ABSTRACT
This book is a window into the complex feelings and unexpected reactions that may manifest among parents and guardians of children with disabilities or chronic illness. Packed with hundreds of first-person accounts and insights, this book is intended for adult and pediatric medical doctors, nurses, and dentists, along with staff including phlebotomists, x-ray technicians, sonographers, and EMTs; it’s for attorneys, paralegals, and interns; it’s for adult and pediatric mental healthcare and therapeutic providers including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and caseworkers, as well as speech & language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, behavior coaches, vision therapists, nutritionists, ABA providers, and others; it’s for general and special educators along with special area teachers, related service providers, administrators, student teachers, paraprofessionals, school nurses, coaches, and bus drivers. And, across all of those contexts, it’s for receptionists, secretaries, billing officers, and security guards. This book shows professionals how to interpret impatience, resistance, and defensiveness as symptoms or somatizations of deeper feelings within parents and guardians. In the context of current theories on disability, identity, neurodiversity, self-advocacy, and radical acceptance—from various perspectives—professionals will learn to consider the special factors affecting these families and respond with understanding, compassion, and meaningful, best-practice support to optimize outcomes for the whole family.
