riveting, memoir that will be of most interest to those with a thirst for cocktail-hour stories of the record biz. (25 halftones, not seen)
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-19-508629-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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