In Special Parent, Special Child, Tom Sullivan takes us inside the lives of parents who struggle daily to make a difference in the lives of their children with disabilities. It is a journey of parental hopes and dreams. Of heroism and disappointment. Of success and failure. Of unending trials and unpredictable rewards. From more than two hundred interviews, Sullivan chose six families who dramatically express the wide range of concerns confronting parents of children with disabilities. The parents speak openly and intimately about complex emotions, about working with and fighting against the medical, educational, and social service systems, developing ongoing relationships with professionals, handling the inevitable family repercussions, and maintaining strength and hope throughout as they seek the best life possible for their children. The spectrum of disability in this book - cerebral palsy, blindness, life-threatening illness, deafness, learning disability, and Down syndrome - brings to light an array of issues affecting parents. Even though each family's experience is unique, Special Parent, Special Child shows that there are common bonds and a common ground shared among these parents. They teach that when fate puts us in difficult situations, remarkable depths of courage and devotion arise in response. Their stories are a testimony to the quality and commitment of families throughout this country who are raising children with disabilities. The wisdom these parents share through the author, who is blind, will help all special parents to fulfill their challenging role.

When his oldest son was diagnosed with severe autism, pastor Jason Hague found himself trapped, stuck between perpetual sadness and a lower, safer kind of hope. This is the common struggle for those of us walking through the Land of Unanswered Prayer. Life doesn’t look the way we expected, so we seek to protect ourselves from further disappointment. But God has a third path for us, beyond sadness or resignation: the way of aching joy. Christ himself is with us here, beckoning us toward the treasures hidden in the darkness. Aching Joy is an honest psalm of hope for those walking between pain and promise: the aching of a broken world and the beauty of a loving God. In this place, rather than trying to dodge the pain, we choose to feel it all—and to see where Jesus is in the midst of struggle. And because we make that choice, we feel all the good that comes with it, too. This is Jason’s story. This is your story. Come, find your joy within the aching.

Special Needs Parenting: From Coping to Thriving offers emotional and spiritual resources for the journey of special needs parenting. Sharing personal insights as a theologian and the parent of an adult son with special needs, Rev. Dr. Lorna Bradley offers seven encouraging and practical tools to help the reader: o gain a deeper, grace-filled understanding of God's presenceo process deeply held feelings of grief and guilto discover strategies for patience, self-care, and healthy relationshipso find hope and healingPowerful for the individual reader, the built-in reflection and discussion questions make Special Needs Parenting an ideal, real-life resource for small groups. Special Needs Parenting is a must read for family members, pastors, and any person who works with special needs families. Dr. Bradley explores their challenges, grief, and joy with deep sensitivity, theological depth, and practical advice. A blessing to all who read it and allow their lives to be touched by wisdom born of personal experience and biblical scholarship

Every parent dreams of having a happy, healthy child. What happens when these dreams are shattered by a physical or cognitive disability? A Different Kind of Perfect offers comfort, consolation, and wisdom from parents who have been there—and are finding their way through. The writings collected here are grouped into chapters reflecting the progressive stages of many parents' emotional journeys, starting with grief, denial, and anger and moving towards acceptance, empowerment, laughter, and even joy. Each chapter opens with an introduction by Neil Nicoll, a child and family psychologist who specializes in development disorders.

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.

"Every day is joyful. Every day is a gift. Every day I can thank God from the bottom of my heart." Kelly Mantoan wasn't always able to say these words. As a mother of five children, two with profound disabilities, all her energy and attention was focused on her children's diagnoses. Drained and struggling, Kelly wondered if she had what it took to be the kind of parent they needed. She craved support as a Catholic parent with special needs children, but most secular support groups couldn't help her see and understand God's plan. If you can relate to Kelly's story, Better Than OK: Finding Joy as a Special Needs Parent is the hope-filled book you need today. In her down-to-earth way, Kelly shares practical tips and takeaways to shift your focus -- away from the negatives of the diagnosis and toward acceptance, renewed faith, and joy. Better Than OK is a much-needed resource for any Catholic parent facing the challenges of a special needs family. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kelly Mantoan is a Catholic convert, wife, mother to five, homeschooler, and special needs parent. She writes about her faith, family, homeschooling, and special needs parenting at her popular blog This Ain't the Lyceum. In 2019 Kelly started a conference and online apostolate, Accepting the Gift, for Catholic special needs parents. Accepting the Gift provides support and resources that can help Catholic special needs parents thrive in their unique vocation.

Thirty biblical meditations for women that offer hope in times of suffering. Thirty biblical meditations for women that offer hope in times of suffering. Hurt is real. But so is hope. Kristen and Sarah have walked through, and are walking in, difficult times. So these thirty biblical reflections are full of realism about the hurts of life-yet overwhelmingly full of hope about the God who gives life. This book will gently encourage and greatly help any woman who is struggling with suffering-whether physical, emotional or psychological, and whether for a season or for longer. It is a book to buy for yourself, or to buy for a member of your church or friend. For anyone who is hurting, this book will give hope, not just for life beyond the suffering, but for life in the suffering. Each chapter contains a biblical reflection, with questions and prayers, and a space for journaling.

PARENTING NEVER ENDS. From the founders of the #1 site for parents of teens and young adults comes an essential guide for building strong relationships with your teens and preparing them to successfully launch into adulthood The high school and college years: an extended roller coaster of academics, friends, first loves, first break-ups, driver’s ed, jobs, and everything in between. Kids are constantly changing and how we parent them must change, too. But how do we stay close as a family as our lives move apart? Enter the co-founders of Grown and Flown, Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington. In the midst of guiding their own kids through this transition, they launched what has become the largest website and online community for parents of fifteen to twenty-five year olds. Now they’ve compiled new takeaways and fresh insights from all that they’ve learned into this handy, must-have guide. Grown and Flown is a one-stop resource for parenting teenagers, leading up to—and through—high school and those first years of independence. It covers everything from the monumental (how to let your kids go) to the mundane (how to shop for a dorm room). Organized by topic—such as academics, anxiety and mental health, college life—it features a combination of stories, advice from professionals, and practical sidebars. Consider this your parenting lifeline: an easy-to-use manual that offers support and perspective. Grown and Flown is required reading for anyone looking to raise an adult with whom you have an enduring, profound connection.

"...is a compilation of life lessons learned by the parents of a child with significant special needs. The book shares critical strategies and practical advice to help you navigate the maze of financial, educational and emotional decisions you will face each day as a parent or caregiver. This handbook is designed to help you focus on what is most important in your life as you deal with the constant challenges. You will learn how to survive and even thrive while providing the best for your child."--P. [4] of cover.

Over six million American families are involved in special education, and the numbers are growing. The complex web of laws, regulations, personalities and stresses, combined with anxiety over raising a child with a disability, have made special education advocacy an impenetrable maze to many parents. This book presents the complexities of the process in a simple-to-understand way and offers practical tips, checklists and strategies on how to make the system work to insure the educational success of all children.