Blogging for Books: Positive Discipline Tools for Teachers

Positive Discipline Tools for Teachers by Nelson and Gfoerer is an important resource for redirecting teaching behaviors from the traditional punishment based system and towards a method that allows for the student to be an active participant in the process. Though I am not a teacher, I am a parent and often struggle with the "right" way to discipline my girls in a way that does not stifle their curiosity and encourages them to remain creative, while still taking responsibility for their actions and understanding consequences. This book is an excellent guide to just that and has opened my eyes to the possibilities and different approaches to looking at problematic behavior, if you want to call it that. The real take home message is that every child has his/her own way of navigating the world and they should be encouraged to embrace that rather than become victim to our "one size fits all" methodology. It also recognizes that a child's behavior is not one aspect to who they are and expands the focus to the emotional and social aspects of who they are and how discipline plays a role with those dynamics. In all, an interesting and worth while read.

Blogging for Books: Finally Focused

Finally Focused is a guide about some of the factors that lead to ADD/ADHD behaviors and how natural remedies can help to manage those symptoms or the symptoms of medication. What I found most interesting about the book is the historical background about the syndrome. I had no idea that cases dated back to 1902, which, unsurprisingly, were thought to be a defect in moral character rather than biological/environmental. The most important aspect that the author focuses on is that ADD/ADHD is really a subset of behaviors that may have one or more cause, so there is no "one size fits all" solution. He uses his 30+ years of experience to outline cases that he has successfully treated. 

Though I found the book to be an interesting read, I did not find the data that he provided to be sufficient enough to persuade me that his methods are sound. For someone who had over 30 years of experience treating cases, it felt like he offered only a few case studies and no large scale trends to further understand his treatments. I do think it is worth reading for someone to get more information and perspective or feels like they may have "tried everything" to help their child or themselves when managing the difficulties presented in ADD/ADHD. 

Blogging for Books: In A Different Key

In A Different Key: The Story of Autism by John Donvan and Caren Zucker is a comprehensive history about autism. Using biographical narrative the book explores the struggles regarding defining, diagnosing and treating autism as well as what that meant for human rights for those individuals. The stories are touching and hit to the core of compassion and intrigue.

I highly recommend this book how knows or loves anyone on the autism spectrum as a means to not only understand the condition, but also to understand how far the movement has come and still needs to go.