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Special Needs Resource Center

Find answers to questions about issues such as ADD/ADHD, inclusion, and assessment. This extensive collection of tips, articles, and materials was put together in collaboration with the Council for Exceptional Children.

Adapting Materials for the Inclusive Classroom

These helpful articles describe ways to modify the curriculum to reach all of students.
ADD/ADHD

These articles and resources will help you to deal with the special nature of students with ADD/ADHD.
Behavior Management

From environmental considerations to behavior programs – our resources will help you in this key area.
Being a Resource to Others

Descriptions of roles that will help you define your job as a schools' resource teacher.
Children's Books About Disabilities

This extensive list details books for both children and adults that deal with disabilities. The books are sorted by readability and their descriptions include the type of disability addressed.
Crossover Children – LD and Gifted

These resources will help you to work successfully with children who are both learning-disabled and gifted.
Culturally Diverse Students with Learning Problems

Learn how to meet the needs of students who come from diverse backgrounds.
English-Language Learners

There are many effective strategies and procedures for providing learning opportunities for English-language learners (ELL), even when the teacher doesn't speak their native language.
Helping Students Deal with Crises

You can help yourself and your students in your most needy times at school.
IEP Resource Center

These articles define, organize, and enhance the process and functioning of IEPs (Individualized Education Programs).
Learning Disabilities: Glossary of Terms

This glossary provides definitions of important terms related to learning disabilities.
Making Assessment Accommodations

Including students with disabilities in state- and district-wide assessment programs became a requirement in the 1997 Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Find over 25 practical accommodations that can be made in most classrooms. Social Skills and Autism

Techniques and strategies to help autistic students interact with their peers.
Strategies for Effective Document Management

Managing mounds of paper requires organization. These suggestions are successful strategies for creative and efficient document management.
Study Skills

These articles and handouts will help students to study more effectively.
Adaptations and Modifications for Special Needs Students

These articles and resources detail easy modifications to incorporate in your classroom.
Assessment and Accommodations

Read our suggestions for modifying assessments and trying new techniques to improve your knowledge of your students.
Behavior Management

From environmental considerations to behavior programs – our resources will help you in this key area.
Inclusion

Read best practices and handy tips to make inclusion a success in your school.
Learning Disabilities: Glossary of Terms

This glossary provides definitions of important terms related to learning disabilities.
Special Needs Web Resources

Use these sites to learn more about special learning needs.
Student Behavior Web Resources

Find strategies to change student behavior problems into positive behaviors.
Teaching English-Language Learners with Learning Difficulties

Practical information and guidelines for those working in districts or schools that provide services to students with a variety of learning difficulties for whom English is a second language.


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Adapting Materials for the Inclusive Classroom

When you're teaching in an inclusive classroom, it can be difficult to accomodate your materials to fit everyone's needs. These helpful articles describe ways to modify the curriculum to reach all of your students.

Adapting Instructional Materials -- Providing Direct Assistance

Providing one-on-one assistance to a student is perhaps the most demanding adaptation that needs to be made in an inclusive classroom.
Adapting Reading and Math Materials in the Inclusive Classroom

Descriptions of eight principles for making reading and math adaptations in the inclusive classroom.
Simplifying or Supplementing Existing Materials

Students with special needs can successfully become part of the regular classroom setting when existing materials are simplified or supplemented for them.
Structuring Lessons to Promote Learning from Materials

This article offers suggestions on modifying materials while teachers are planning for a lesson, not during the lesson.
Teaching Strategies for Using Materials in an Inclusive Classroom

Two well-defined strategies are described for helping special needs students become independent learners.
Adapting Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science for the Inclusive Classroom

A list of steps that provide a suggested framework for making decisions about using material adaptations effectively.
Adapting Existing Materials

An article on adaptations that can be used when existing materials are judged to be inappropriate but may only need simple modifications.

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/reading-instruction/teaching-methods/6729.html
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ADD/ADHD

These articles and resources will help you to deal with the special nature of students with ADD/ADHD.

Frequently Asked Questions on ADD/ADHD

These questions address issues around dealing with ADD and ADHD.
Learning Disabilities: Glossary of Terms

This glossary provides definitions of important terms related to learning disabilities.
Teaching Children with ADD/ADHD

This article details practice and theory behind teaching children with Attention Deficit Disorders.
Teaching Strategies for Students with ADD

A collection of articles outlining suggestions and strategies to use when working with students with ADD/ADHD.
ADHD and Children Who Are Gifted

Some children are both gifted and have Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Diagnosing and working with these students can be challenging; this article will help teachers and parents better understand this complex combination.
ADHD

Learn about attention deficit disorders and how they are treated.
Organization: Advice for Parents

Offer these tips to parents to help them teach their children to become more organized.
Parent/Teacher Relations

Handy suggestions for creating and maintaining positive parent/teacher relationships.
Children's Books About Disabilities

This extensive list details books for both children and adults that deal with disabilities. The books are sorted by readability and their descriptions include the type of disability addressed.
What Teachers and Parents Should Know About Ritalin

Read about the most prescribed medication for children -- the facts and fables of Ritalin.
Six Tips for Dealing with ADD Students

Learn practical, easy-to-implement ideas for dealing with ADD students.

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/add-and-adhd/resource/5348.html
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Behavior Management

From environmental considerations to behavior programs – our resources will help you in this key area.

Awards and Certificates

Reward your students by recognizing great effort, achievement, or progress with these printable certificates and awards.
Behavioral Contracting: A Technique for Handling Disruptive Behavior

This disruptive behavior technique involves using behavior contracts to prevent poor behavior.
Behavior Management Forms

Use these charts, forms, and contracts to monitor your students' behavior.
Behavior Management -- Proactive Measures

A list of proactive measures that can be taken to keep order in your classroom.
Behavior Techniques

These behavior techniques are particularly appropriate for younger children, but can be adapted to meet the needs of students of all ages.
Bully-Proof Your Classroom

Find suggestions on how to make your classroom a peaceful, non-threatening environment.
Catch Them Being Good: A Technique for Handling Disruptive Behavior

This behavior technique includes ways to focus on the good behavior a child displays.
Characteristics of Effective Behavior Managers

Characteristics of teachers who are effective behavior managers.
Charting and Reinforcing Behaviors

Two handy charts are given to track student behavior as well as a list of possible positive reinforcers.
Classroom Forms

Use these all-subject forms to help organize your classroom.
Controlling Aggressive Behavior

These references describe how behavior and classroom management are interrelated. Included are strategies for success.
Convey Acceptance

This handy list of techniques will help you build trust and establish a positive environment in your classroom.
Decision-Making Sheet

This sheet is designed to help students write about and organize their behaviors in a productive, positive manner.
Elementary Classroom Survival Tips

These survival tips will assist elementary teachers in reading, math, social studies, science, health, and more.
Environmental Interventions

Adapting the environment to the learner is a key to managing disruptive behavior. This list details some basic environmental interventions.
Are Teachers the Culprit Behind Poor Behavior?

