The following resources are suggested to help parents help their children/teens struggling with anxiety, ADHD, autism, dyslexia, depression, resilience, self-injury, and self-compassion.
Most children are afraid of the dark. Some fear monsters under the bed. But 10 percent of children have excessive fears and worries-phobias, separation anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder-that can hold them back and keep them from fully enjoying childhood. If your child suffers from any of these forms of anxiety, the program in this book offers practical, scientifically proven tools that can help.
Now in its second edition, Helping Your Anxious Child has been expanded and updated to include the latest research and techniques for managing child anxiety. You’ll learn how to help your child overcome intense fears and worries and find out how to relieve anxious feelings while parenting with compassion.
For families of individuals struggling with ADHD, this is your best source of unbiased information about research-based treatment methods. Start with their Fact Sheets and also explore their numerous other resources.
The NRC is the national clearinghouse for the latest evidence-based information on ADHD. The center is operated by CHADD, the nation’s leading advocacy and support organization serving individuals and families affected by ADHD, and is supported by Cooperative Agreement with the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is a must-have book for parents of children from primary school through high school who struggle with: Impulse Control, Cognitive Flexibility, Initiation, Working Memory, Planning & Organizing, and Self-monitoring. The book emphasizes the need for a two-pronged approach to intervention: 1) Helping the child to manage demands in the short run, and 2) Building independent skills for long-term self-management. Full of encouragement and practical strategies, the book’s organization–short chapters with overviews, summaries, case studies, tips, and definitions–makes it easy to grasp concepts quickly and get started. (Woodbine House Publishing)
There’s nothing more frustrating than watching your bright, talented son or daughter struggle with everyday tasks like finishing homework, putting away toys, or following instructions at school. Your “smart but scattered” child might also have trouble coping with disappointment or managing anger. Drs. Peg Dawson and Richard Guare have great news: there’s a lot you can do to help. The latest research in child development shows that many kids who have the brain and heart to succeed lack or lag behind in crucial “executive skills”–the fundamental habits of mind required for getting organized, staying focused, and controlling impulses and emotions. Learn easy-to-follow steps to identify your child’s strengths and weaknesses, use activities and techniques proven to boost specific skills, and problem-solve daily routines. Small changes can add up to big improvements–this empowering book shows how.
If you’re the parent of a “smart but scattered” teen, trying to help him or her grow into a self-sufficient, responsible adult may feel like a never-ending battle. Now you have an alternative to micromanaging, cajoling, or ineffective punishments. This positive guide provides a science-based program for promoting teens’ independence by building their executive skills—the fundamental brain-based abilities needed to get organized, stay focused, and control impulses and emotions. Executive skills experts Drs. Richard Guare and Peg Dawson are joined by Colin Guare, a young adult who has successfully faced these issues himself. Learn step-by-step strategies to help your teen live up to his or her potential now and in the future—while making your relationship stronger.
With decades of experience working with ADD children, Dr. Edward Hallowell has long argued that ADD is too often misunderstood, mistreated, and mislabeled as a “disability.” Now he teams up with top academic ADD researcher Peter S. Jensen, M.D., to bring you an invaluable new approach to helping your ADD child. Super-Parenting for ADD offers a specific game plan including Nourishing the spirit of your child for who he is, recognizing the positive sides of the negative symptoms, and nurturing an environment in which a child can safely take risks.
From distinguished researcher/clinician Russell A. Barkley, this treasured parent resource gives you the science-based information you need about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its treatment. It also presents a proven eight-step behavior management plan specifically designed for 6- to 18-year-olds with ADHD. Offering encouragement, guidance, and loads of practical tips, Dr. Barkley helps you:
*Make sense of your child’s symptoms. *Get an accurate diagnosis. *Work with school and health care professionals to get needed support. *Learn parenting techniques that promote better behavior. *Strengthen your child’s academic and social skills. *Use rewards and incentives effectively. *Restore harmony at home.
Updated throughout with current research and resources, the third edition includes the latest facts about medications and about what causes (and doesn’t cause) ADHD.
This is a comprehensive, reliable source of answers, practical strategies, and tools written in a convenient list format. Created for teachers (K-12), parents, medical and mental health professionals, counselors, and other school personnel, this important resource contains the most current information about Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It is filled with the strategies, supports, and interventions that have been found to be the most effective in minimizing the problems and optimizing the success of children and teens with ADHD. The book contains a wealth of information to guide in the management of ADHD in school and at home. In addition, The ADHD Book of Lists’ easy-to-use 8 1/2 x 11 lay-flat format is filled with reproducible checklists, forms, tools, and resources.
For many girls, ADHD symptoms are a hidden problem often overlooked or misunderstood. Diagnosed later, symptoms may go untreated. Find out how ADHD affects girls from preschool through high school. Gender differences are discussed along with issues related to school success, medication treatment, family relationships, and susceptibility to other disorders such as anxiety, depression, and learning problems. (Advantage Books).
In Raising Resilient Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, noted mental health professionals and bestselling authors Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Brooks teach you the strategies and mindset necessary to help your child develop strength, hope, and optimism. This is the first approach for autism spectrum disorders based in the extremely popular field of positive psychology.
