The term ’special education’ encompasses dozens of learning challenges: developmental delay, learning and physical disabilities, emotional disturbance, retardation, language impairment, autism, and others. By nature of this diversity, navigating even well-run, well-funded special education programs can be daunting. A Parent’s Guide to Special Education offers guidance to parents and their children — as well as to teachers, counselors, and administrators — on issue… More >>
#1 by Mary Anne Bowden on July 2, 2010 - 4:16 pm
I certainly recommend this book. I have learned a lot in the first half of the book alone and look forward to reading the rest of it. Now that my son receives special education services, I think this book will help me to prepare for the next school year. I agree with the other reviewer — if Amazon included the Table of Contents on this page, they’d probably sell a lot more books. I will include it here and I hope you find it helpful.
Chapter 1: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004: What a Great IDEA!
Chapter 2: Not All Roads Lead to Special Education Placement: The 411 on 504 Plans
Chapter 3: A Comparison of IDEA 2004 and Section 504, and a Brief Look at No Child Left Behind.
Chapter 4: The Psychological Assessment: What to Expect
Chapter 5: The Assessment of Intelligence
Chapter 6: The Other Psychological Assessments: Achievement Testing, Process Testing and Emotional/ Behavioral Assessments
Chapter 7: Understanding Your Child’s Disability
Chapter 8: Labels: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Chapter 9: You and Me and the IEP
Chapter 10: Beyond Eligibility for Special Education: What’s Next?
Chapter 11: A Parent’s Guide to Parent-Teacher Communication and School Meetings
Chapter 12: A Parent’s Guide to Stress and Coping
Chapter 13: A Parent’s Guide to Building Your Child’s Self-Esteem and Increasing Social Competence
Chapter 14: A Parent’s Guide to Behavior and Discipline
Appendix A: Selected Changes in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004
Appendix B: Sample 504 Plans
Appendix C: Sample Behavior Charts
Appendix D: Procedural Safeguards
Appendix E: Sample IEP Forms
Appendix F: Food for Thought: Helpful Resources
Glossary: Acronyms 101
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by Julie Thomas on July 2, 2010 - 6:07 pm
I saw this book in my local B&N and thought it was very comprehensive. I found the updated information on IDEA 2004 to be of most help and in no other book since the law doesn’t go into effect until next month. Since the federal law is updated only every 5 or 10 years, it’s important for me, a special education parent advocate, to keep up with everything that affects my clients. This book will definitely help me to do that. I really like the variety of chapters. I just wish Amazon would post the sample table of contents since I will definitely recommend this book to parents and often refer them to Amazon’s site when I think a book will help them. I’m hoping Amazon will consider doing this in the near future.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Barbara Calucci on July 2, 2010 - 6:36 pm
Like the other reviewers, I found this book quite helpful. My grandson was diagnosed as having a learning disability and I bought this book for my daughter. I read it first because sometimes I go to meetings for her if she cannot get off from work. The book has some very helpful information. I told my daughter to bring this book to the first meeting she has this next school year so that the school staff knows that she has read up on the topic. We’ll have to see if it makes a difference since she sometimes gets the run-around. Anyway, I would recommend this book to parents (and grandparents!) of a child who is in special education.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Jeffrey Phillips on July 2, 2010 - 9:03 pm
I’m glad this book just came out. My daughter began receiving special education services just after Spring Break and my wife and I were a bit scared about the whole process. I ordered this book recently and it’s already come in handy. The acronyms section was helpful since Lauren’s teachers often throw them around, forgetting that we are brand new to special education. IMHO, it’s definitely a book worth buying.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Midwest Book Review on July 2, 2010 - 9:36 pm
Special education embraces a host of different learning challenges, from developmental delays and disabilities to emotional problems, language impairment, and more: with all these conflicting needs present, it becomes a challenge to assess and run a special education program for all. Parents receive help and guidance to programs and administrators in A Parent’s Guide To Special Education: Insider Advice On How To Navigate The System And Help Your Child Succeed. Here are discussions of the special education process, its place and role in the overall educational system, and how intelligence is assessed. Chapters on what to expect from special education and where it can fail, parent-teacher communications and meetings, and issues beyond basic eligibility determinations provide plenty of clear insights.
Rating: 5 / 5