If you're having behavioral problems in your classroom, find out if your own actions could be creating an environment that encourages students to misbehave. Students' Contributions to the Rules

Brainstorm classroom rules with your students at the first of the year so your students know what is expected of them and feel responsible for following the rules.
Tips for Achieving and Maintaining Discipline

There are certain steps you can take to ensure that your students are disciplined and behave in an appropriate manner. Find those tips here.
Establishing Trust

The key to effective behavior management is establishing trust. This article details the key points to facilitating a trustworthy environment.
Expeditionary Learning: Building Confidence by Risking Failure

Expeditionary Learning is a unique program that emphasizes hands-on, project-based, group learning, where students participate in expeditions and the real world becomes the classroom.
Getting to Know Your Students

This resource page will give you plenty of tips and suggestions for getting to know your students, from icebreakers to self portraits to first-day celebrations.
How to Manage Disruptive Behavior in Inclusive Classrooms

Managing disruptive behavior is examined in detail.
Positive Classroom Behavior

Read ideas and find resources on establishing and maintaining acceptable behavior in your students.
Putting a Positive Spin on Peer Pressure

Peer pressure has the potential to be a powerfully positive force. By leading students through self-awareness activities, you can create a group of peers who value individualism, practice it in their own lives, and encourage it in others.
Personalizing the Secondary Classroom

These excellent resources will provide you with ideas and activities for back to school, as well as the rest of the school year.
Positive Descriptions of Student Behavior

An extensive list of verbs and phrases that will help you to prepare positive, descriptive statements about a student's behavior.
Room Arrangement

Arrangement of class space is crucial when dealing with disruptive students and important to consider for all students.
Setting Limits

The general guidelines for setting limits with all ages of children are listed here.
Classroom Management Strategies

Get instant ideas on how to manage your toughest behavior challenges.
Tough Love: How to Work with a Disruptive Student

You're a teacher challenged with a difficult student. You've tried being nice and not so nice, going back and forth between these extremes. Now may be the time to try "tough love," an approach that works.
What I Wish I'd Known When I Was a New Teacher: Advice

A compilation of valuable and effective pieces of advice from experienced teachers on classroom management, lesson planning, and more.

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-discipline/resource/5806.html

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Being a Resource to Others

In the past, the role of the special education teacher did not offer much interaction, if any, with the rest of the school. The job was to work with the students and keep them "out of the way." Special education teachers belonged to their students in their room.

Over the years, special education teachers have gradually moved up and out into the school world. They and their students flow in and out of the hallways, lunchrooms, and classrooms, and interact with the rest of the school. Special education classes are no longer isolated and cannot be ignored. Special education teachers no longer belong just to their students; they are in the mainstream of schools.

Many of you are now in what is called a resource room setting. Your students flow into and out of your room, as well as mainstream into regular education classes. You have to interact with regular education personnel.

Each of the following roles will help define your job as a school's resource teacher. Take what you can and adapt it to your own needs and priorities. Remember that your effectiveness as a resource depends, at least in part, on your being confident and comfortable with the role. Make it fit you and your school.
Salesperson/PR Person

Collaborator/Communicator

Liaison

Disseminator

Time Manager

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/teaching-methods/teacher-training/9853.html

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Children's Books About Disabilities

This list has been sorted by the books' readability levels. To find what you want, click on a readability grouping below:

AC = Adult Read to Children. For Pre-K to Grade 3, ranging from 10 to 30 pages, with illustrations; typically designed for parents to read to their children.

JE = Juvenile Easy Reader. For children who are beginning to read on their own, such as those in Grades 1-2; ranging from 30 to 80 pages; illustrations are included to break up the text.

JF = Juvenile Fiction. Children's fiction or chapter books; for children in Grades 2-6; ranging from 60 to 200 pages, the books are generally divided into chapters, contain fewer illustrations, and have more complicated plots or concepts than either AC or JE books.

YA = Young Adult. For young adults in Grades 5-12; more complicated plots and topics of general interest to the young adult population.

A = Adult. Contains language and/or content that may be unsuitable for young adults.
AC – Adult Read to Children
Title: Andy and His Yellow Frisbee
Author: Mary Thompson
Publisher: Woodbine House, 6510 Bells Mill Road, Bethesda, MD 20817; 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-0-933149-83-2
Disability: Autism
Story Profile: Sarah is a new girl at school who is curious about why Andy spins his yellow frisbee every day by himself on the playground. When Sara tries to talk to Andy, Rosie, Andy's older sister, watches and worries about how her brother may react. Rosie knows that Andy is in his own world most of the time, and that he has trouble finding the words to express himself.
Reading Level: AC

Title: A Picture Book of Helen Keller
Author: David A. Adler
Publisher: Holiday House
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8234-0818-3
Disability: Deaf-Blind
Story Profile: Some salient details in the life of Helen Keller are described in this pictorial biography; her frustration and untamed behavior and the radical changes effected by Anne Sullivan Macy.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Armann and Gentle
Author: Kristin Steinsdottir
Publisher: Stuttering Foundation of America, PO Box 11749, Memphis, TN 38111-0749; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-0-933388-36-5
Disability: Stuttering
Story Profile: A six-year-old boy, Armann, stutters when he is frustrated.
Reading Level: AC

Title: A Very Special Friend
Author: Dorothy Hoffman Levi
Publisher: Gallaudet University Press, Kendall Green, 800 Florida Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20002-3695; 1989
ISBN #: ISBN-0-9300323-55-6
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: Frannie, a lonely little girl, discovers a new friend when a deaf girl her age moves in next door.
Reading Level: AC