Drs. Brooks and Goldstein—world-renowned experts on child resilience—offer you practical tips for long-term solutions rather than just quick fixes. Featuring dozens of stories and an easy-to-follow, prescriptive narrative, Drs. Brooks and Goldstein demonstrate how to apply resilience to every parenting practice when raising a child with autism spectrum disorders, preparing him or her for the challenges of today’s complicated, ever-changing world and helping your child develop essential social skills.
TheComplete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome is the definitive handbook for anyone affected by Asperger’s syndrome (AS). It brings together a wealth of information on all aspects the syndrome for children through to adults.
Drawing on case studies and personal accounts from Attwood’s extensive clinical experience, and from his correspondence with individuals with AS, this book is both authoritative and extremely accessible.
Essential reading for families and individuals affected by AS as well as teachers, professional and employers coming in contact with people with AS this book should be on the bookshelf of anyone who needs to know or is interested in this complex condition.
Temple Grandin may be the most famous person with autism, a condition that affects 1 in 88 children. Since her birth in 1947, our understanding of it has undergone a great transformation, leading to more hope than ever before that we may finally learn the causes of and treatments for autism.
Weaving her own experience with remarkable new discoveries, Grandin introduces the advances in neuroimaging and genetic research that link brain science to behavior, even sharing her own brain scan to show which anomalies might explain common symptoms. Most excitingly, she argues that raising and educating kids on the autism spectrum must focus on their long-overlooked strengths to foster their unique contributions. The Autistic Brain brings Grandin’s singular perspective into the heart of the autism revolution.
If your teen has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder–Dr. David Miklowitz can help. The bestselling author of The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide has tailored his proven treatment approach to meet the specific needs of teens and their families. The Bipolar Teen provides tools you can use to make home life manageable again. You’ll learn to spot the differences between normal teenage behavior and the telltale symptoms of mania and depression. Together with your child’s doctors, you’ll be able to strike a healthy balance between medication and psychotherapy, recognize and respond to the early warning signs of an oncoming episode, and collaborate effectively with school personnel. Like no other resource available, this powerful book delivers practical ways to manage chaos and relieve stress so everyone in your family–including siblings–can find stability, support, and peace of mind.
From one of the world’s leading experts on reading and dyslexia, the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and practical book yet to help us understand, identify, and overcome the reading problems that plague American children today. For the one in every five children who has dyslexia and the millions of others who struggle to read at their own grade levels—and for their parents, teachers, and tutors—this book can make a difference.
In addition to offering valuable information about dyslexia and its characteristics, this free and downloadable handbook provides information on assessments, effective teaching approaches, self-advocacy ideas, and a vast array of resources.
Further, the handbook contains information that will be useful throughout a child’s life, from elementary school through college. The degree of difficulty a child with dyslexia has with reading, spelling, and/or speaking varies from person to person due to inherited differences in brain development, as well as the type of teaching the child receives.
For students attending public schools in Texas, this downloadable handbook contains guidelines for school districts to follow as they identify and provide services for students with dyslexia. In addition, information regarding the state’s dyslexia statutes and their relation to various federal laws is included.
Nationally recognized mental health professional Martin Seligman provides suggestions to teach parents and other concerned adults about how to instill in children a sense of optimism and personal mastery. (Harper).
In this seminal parenting work, renowned experts Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein explain why some kids are able to overcome overwhelming obstacles while others become victims of early experiences and environments. From this research they have developed effective strategies you can add to your parenting practice to prepare your children for the challenges of today’s complicated, ever-changing world.
Nurturing Resilience in Our Children is Drs. Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein’s follow-up to their revolutionary bestseller, Raising Resilient Children. Here they expand their theory of resilience with in-depth answers to the many questions they’ve received from parents just like you.
In Nurturing Resilience in Our Children, you will learn how to help your children acquire the building blocks of resilience and reinforce those lessons on a day-to-day basis. When you instill resilience in your children, you give them the emotional tools they need to resolve problems and make sensible, reasoned decisions throughout their lives. The resilient child also learns how to develop self-control, build interpersonal skills, and handle challenges and frustrations more effectively.
Discovering that your teen “cuts” is absolutely terrifying; before you understand what really motivates cutting, you may worry your child is contemplating suicide. What can you do to help when every attempt to address the behavior seems to push him or her further away? In this compassionate, straightforward book, Dr. Michael Hollander, a leading authority on self-injury, spells out the facts about cutting-and what to do to make it stop. You’ll learn how overwhelming emotions lead some teens to hurt themselves, and how proven treatments can help your child become well again. Helping Teens Who Cut demonstrates how to talk to your teen about cutting without making it worse, and explains exactly what to look for in a therapist or treatment program. Drawing on decades of clinical experience as well as the latest research, Dr. Hollander provides concrete ways to help your son or daughter cope with extreme emotions without resorting to self-injury. You’ll also learn practical communication and problem-solving skills that can reduce family stress, making it easier to care for yourself and your teen during the recovery process.
Books for Your Child or Teen
To find good books for your child or teen, see these resource pages:
