All posts tagged: special needs

Diana Kupershmit talks about her unbearable decision, second chances, parenting a child with special needs, photography, and more in her moving memoir EMMA’S LAUGH

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By Leslie Lindsay An elegantly raw, and often brutal memoir of a mother’s loss, but also a deep gift of second chances, growth, and more. ~WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS~ Always with a Book|Memoir Monday Leslie Lindsay & Diana Kupershmit in Conversation Convinced of her inability to love her “imperfect” child and give her the best care and life she deserved, Diana Kupershmit gave her first-born up for adoption. But as with all things that are meant to be, Emma found her way back home. Diana is a social worker, mother, and photographer. EMMA’S LAUGH is her debut memoir. ABOUT EMMA’S LAUGH: The Gift of Second Chances: In this hugely moving and harrowing examination of a life, love, and loss, Diana Kupershmit takes a tragic–and seemingly–unfair situation and turns into a EMMA’S LAUGH: The Gift of Second Chances (SWP, June 2021), about her first-born’s rare, genetic condition, and the gifts she bestowed on the family.Like most eager new parents, Diana imagined a perfect child when she gave birth for the first time to Emma, at the age of …

Apraxia Monday but on a Talking Tuesday: Leslie Lindsay, Author of Speaking of Apraxia, Narrates Audiobook

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By Leslie Lindsay You guys! May has been a huge month for me. I am so grateful, honored, and humbled to have had the opportunity to record the audio version of Speaking of Apraxia: A Parents’ Guide to Childhood Apraxia of Speech. A Timeline of SPEAKING OF APRAXIA: When my first-born wasn’t speaking like other children her age, I worried. When her pediatrician said, “I think she might need an assessment from a speech-language pathologist (SLP), I gulped. Really?! Not my kid. Just shy of her third birthday, she was diagnosed with moderate-severe Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). What is CAS? Quick definition: a neurologically-based motor speech disorder in which kids know what they want to say, but have have difficulty organizing the movements needed for speech. It is not something kids outgrow, but requires frequent, intense speech language therapy, often for many years. I wanted a book. Few were available, with the exception of some graduate-level textbooks, a chapter here and there, a mention in parenting or child development book. I wanted a book …

Wife, mother, and advocate Teresa Unnerstall dives in head-first with her all-hands-on-deck approach to navigating an autism & Down’s syndrome diagnosis in her new book, A NEW COURSE

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By Leslie Lindsay  With humor, kindness, and practical advice, mother, writer, and special needs advocate absolutely has all-hands on deck as she traverses the choppy waters of a child with a dual-diagnosis. ~BOOKS ON MONDAY|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ Teresa Unnerstall doesn’t tip her toes into the water of Down’s syndrome and autism, she dives head-first into the deep-end. Told with wit, compassion, faith, empathy, brutal honesty, and gentle advocacy, A NEW COURSE: A Mother’s Journey Navigating Down’s syndrome and autism (Kat Biggie Press, May 5 2020) is a beacon of light for a parent traversing the rocky waters of a DS-ASD dual-diagnosis. I found myself wholly engaged in this book—the worries, the fears, the emotional ups and downs. Teresa proves that she is just like any other mother—but so much more. She created laminated picture cards for her son and taped them to the shower wall so he’d know the steps for self-hygiene. When she wasn’t doing that, she researched behavioral therapies and looked into school programs and advocated for her son. Somedays, she’s cleaned …

Twisty courtroom drama about special needs, medical exploration, lies, secrets, immigration, and so much more in Angie Kim’s fabulous debut–now in paperback–MIRACLE CREEK

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By Leslie Lindsay  A literary courtroom thriller about an immigrant family, a fascinating medical exploration, secrets, lies, and more. *NATIONAL BESTSELLER* NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK! ~Pub Day Spotlight | ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ May IndieNext Pick ♦ April LibraryReads Selection ♦ April Book of the Month Club Pick ♦ Amazon Editors’ Pick ♦ Apple Books 2019 Top Ten Debuts ♦ Time Magazine 11 Best Fiction Books of 2019 So Far ♦ Washington Post Summer Reads ♦ Good Morning America Hot Summer Read ♦Entertainment Weekly April Jewels ♦ ELLE April Reading List ♦ Real Simple The Short List ♦ Southern Living Best Spring Books ♦ July Junior Library Guild Adult Crossover Selection (Grades 11 & Up) PLUS, named a Most Anticipated 2019 Book by BuzzFeed, Nylon, The Millions, Electric Lit, BookRiot, CrimeReads / LitHub, GoodReads, Vulture and more ~NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK~   MIRACLE CREEK (April 2019) is such a powerhouse of a novel from Angie Kim, I was seriously questioning whether it was truly a debut, it’s that good. In rural Miracle Creek, Virginia, Young and her husband, Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment, hyperbaric chamber known as ‘the miracle submarine.’ It’s a pressurized oxygen chamber patients enter for therapeutic reasons–the ‘dives’ could potentially cure anything from autism to …