Title: A Very Special Sister
Author: Dorothy Hoffman Levi
Publisher: Gallaudet University Press, Kendall Green, 800 Florida Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20002-3695; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-930323-96-3
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: Mixed feelings are experienced by Laura, a young deaf girl, upon finding out her mother will soon give birth. Her initial excitement is replaced by worries that the new child, if able to hear, would be more lovable.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Be Good to Eddie Lee
Author: Virginia FilIing
Publisher: Philomel Books, Putnam & Grosset Group, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
ISBN #: ISBN-0-399-21993-5
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Eddie Lee, a young boy with Down syndrome, follows the neighborhood children into the woods to find frog eggs. They are resentful and try to make him stay home.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Big Brother Dustin
Author: Alden R. Carter
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co., 6340 Oakton Street, Morton Grove, IL 60053-2723; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8075-0715-6
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Dustin, a young boy with Down syndrome, learns that his parents are expecting a baby.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Cat's Got Your Tongue?
Author: Charles E. Schaefer, Ph.D.
Publisher: Brunner/Mazel, Publishers, 19 Union Square, New York, NY 10003; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-945354-45-2 hard copy; ISBN-0-945354-46-0 paperback
Disability: Communication Disorders, Mutism
Story Profile: Anna, a kindergartner, is diagnosed as an electively mute child.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Eukee: The Jumpy Jumpy Elephant
Author: Clifford L. Corman and Esther Trevino
Publisher: Specialty Press; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-0-921629-8-1
Disability: Attention Deficit Disorder
Story Profile: Eukee is a smart little elephant who likes to chase butterflies,
blow bubbles, and do cartwheels. He always feels jumpy inside, however, and can never finish the march at school. Unhappy that he doesn't have any friends, he consents to a visit to the doctor where he learns he has ADD.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Clover's Secret
Author: Christine M. Winn and David Walsh, Ph.D.
Publisher: Fairview Press, 2450 Riverside Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55454; 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-0-925190-89-6
Disability: Child Abuse
Story Profile: Clove attempts to hide family violence. She feels much better when she confides in her teacher and the family receives help.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Danny and the Merry-Go-Round
Author: Nan Holcomb
Publisher: Jason and Nordic, Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1987
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-00-X
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Danny, who has cerebral palsy, visits the park with his mother and watches other children playing on a playground. He makes friends with a young girl after his mother explains cerebral palsy to her and points out that it is not contagious.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Happy Birthday Jason
Author: C. Jean Cutbill and Diane Rawsthorn
Publisher: IPI Publishing Ltd., 50 Prince Arthur Avenue, Suite 306, Toronto, Ontario, M5R 1B5 Canada; 1984
ISBN #: 0-920702-37-6
Disability: Reading Disability, Dyslexia
Story Profile: A delightful story that will help children better understand their world by understanding Jason's. His story reveals that children with learning disabilities are more similar to other children than they are different.
Reading Level: AC


Title: Having a Brother Like David
Author: Cindy Dolby Nollette and Others
Publisher: Minneapolis Children's Medical Center, Early Childhood Center,
2520 Minnehaha Ave., South, Minneapolis, MN 55404; 1985
ISBN #: N/A
Disability: Autism
Story Profile: Marty's brother, David, is autistic. Marty explains that David looks a lot like other children but has special needs.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Ian's Walk: A Story About Autism
Author: Laurie Lears
Publisher: Albert Whitman and Company, 6340 Oakton St.,
Morton Grove, IL 60053-2723; 1998
ISBN #: 0-8075-3480-3
Disability: Autism
Story Profile: Tara feels frustrated while taking a walk with her autistic brother, Ian. After she becomes separated from him, she learns to appreciate the way Ian experiences the world.
Reading Level: AC

Title:Keith Edward's Different Days
Author: Karen Melberg Schwier
Publisher: Impact Publishers
ISBN #: ISBN-0-915166-74-7
Disability: Down Syndrome; Physical Disabilities
Story Profile: Keith meets a variety of people with differences, including Down syndrome and physical differences, and learns that being different is okay.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Knots on a Counting Rope
Author: Bill Martin and John Archambault
Publisher: Henry Holt
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8050-0571-4
Disability: Blindness
Story Profile: A boy is told a story by his grandfather of a boy born blind.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Lee: The Rabbit with Epilepsy
Author: Deborah M. Moss
Publisher: Woodbine House, 5615 Fisher's Lane, Rockville, MD 20852; 1989
ISBN #: ISBN-0-933149-32-8
Disability: Epilepsy
Story Profile: Lee is a young rabbit who experiences occasional
blackouts and trances. After Dr. Bob, the wise owl, administers a series
of neurological tests, Lee is told she has epilepsy.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Leo the Late Bloomer
Author: Robert Kraus
Publisher: Harper Collins, 1971
ISBN #: ISBN-0-87807-042-7
Disability: Developmental Delays
Story Profile: Leo is a tiger cub who just can't keep up with what the other animals are doing. He can't read, write, or speak, and he is a sloppy eater; he's a late bloomer.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Luke Has Asthma, Too
Author: Alison Rogers
Publisher: Waterfront Books, 98 Brookes Ave., Burlington, VT 05401; 1987
ISBN #: ISBN-0-914525-06-9
Disability: Asthma
Story Profile: Luke has an older cousin who teaches him some aspects of asthma management and serves as a general role model.
Reading Level: AC

Title: My Brother, Matthew
Author: Mary Thompson
Publisher: Woodbine House, 5615 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-993149-47-6
Disability: Mental Retardation
Story Profile: David is a young boy who describes life with his younger
brother who was born with a mental disability.
Reading Level: AC

