Books of Interest

[Guest guest]

Reading is a great pleasure of mine. Philosophy, Psychology,

Gardening, World renowned literature, classics, and children's books

are some of my favorites.

Anyway, I thought I would share a couple of books that have been

interesting to me of late.

1. Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults by

E. Fox, Psy.D., Ph.D. Past President, American Psychological

Association.

What caught my attention to this book is that ADHD, Bipolar, OCD,

Asperger's, Depression and other disorders have occassionaly been

used as diagnoses for children and adults of gifted nature where in

reality their unique situations for their obscure talents and

intelligence is the actual cause for their behaviors and differences

among their peers. Atleast, that's what I have gained from this

book thus far. When my previous Endocrinologist stated that he has

seen many RSS patients of which seem to be quite above the average -

of course, I was quite thrilled. Before I read this book - I was

reminded that sometimes ADHD is diagnosed with RSS children. Well,

you can probably guess that I would prefer my son to be gifted.

Anyway, something to think about.

2. Changed by a Child by Barbara Gill.

My mother gave this to me. Well, actually, her Endocrinologist gave

it to her to give to me. It's a book for parents of children with

disabilities. The author has a child with down syndrome; but, she

speaks to those who have children of all sorts of disorders. I have

found the book to be quite introspective. To quote on page 36 the

author says, 'Like them, our sense of who we are has been shattered

by the advent of disability and the attendant stigmatization. We

too feel that we do not know ourselves......We may experience keen

self-doubt and loss of confidence, yet not even realize that these

feelings are related to our having given birth to a child with a

disability. It may take years for us to appreciate the impact this

trauma has had on our personalities and to understand how it has

affected our choices and decisions.'

Books for children that I've found awesome - especially for Ian:

1. You are Special by Max Lucado

A book about a wood boy who is made to understand how special he is -

no matter what the other wooden people may think.

2. Ruby in Her own Time by Emmett and Harry

Ruby is a duck who does everything in her own time from hatching to

eating to flying - everyone else is always ahead of her. But, she's

different and does things when she is ready. Of course, she's happy

in the end.

Okay, I promise I won't offer anymore thoughts or advice today. I'm

sure I've said enough for the next month or so!

Happy Reading. Oh, by the way, I'm reading ina by Leo

Tolstoy. Awesome book and much easier to read than War and Peace.

It was listed on Oprah's Summer Book List.

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