Twisty courtroom drama that is both perceptive and culturally-intelligent, touching on special needs, mothers, secrets, immigrants, and a medical mystery in Angie Kim’s MIRACLE CREEK

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By Leslie Lindsay  A literary courtroom thriller about an immigrant family, a fascinating medical exploration, secrets, lies, and more. *NATIONAL BESTSELLER* ~Weekend Reading | ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ May IndieNext Pick ♦ April LibraryReads Selection ♦ April Book of the Month Club Pick ♦ Amazon Editors’ Pick ♦ Apple Books 2019 Top Ten Debuts ♦ Time Magazine 11 Best Fiction Books of 2019 So Far ♦ Washington Post Summer Reads ♦ Good Morning America Hot Summer Read ♦Entertainment Weekly April Jewels ♦ ELLE April Reading List ♦ Real Simple The Short List ♦ Southern Living Best Spring Books ♦ July Junior Library Guild Adult Crossover Selection (Grades 11 & Up) PLUS, named a Most Anticipated 2019 Book by BuzzFeed, Nylon, The Millions, Electric Lit, BookRiot, CrimeReads / LitHub, GoodReads, Vulture and more ~PAPERBACK EDITION COMING IN APRIL~ MIRACLE CREEK (April 2019) is such a powerhouse of a novel from Angie Kim, I was seriously questioning whether it was truly a debut, it’s that good. In rural Miracle Creek, Virginia, Young and her husband, Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment, hyperbaric chamber known as ‘the miracle submarine.’ It’s a pressurized oxygen chamber patients enter for therapeutic reasons–the ‘dives’ could potentially cure anything from autism to infertility, and a few things …

Feminism, Down’s syndrome, how setting is character, and so much more in KEEPING LUCY, a heart wrenching read from T. Greenwood

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By Leslie Lindsay  How far will one mother go to protect her child? That’s the overarching question in KEEPING LUCY about a little girl with Down’s syndrome and one horrific institution, set in the early 1970s.  PopSugar’s 30 Must-Read Books of 2019  Good Housekeeping’s 25 Best New Books for Summer 2019 Better Homes & Gardens 13 New Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer I’ve been a fan of T. Greenwood for some years now and was absolutely thrilled to receive a copy of her forthcoming book, KEEPING LUCY (St. Martin’s Press, August 6 2019). It’s 1969 and Ginny Richardson has just given birth to her second child, a daughter. But there are murmurs in the delivery room, concerned glances. The child has Down’s syndrome; the doctor says it’s best for the baby (who Ginny names Lucy) to ‘go away,’ to a home for the ‘feeble-minded.’ Ginny is married to a rising-star attorney, Abbot (Ab); his family is quite well-to-do and a bit formidable–they say it’s the best thing for the child, for Ginny, for the family. …

Amy Webb opens up about her new children’s book on limb differences and developmental disabilities

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By Leslie Lindsay Delightful read for children and their caregivers about a little girl with special needs and how other children react.  I have always, always been a fan of children’s picture books and find that they teach empathy in such simple, wholesome ways. WHEN CHARLEY MET EMMA is no exception. I love the the simple watercolor illustrations, but also the sentiment. When Charley goes to the playground with his mother, he sees Emma, a little girl with limb differences; she doesn’t have hands and is in a wheelchair. At first, Charley’s not sure how to react. Charley remembers what his mother taught him: “Different isn’t bad, sad, or strange–different is just different and different is okay!”  This is the message I absolutely love! WHEN CHARLEY MET EMMA is about friendship, kindness, being differently-abled, but still able to do many things others enjoy.It’s a fabulous message for children and their caregivers as we navigate a more diverse world where disability is more ‘in the open.’ I enjoyed the backmatter of this book–designed for caregivers and teachers when guiding a child through …