Title: My Mom Is Handicapped: A "Grownup" Children's Book
Author: Barbara Turner Brabham
Publisher: Cornerstone Publishing, PO Box 2896, Virginia Beach, VA 23450; 1994
ISBN #: ISBN-1-882185-22-6
Disability: Physical Disabilities
Story Profile: A six-year-old boy describes life with his mother, a teacher with physical disabilities.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Otto Learns About His Medicine: A Story About Medication for Hyperactive Children
Author: Matthew Galvin
Publisher: Magination Press/Brunner Mazel, 19 Union Square West, New York, NY 10003; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-0-945354-04-5 hard copy; ISBN-0-945354-03-7
Disability: Hyperactivity
Story Profile: Otto, a fidgety young car that has trouble paying attention in school, visits a special mechanic who prescribes a medicine to control his hyperactive behavior.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Russ and the Apple Tree Surprise
Author: Janet Elizabeth Rickert
Publisher: Woodbine House, 5615 Fishers Lane,
Rockville, MD 20852; 1992
ISBN #: 1-890627-16-x
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Russ, a five-year old boy with Down syndrome longs for a swing set. All his backyard has to offer is an apple tree. When his grandparents visit, Russ discovers the job of picking apples and making them into apple pie. He decides that his apple tree may be just as good as a swing set.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Russ and the Fire House
Author: Janet Elizabeth Rickert
Publisher: Woodbine House, 5615 Fishers Lane,
Rockville, MD 20852; 1992
ISBN #: 1-890627-17-8
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Russ is a young boy with Down syndrome whose everyday life experiences - not his disability - are the subject of books in this series. Russ goes "on-duty" with his Uncle, a fireman. Their shift includes a full inspection of the fire equipment, including keeping it clean. He also encounters Spark, the firehouse dog. At the end of this exciting day, all the firemen thank Russ for his hard work and invite him back for another visit.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Russell Is Extra Special: A Book About Autism for Children
Author: Charles A. Amenta III, M.D.
Publisher: Brunner/Mazel, Publishers, 19 Union Square, New York, NY 10003; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-945354-43-6
Disability: Autism
Story Profile: This portrayal of an autistic boy and his family is designed to help children (ages 4 to 8) and their parents understand this serious developmental disorder.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Silent Observer
Author: Christy MacKinnon
Publisher: Gallaudet University Press, Kendall Green, 800 Florida Ave. NE,
Washington, DC 20002-3695; 1993
ISBN #: ISBN-1-56368-022-X
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: Christy MacKinnon is a young girl born in 1889 on a farm on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada who became deaf after having whooping cough. She describes her life in adjusting to deafness, her relationships with family, and her problems trying to understand and be understood by hearing individuals.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Talking to Angels
Author: Esther Watson
Publisher: Harcourt Brace, 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495; 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-0-15-201077-7
Disability: Autism
Story Profile: Christa is an autistic girl who is described in this picture book by her sibling. Her behavior is described and illustrated in mixed media, including her favorite sounds and textures, occasional staring and fixation on stimuli, and interactions with others.
Reading Level: AC

Title: There's a Little Bit of Me in Jamey
Author: Diana M. Amadeo
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co., 6340 Oakton Street, Morton Grove, IL 60053-2723
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8075-7854-1
Disability: Leukemia
Story Profile: Brian struggles with the fact that his brother Jamey has leukemia and submits to a bone marrow test, which leads to a transplant.
Reading Level: AC

Title: Thomas Alva Edison: Great Inventor
Author: David A. Adler
Publisher: Holiday House
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8234-0820-5
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: Thomas Edison's life and his many inventions, despite his deafness, that shape our lives today are explored in this book.
Reading Level: AC

Title: What Do You Mean I Have a Learning Disability?
Author: Kathleen M. Dwyer
Publisher: Walker and Company, 720 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10019; 1991
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8027-8102-0
Disability: Learning Disabilities
Story Profile: Ten-year-old Jimmy is having problems at school and believes he is stupid. After a parent-teacher conference, he is tested and found to have a learning disability.
Reading Level: AC

Title: What It's Like to Be Me
Author: Helen Exley
Publisher: Friendship Press, 1984
ISBN #: ISBN-0-377-00144-9
Disability: Various Disabilities
Story Profile: Children from all over the world write about themselves and their disabilities. They tell us how they see themselves and how they want to be seen. All of the illustrations are created by the children.
Reading Level: AC

Title: You Can Call Me Willy. A Story for Children About AIDS
Author: Joan C. Verniero
Publisher: Brunner/Mazel Publishers, 19 Union Square West, New York, NY 10003; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-0-945354-60-6
Disability: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
Story Profile: Willy is an eight-year-old girl with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Describing her life, she shares her hobbies, friends, family life, and aspects of her medical care and how it impacts her activities.
Reading Level: AC


Children's Books About Disabilities


JE - Juvenile Easy Reader
Title: Andy Finds a Turtle
Author: Nan Holcomb
Publisher: Jason and Nordic Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1988
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-02-6
Disability: Physical Disabilities
Story Profile: Andy enjoys physical therapy most of the time, but sometimes he doesn't. One day he's told he acts like a turtle with his legs and arms drawn in tight - but Andy doesn't know what a turtle is, so he goes in search of one. In this search he protects his baby sister from a strange invader and discovers something important about himself.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Andy Opens Wide
Author: Nan Holcomb
Publisher: Jason and Nordic Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1990
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-06-9
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Andy, a young boy with cerebral palsy, is frustrated by his inability to open his mouth wide enough for his mother to feed him easily.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Anna Joins In
Author: Katrin Arnold
Publisher: Abingdon Press, 201 Eighth Ave. South, Nashville, TN 37202
ISBN #: ISBN-0-687-01530-8
Disability: Cystic Fibrosis
Story Profile: Anna is a young girl who has a difficult pattern to her days because she has cystic fibrosis.
Reading Level: JE

Title: A Smile from Andy
Author: Nan Holcomb
Publisher: Jason and Nordic Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1989
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-04-2
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Andy, who has cerebral palsy, is very shy. One day he meets a girl who helps him discover something that he can do to reach out to others in his own special way.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Buddy's Shadow
Author: Shirley Becker
Publisher: Jason and Nordic Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1991
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-08-05
Disability: Down syndrome
Story Profile: Buddy, a five-year-old boy with Down syndrome, purchases a puppy.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Can't You Be Still?
Author: Sarah Yates
Publisher: Gima B. Publishing Inc., Box #713-740 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3M 0Y1; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-9696477-0-0
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Ann, who has cerebral palsy, attends school for the first time.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Charlsie's Chuckle
Author: Clara Widess Berkus
Publisher: Woodbine House, 5615 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-933149-50-6
Disability: Down syndrome
Story Profile: Charlsie, a seven-year-old boy with Down syndrome, has an infectious laugh and enjoys bicycling around his neighborhood. On one such excursion he inadvertently wanders into a disputatious city council meeting and brings humor and harmony to the argumentative adults.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Cookie
Author: Linda Kneeland
Publisher: Jason and Nordic, Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1989
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-50
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Molly, a four-year-old girl with Down syndrome, has difficulty talking. Her frustration with communication difficulties is relieved when someone comes to teach her sign language.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Fair and Square
Author: Nan Holcomb
Publisher: Jason and Nordic Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-10-7 hardback; ISBN-0-944727-09-3 paperback
Disability: Physical Disabilities
Story Profile: Kevin is confined to a wheelchair and has limited motor skills. A therapist introduces him to a computer game he can play and win, and shows him how to adapt other games for his use.
Reading Level: JE

Title: How About a Hug
Author: Nan Holcomb
Publisher: Jason and Nordic Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1987
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-01-8
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: A young girl with Down syndrome includes the details of a typical day in her life. While her daily activities require a degree of concentration and don't go perfectly smoothly, she is surrounded by helpful, supportive, and affectionate friends, family, and teachers, all of whom she agrees to hug when they offer.
Reading Level: JE

