With even more practical information and direct answers to families' questions, the second edition of this easy-to-read guide is a proven resource for helping parents meet the demands of raising a child with a disability. You'll get updated, expert advice on a wide range of medical and educational issues as well as detailed coverage of the daily and long-term care requirements of specific disabilities, including: mental retardation autism hearing impairment Down syndrome visual impairment communication disorders seizure disorders spina bifida ADHD cerebral palsy genetic syndromes New to this edition are chapters exploring nutrition, dental care, legal rights and benefits, and the transition to adulthood, as well as information on development and commonly used medications. Answers to frequently asked questions follow the chapters, addressing common parent concerns like sleep, behavior, medication, and potential complications.
Mark L. Batshaw, M.D., is currently the ""Fight for Children"" Chair of Academic Medicine and Chief Academic Officer at the Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, D.C., and serves as Professor and Chairman of Pediatrics and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C. Dr. Batshaw is also Director of the Children's Research Institute at CNMC. Dr. Batshaw is a board-certified neurodevelopmental pediatrician who has treated children with developmental disabilities for more than 25 years. Before moving to Washington in 1998, he was Physician-in-Chief of Children's Seashore House, the child development and rehabilitation institute of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and held the W.T. Grant Chair in Child Development at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Batshaw is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Following pediatric residency in his native Canada at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, he completed a fellowship in developmental pediatrics at the Kennedy Institute (now called the Kennedy Krieger Institute) and The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore. He remained a professor at Johns Hopkins for 13 years and won the prestigious Alexander Schaffer teaching award while there. A Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Scholar and recipient of major grants from the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Batshaw is director of the NIH-funded Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at CNMC and continues to pursue his research on innovative treatments for inborn errors of metabolism, including gene therapy. Dr. Batshaw has published more than 130 articles, chapters, and reviews on his research interests and on the medical aspects of the care of children with disabilities. Dr. Batshaw was the founding editor in chief (1995 - 2001) of the journal Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews. He is also the editor of When Your Child Has a Disability: The Complete Sourcebook of Daily and Medical Care, Revised Edition (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2001), and Handbook of Developmental Disabilities (co-edited with Kurtz, Dowrick, & Levy; Aspen Publishers, 1996). Dr. Batshaw is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and is a member of the American Pediatric Society, the Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders, the Society for Pediatric Research, and the Society for Developmental Pediatrics. Dr. Batshaw's investment in the well-being of children was first sparked by his parents, both of whom were social workers; his father was involved in modernizing the juvenile justice system in Quebec. Dr. Batshaw's wife, Karen, is a social worker in the field of international adoptions. His children also continue this legacy of making a difference: His daughter, Elissa, is a special education teacher and co-authored the chapter on special education in this edition of Children with Disabilities; his son Michael is a social worker; and his younger son, Drew, has overcome the challenges of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to graduate from Vassar College and enter business school.
I. Getting the Diagnosis 1. Finding Out Your Child Has a Disability James Coplan and Symme W. Trachtenberg 2. Making the Most of Doctor Visits Susan E. Levy 3. Why My Child? Causes of Developmental Disabilities Mark L. Batshaw 4. How a Young Child Develops Mark L. Batshaw II. Growing Up with a Disability 5. Your Baby Was Born Prematurely Penny Glass 6. Understanding Early Intervention Sharon Landesman Ramey, Karen Echols, Craig T. Ramey, and Wanda Y. Newell 7. Nutrition and Feeding Peggy S. Eicher 8. Dental Care for Your Child with Special Needs George Acs and Man Wai Ng 9. Understanding Rehabilitation Therapies Lisa A. Kurtz 10. Commonly Used Medications John Albert Wray 11. Encouraging Appropriate Child Behavior John M. Parrish 12. Your Child's Educational Rights Sheila Rose Mazzoli 13. Identifying Legal Rights and Benefits D. Michael Malone III. Developmental Disabilities 14. Mental Retardation Mark L. Batshaw 15. Down Syndrome Nancy J. Roizen 16. Genetic Syndromes Gretchen A. Meyer 17. Spina Bifida Catherine Shaer 18. Epilepsy Steven Weinstein 19. Cerebral Palsy Louis Pellegrino 20. Hearing Loss Annie Steinberg and Lisa J. Bain 21. Communication Disorders Paul Wang and Ken Bleile 22. Eye Disorders and Visual Disabilities Mohamad S. Jaafar and Mark L. Batshaw 23. Autism Spectrum Disorders Kenneth E. Towbin 24. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Mark A. Stein and Mark L. Batshaw 25. Learning Disabilities Bruce K. Shapiro IV. What the Future Holds 26. What About Our Next Child? Genetic Counselling Cynthia J. Tifft 27. Keeping Up with Changes in Health Care Angelo P. Giardino 28. Success on the Road to Adulthood Patience H. White, Andrea Edelman, and Vincent Schuyler Suggested Readings and Resource Index
Very helpful and clearly presented, it gives parents a good overview of the health care system and provides a good start toward making informed choices. --Joan Kilburn