Title: I'm Like You, You're Like Me: A Child's Book about Understanding and Celebrating Each Other
Author: Cindy Gainer
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 616,
Minneapolis, MN 55401-1724; 1998
ISBN #: ISBN-1-57542-039-2
Disability: General Disabilities
Story Profile: Children interact with people who are different from themselves; share, take turns, work and play together; discover and develop traits and skills that make them unique; and explore the many ways in which they are like and unlike others.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Joey and Sam
Author: Illana Katz and Edward Ritvo
Publisher: Real Life Story Books; 1993
ISBN #: ISBN-1-882388-00-3
Disability: Autism
Story Profile: Sam is five and has autism, and Joey is his six-year-old brother. They describe an ordinary day at home and at school, showing some of the ways they are different and alike.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Kathy's Hats: A Story of Hope
Author: Trudy Krisher
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co., 6340 Oakton St., Morton Grove, IL 60053; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8075-4116-8
Disability: Cancer
Story Profile: Kathy is a young girl who develops cancer and loses her hair as a result of chemotherapy.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Kevin's Story
Author: Dvora Levinson, Ph.D.
Publisher: IPI Publishing Ltd., 50 Prince Arthur Avenue, Suite 306, Toronto, Ontario, M5R 1B5 Canada; 1984
ISBN #: 0-920702-22-88
Disability: Reading Disability, Dyslexia
Story Profile: Kevin exhibits reading problems and is referred for testing with a psychologist who explains reading and learning disabilities to him and his family.
Reading Level: JE-JF

Title: Little Tree: A Story for Children with Serious Medical Problems
Author: Joyce C. Mills, Ph.D.
Publisher: Brunner/Mazel Publishers, 19 Union Sq. West, New York, NY 10003; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-94534-52-5 hardback; ISBN-0-945354-51-7 paperback
Disability: Chronic Illness
Story Profile: A small tree that loses some branches in a storm is used to illustrate the questions and feelings children may experience during and after medical problems.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Luna and the Big Blur: A Story for Children Who Wear Glasses
Author: Shirley Day
Publisher: Magination Press, 19 Union Square West, New York, NY 10003; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-0-945354-66-5
Disability: Visual Impairments
Story Profile: Luna resents the fact that she needs glasses to correct her nearsightedness.
Reading Level: JE

Title: My Sister Is Different
Author: Betty Ren Wright
Publisher: Steck-Vaughn Company, PO Box 26015 Austin, TX 78755; 1990
ISBN #: ISBN- 0-8172-1369-4
Disability: Mental Retardation
Story Profile: Carlo tells us what it is like to have an older sister with mental retardation.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Naomi Knows It's Springtime
Author: Virginia L. Kroll
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press Inc., 910 Church St., Honesdale, PA 18431; 1987
ISBN #: ISBN-1-56397-006-0
Disability: Blindness
Story Profile: Naomi tells us of the signs of spring through the mind of the blind.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Patrick and Ima Lou
Author: Nan Holcomb
Publisher: Jason and Nordic Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1994
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-03-4
Disability: Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida
Story Profile: Three-year-old Patrick has cerebral palsy. He is having a hard time managing his new walker, but with the help of a new friend, Ima Lou, who is six and has spina bifida, they both discover something very important about each other.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Sarah and Puffle: A Story for Children About Diabetes
Author: Linnea Mulder
Publisher: Henry Holt
ISBN #: ISBN-0-94534-41-X hardback; ISBN-0-945354-42-8 paperback
Disability: Diabetes
Story Profile: Sarah feels resentful of the limitations the disease places on her activities until a stuffed animal (Puffle) comes to life and offers her encouraging rhymes about coping with diabetes.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Sarah's Surprise
Author: Nan Holcomb
Publisher: Jason and Nordic Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1990
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-07-7
Disability: Articulation Impairments
Story Profile: Six-year-old Sarah, who is unable to talk, has used a picture board to communicate. She is now ready for an augmentative communication device. With the help of her speech therapist she gives everyone a surprise at her mother's birthday party.
Reading Level: JE

Title: See You Tomorrow, Charles
Author: Miriam Cohen
Publisher: Greenwillow
ISBN #: ISBN-0-688-01804-1
Disability: Blindness
Story Profile: Charles is a first grader who is adjusting to school as a blind student.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Shelley: The Hyperactive Turtle
Author: Deborah M. Moss
Publisher: Woodbine House, 5615 Fisher's Lane, Rockville, MD 20852; 1988
ISBN #: ISBN-0-933149-31-X
Disability: Hyperactivity
Story Profile: Shelley is a young hyperactive turtle who faces difficulties due to his inability to sit still and his frequent behavior problems, which lead to problems at school and on the bus, at home, and with friends, eventually leading to a poor self-image and depression. After a visit to a neurologist, he no longer thinks of himself as a bad turtle and his condition gradually improves.
Reading Level: JE

Title: The Bob (Butterbean) Love Story
Author: Terry Page and Bob Love
Publisher: Boo Books, Inc., PO Box 201128, Chicago, Illinois 60620-1128; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-1-887864-40-7
Disability: Speech Impairments
Story Profile: Bob's autobiography tells his story: a famous basketball player with a speech impediment.
Reading Level: JE

Title: The Night Search
Author: Kate Chamberlin
Publisher: Richard S. McPhee, Jason & Nordic, Pubs., PO Box 441,
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-31-X
Disability: Blindness
Story Profile: Heather, who is blind, resists using her white cane until her puppy wanders off.
Reading Level: JE

Title: There's a Blue Square on My Brother's School Bus
Author: Sally Craymer
Publisher: The Wishing Room, Inc., PO Box 58, Studley, VA 23162
ISBN #: ISBN-0-931563-12-7
Disability: Disabilities
Story Profile: This book discusses various types of disabilities. An emphasis is placed on what children with disabilities are able to do and ways in which they can participate in mainstream student life.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Thumbs Up, Rico!
Author: Maria Testa
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co., 6340 Oakton Street, Morton Grove, IL 60053-2723; 1990
ISBN #: ISBN- 0-8075-7906-8
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Rico is a boy with Down syndrome who loves basketball. The story describes his relationship with a neighborhood boy named Caesar, his older sister Nina, and his art class.
Reading Level: JE

Title: We Can Do It!
Author: Laura Dwight
Publisher: Checkerboard Press, Inc., 30 Vesey St., New York, NY 10007; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-1-56288-301-1
Disability: Disabilities
Story Profile: The daily activities of five children who each have either cerebral palsy, blindness, spina bifida, or Down syndrome. Color photographs show the children engaging in their favorite pastimes at home and at school, with family members and with peers.
Reading Level: JE

Title: We'll Paint the Octopus Red
Author: Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen
Publisher: Woodbine House, Inc., 6510 Bells Mill Road, Bethesda, MD 20817; 1998
ISBN #: ISBN-1-890627-06-2
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Ima is a little girl who has a new baby brother with Down syndrome.
Reading Level: JE

Title: What About Me? When Brothers and Sisters Get Sick
Author: Allan Peterkin, M.D.
Publisher: Brunner/Mazel Publishers, 19 Union Sq. West, New York, NY 10003; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-94534-48-7 hardback; ISBN-0-945354-49-5 paperback
Disability: Chronic Illness
Story Profile: Laura is a young girl attempting to cope with her brother Tom's chronic illness. The story describes her wide range of emotions including guilt, fear, anger, anxiety, and a general sense of disruption of normal family life.
Reading Level: JE

Title: When I Grow Up
Author: Candri Hodges
Publisher: Jason & Nordic Publishers, PO Box 441, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-0-944727-26-3
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: Jimmy is a deaf youth who takes a field trip and encounters various careers of deaf individuals.
Reading Level: JE

Title: Where's Chimpy?
Author: Berniece Rabe
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co., 6340 Oakton Street, Morton Grove, IL 60053; 1988
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8075-8928-4
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Misty, a young girl with Down syndrome, misplaced her stuffed monkey and reviews her day with her father to try to remember where she left him.
Reading Level: JE

Children's Books About Disabilities
JF - Juvenile Fiction
Title: Adam and the Magic Marble
Author: Adam and Carol Buehrens
Publisher: Hope Press, PO Box 188, Duarte, CA 91009-0188; 1991
ISBN #: ISBN-1-878267-30-2
Disability: Tourette Syndrome; Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Adam, Chris, and Matt are often harassed by bullies until they discover a magic marble.
Reading Level: JF

Title: A Zebra Named Al
Author: Wendy Isdell
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing, 400 First Ave., North, Suite 616, Minneapolis, MN 55401; 1993
ISBN #: ISBN-0-915793-58-X paperback; ISBN-0915793-59-8 manual
Disability: Learning Disability
Story Profile: Julie is an eighth grader who has trouble in math. Frustrated, she rests her head on her book... and is awakened by an Imaginary Number who suddenly appears in her room. When she follows the Number through a mysterious portal, she enters a strange land of mathematics, where she meets a zebra named Al.
Reading Level: JF

Title: A Season of Secrets
Author: Alison Cragin Herzig and Jane Lawrence Mali
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN #: ISBN-0-316-35889-4
Disability: Epilepsy
Story Profile: Benji is a six-year-old who has been fainting at school and Brooke and Jason, his teenage sister and brother, wonder all summer long what is wrong with him.
Reading Level: JF

Title: At the Back of the Woods
Author: Claudia Mills
Publisher: Four Winds
ISBN #: ISBN-0-07830-5
Disability: Mental Retardation
Story Profile: Davey is a young boy with mental retardation who is at a special care facility. His sister, Clarisse, and his parents come to visit him.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Eagle Eyes: A Child's View of Attention Deficit Disorder
Author: Jeanne Gehret, M.A.
Publisher: Verbal Images Press, 19 Fox Hill Dr., Fairport, NY 14450; 1991
ISBN #: ISBN-0-9625136-4-4
Disability: Attention Deficit Disorder
Story Profile: Ben, a boy with attention deficit disorder, describes the frustrations and feelings associated with his initially unidentified syndrome.
Reading Level: JF

Title: First Star I See
Author: Jaye Andras Caffrey
Publisher: Verbal Images Press, 19 Fox Hill Drive, Fairport, NY 14450; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-1-884281-17-6
Disability: Attention Deficit Disorder
Story Profile: Paige is a young girl with ADD who is trying to win a school writing contest.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Here's What I Mean To Say...
Author: Sarah Yates
Publisher: GIma B. Publishing Inc., Box #713-740 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada R3M 0Y1; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-0-9696477-2-7
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Ann (age nine) who has cerebral palsy, takes us through her struggles with everyday activities.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Hi, I'm Adam. A Child's Story of Tourette Syndrome
Author: Adam Buehrens
Publisher: Hope Press, PO Box 188, Duarte, CA 91009-0188; 1991
ISBN #: ISBN-1-878267-29-9
Disability: Tourette Syndrome
Story Profile: Adam, a ten-year-old boy diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, wrote this book to help children with Tourette syndrome understand that they are not alone and that other children are experiencing similar difficulties.
Reading Level: JF

Title: How Dyslexic Benny Became a Star: A Story of Hope for Dyslexic Children and Their Parents
Author: Joe Griffith
Publisher: Yorktown Press, PO Box 795667, Dallas, TX 75379-5667; 1998
ISBN #: ISBN-0-9569379-0-9
Disability: Dyslexia
Story Profile: Benny, who has dyslexia, struggles while his fifth-grade classmates' skills improve. He is suddenly terrified when he is called upon by his teacher to read aloud.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Howie Helps Himself
Author: Joan Fassler
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co.; 1975
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8075-3422-6
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Howie has cerebral palsy. He gets around in a wheelchair, or rather, other people get him around in his wheelchair. More than anything, Howie wants to move that chair himself.
Reading Level: JF

Title: How Many Days Until Tomorrow?
Author: Caroline Janover
Publisher: Woodbine House
ISBN #: ISBN-1-890627-22-4
Disability: Dyslexia
Story Profile: Josh is a 12-year-old who has dyslexia. When he spends a summer on an island with his grandparents, he develops his strengths and discovers talents he did not know he had.
Reading Level: JF

Title: I'm Joshua and "Yes I Can"
Author: Joan Lenett Whinston
Publisher: Vantage Press, Inc., 516 West 34th St., New York, NY 10001; 1989
ISBN #: ISBN-0-533-07959-4
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Joshua, a young boy with cerebral palsy, describes his fears and insecurities about his disability on his first day in first grade.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Josh: A Boy with Dyslexia
Author: Caroline Janover
Publisher: Waterfront Books, 98 Brookes Ave., Burlington, VT 05401; 1988
ISBN #: ISBN-0-914525-18-2 hardcover; ISBN-0-914515-10-7 paperback
Disability: Dyslexia
Story Profile: The life and adventures of Josh, who has dyslexia, as he moves to a new town and school.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Learning Disabilities and the Don't Give Up Kid
Author: Jeanne Gehret
Publisher: Verbal Images Press, 19 Fox Hill Drive, Fairport, NY 14450; 1990
ISBN #: ISBN-9625136-0-1
Disability: Dyslexia
Story Profile: A dyslexic boy wants to grow up to be an inventor like Thomas Edison but is constantly frustrated by problems at school. He switches into a small special education class of children with auditory processing difficulties. The teacher gives him more personal attention, using an example from Edison's life to inspire him.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Ludwig van Beethoven: Musical Pioneer
Author: Carol Greene
Publisher: Childrens Pr.
ISBN #: ISBN-0-516-04208-4
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: The life of Beethoven is chronicled from his despair over his worsening deafness to his deepening commitment to his music.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Margaret's Moves
Author: Bernice Rabe
Publisher: Dutton
ISBN #: ISBN-0-525-44271-5
Disability: Spina Bifida
Story Profile: Margaret is nine years old and has problems with the fact that she is in a wheelchair and blames it for slowing her down.
Reading Level: JF

Title: My Friend Ben
Author: Wanda Gilberts Kachur
Publisher: Peytral Publications, PO Box 1162, Suite 976, Minnetonka, MN 55345; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-0-9644271-4-1
Disability: Head Injuries
Story Profile: Narrated through the eyes of a classmate, this story tells of Ben, a boy with traumatic brain injury who is included in a general education, third-grade class.
Reading Level: JF

Title: My Name Is Brain Brian
Author: Jeanne Betancourt
Publisher: Scholastic Inc., 730 Broadway, New York, NY 10003; 1993
ISBN #: ISBN-0-590-44921-4
Disability: Dyslexia
Story Profile: Brian, a sixth-grade boy is diagnosed as having dyslexia. His initial trepidation at being singled out for attention and diagnosis is gradually replaced by enthusiasm for learning new ways of learning.
Reading Level: JF

Title: My Sister Annie
Author: Bill Dodds
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press Inc., 910 Church St., Honesdale, PA 18431; 1989
ISBN #: ISBN-1-56397-114-3
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Charlie is an 11-year-old boy who attempts to cope with growing up in the shadow of an older sister with Down syndrome.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Rosie: A Visiting Dog's Story
Author: Stephanie Calmenson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co., 215 Park Ave. South, New York, NY 10003; 1994
ISBN #: ISBN-0-395-654477-7
Disability: Disabilities
Story Profile: Rosie, a Tibetan terrier who is trained to work as a visiting dog, provides therapeutic comfort and entertainment to children and adults who are hospitalized or in nursing homes.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Sara's Secret
Author: Suzanne Wanous
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-0-87614-856-9
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Justin is five with cerebral palsy and mental retardation. He "can't walk or talk or feed himself, or even sit up," but still, he makes his sister Sara happy. Sara is not happy, however, when her teacher plans a unit on disabilities. Sara doesn't want her friends to know about her brother.
Reading Level: JF

Title: The Best Fight
Author: Anne Schlieper
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company, 6340 Oakton Street, Morton Grove, IL 60053-2723; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8075-0662-1
Disability: Reading Difficulties
Story Profile: Jamie is an adolescent boy who has learning disabilities that impair his reading. Frustration at his low reading ability combines with alienation due to his placement in special classes. His mixed emotions toward his teachers, friends, and family are explored.
Reading Level: JF

Title: The Flying Fingers Club
Author: Jean F. Andrews
Publisher: Kendall Green
ISBN #: ISBN-0-930323-44-0
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: Donald is a third grader who is bitter about repeating that grade when he meets Matt, who comes to class with an interpreter because he is deaf; they become fast friends.
Reading Level: JF

Title: The Summer Kid
Author: Myrna Neuringer Levy
Publisher: Second Story Press, 760 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Canada M5S 2R6; 1991
ISBN #: ISBN-0-929005-20-1
Disability: Language Impairments
Story Profile: Karen, a ten-year-old girl who stays at a summer cottage with her grandmother encounters Tommy, a nine-year-old boy with a severe language disorder.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Trouble with School: A Family Story About Learning Disabilities
Author: Kathryn Boesel Dunn and Allison Boesel Dunn
Publisher: Woodbine House, 5615 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852
ISBN #: ISBN-0-933149-57-3
Disability: Learning Disabilities
Story Profile: A family's real-life experiences with learning disabilities follows Allison and her mother as each tells her side of the story of diagnosing and adjusting to Allison's special learning needs.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Wrongway Applebaum
Author: Marjorie Lewis
Publisher: Coward
ISBN #: ISBN-0-698-20610-X
Disability: Learning Disabilities
Story Profile: Stanley is in fifth grade when his awkwardness and inability to tell left from right conflict with his family's interest in baseball.
Reading Level: JF

Title: Zipper, the Kid with ADHD
Author: Caroline Janover
Publisher: Woodbine House, Inc., 6510 Bells Mill Road, Bethesda, MD 20817; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-0-933149-95-6
Disability: Attention Deficit Disorder
Story Profile: Zachary (nicknamed Zipper), a fifth grader who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has trouble concentrating and controlling himself until a retired jazz musician recognizes his talent, believes in him, and gives him the motivation to start trying to do better.
Reading Level: JF

Children's Books About Disabilities
YA - Young Adult

Title: Annie's World
Author: Nancy Smiler Levinson
Publisher: Gallaudet Univ. Press, 800 Florida Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20002; 1990
ISBN #: ISBN-0-930323-65-3
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: The adjustment of 16-year-old Annie to her family move, which necessitates her becoming mainstreamed into a public high school.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Are You Alone on Purpose?
Author: Nancy Werlin
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co., 222 Berkeley St., Boston, MA 02116-3764; 1994
ISBN #: ISBN-0-395-67350-X
Disability: Autism, Physical Disabilities, Giftedness
Story Profile: This novel focuses on the lives of two Jewish families, one including an autistic boy and his academically gifted sister, the other featuring a bully who suffers a severe spine injury in a diving accident and is paralyzed from the waist down.
Reading Level: YA

Title: A Thousand Lights
Author: Hope Benton
Publisher: Open Minds, Inc., PO Box 21325, Columbus, OH 43221-0325; 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-1-888927-81-X; ISBN-1888927-28-3
Disability: Hearing Impairments
Story Profile: Two brothers, Will and Donnie, one with a severe hearing impairment, climb Mt. Fuji in Japan.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Best Friends
Author: Hope Benton
Publisher: Open Minds, Inc., PO Box 21325, Columbus, OH 43221-0325; 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-1-888927-78-X; ISBN-1888927-25-9
Disability: Physical Disabilities
Story Profile: Kathryn, who uses a wheelchair, coaches her friend in coping with a broken leg.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Bus Girl
Author: Gretchen Josephson
Publisher: Brookline Books, PO Box 1047, Cambridge, MA 02238; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-1-57129-041-9
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Gretchen, through poetry, describes her emotional development toward independence and adult relationships.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Don't Stop the Music
Author: Robert Perske
Publisher: Abingdon Press, 201 Eighth Ave. South, Nashville, TN 37202; 1986
ISBN #: ISBN-0-687-11060-2
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: Follow our teen hero and heroine (with cerebral palsy) through thrills, romance, and adventure all rolled into this "who-done-it."
Reading Level: YA

Title: Down the Aisle
Author: Hope Benton
Publisher: Open Minds, Inc., PO Box 21325, Columbus, OH 43221-0325; 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-1-888927-80-1; ISBN-1-888927-27-5
Disability: Physical Disabilities
Story Profile: The story of two sisters, one of whom has a physical disability (Kathryn), as they prepare to participate in a wedding.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Dyslexia My Life: One Man's Story of His Life with a Learning Disability
Author: Girard J. Sagmiller
Publisher: DML, PO Box 537, Smithville, MO 64089-0537; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-0-9643087-1-1
Disability: Dyslexia
Story Profile: Girard's autobiography dealing with dyslexia chronicles his struggles to overcome the ignorance and prejudice of his friends, family, and society in order to succeed in school, business, and life.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Emily Good as Gold
Author: Susan Goldman Rubin
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1250 Sixth Ave., San Diego, CA 92101; 1993
ISBN #: ISBN-0-15-276632-4 hardback; ISBN-0-15-276633-2 paperback
Disability: Mental Retardation
Story Profile: Emily, a 13-year-old girl with mental retardation, experiences adolescence.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Emily in Love
Author: Susan Goldman Rubin
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Co., 525 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-0-15-200961-2
Disability: Developmental Delays
Story Profile: Emily is developmentally delayed. She is included in a general education high school and has to deal with her feelings of confusion, frustration, and anger towards her parents for protecting her too much, and at herself for being unable to understand and accomplish everything she wants.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Extraordinary People with Disabilities
Author: Deborah Kent and Kathryn A. Quinlan
Publisher: Children's Press, 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-0-516-26074-X
Disability: Various Disabilities
Story Profile: Nearly 50 men and women with mental or physical disabilities are profiled in this collection including well-known figures such as: Thomas Edison, Ludwig van Beethoven, Harriet Tubman, Tom Cruise, Chris Burke, and Robert Dole. In addition to those mentioned are: a champion wheelchair marathoner with spina bifida, a partially blind ballet dancer, a photographer with polio, a deaf author and book reviewer, an Indian chief with muscular dystrophy, and an activist and psychotherapist with cerebral palsy.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Franklin D. Roosevelt: Gallant President
Author: Barbara Feinberg
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
ISBN #: ISBN-0-688-00434-2
Disability: Poliomyelitis
Story Profile: A biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Idea Man
Author: Karen Melberg Schwier
Publisher: Diverse City Press, 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-1-896230-09-1
Disability: Down Syndrome
Story Profile: Erin is angry when her parents leave her overnight with family friends. The family's older son, Jim, has Down syndrome and Erin doesn't want to be seen with him because he's known as the Dork, but kids from school witness Jim giving her a hug. She realizes she misjudged him after he helps her with a homework assignment.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time
Author: Ray Robinson
Publisher: Norton
ISBN #: ISBN-0-393-02857-7
Disability: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Story Profile: Lou Gehrig, nicknamed the Iron Horse for the number of consecutive games he played for the New York Yankees baseball team, died in 1941 after a two-year struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Probably Still Nick Swansen
Author: Virginia Euwer Wolff
Publisher: Holt
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8050-0701-6
Disability: Learning Disabilities
Story Profile: Nick is 16 and in special ed classes with "Down" kids and some "hyperactive" students, too. He can't figure out if there's a word for his placement in special ed.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Reach for the Moon
Author: Samantha Abeel
Publisher: Pfeifer-Hamilton Publishers, 210 West Michigan, Duluth, MN 55802; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-1-57025-013-8
Disability: Learning Disabilities
Story Profile: Samantha, a 13-year-old girl with a learning disability in understanding mathematical concepts, provides a collection of illustrated poems and stories. She writes about her difficulties in middle school, including coping with her disability and the accompanying emotional challenges and the
encouragement received by her English teacher to develop her writing talent.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Retarded Isn't Stupid Mom!
Author: Sandra Z. Kaufman
Publisher: Brookes Publishing Co., PO Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285-0624; 1988
ISBN #: ISBN-0-933716-96-6
Disability: Mild Mental Retardation
Story Profile: The mother of a child diagnosed as mildly retarded at the age of two recounts experiences of the child's growing up into an adult.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Stevie Wonder
Author: John Swenson
Publisher: Harper & Row
ISBN #: ISBN-0-06-097067-7
Disability: Blindness
Story Profile: Stevie Wonder's life from his birth in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1950, through his rapid rise as a Motown artist in the early 1960s and up to his present-day work.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Tell Me How the Wind Sounds
Author: Leslie D. Guccione
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN #: ISBN-0-590-42615-X
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: Amanda is 15 when she meets Jake on Clark's Island. She is angered at every encounter with him until he tells her he's deaf.
Reading Level: YA

Title: The Nautilus
Author: Wanda Gilberts Kachur
Publisher: Peytral Publications, PO Box 1162, Suite 976, Minnetonka, MN 55345; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-0-9644271-5-X
Disability: Physical Disabilities
Story Profile: Kathryn is an adolescent who longs to be a professional ballet dancer but is seriously injured in a car accident and must face her disabilities.
Reading Level: YA

Title: The Worst Speller in Jr. High
Author: Caroline Janover
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing, 400 First Avenue, North, Suite 616,
Minneapolis, MN 55401-1730; 1995
ISBN #: ISBN-0-915793-76-8
Disability: Dyslexia
Story Profile: Katie Kelso, an adolescent girl with dyslexia, describes her struggles with issues of peer acceptance, dating, and academic achievement, all of which are complicated by her dyslexia.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Turning Around the Upside-Down Kids: Helping Dyslexic Kids Overcome Their Disorder
Author: Harold Levinson and Addie Meyer Sanders
Publisher: M. Evans and Company, Inc., 216 East 49th Street, New York, NY 10017; 1992
ISBN #: ISBN-0-87131-700-1
Disability: Dyslexia
Story Profile: Continuing with the eight characters from The Upside-Down Kids, these students and their compassionate teacher Ms. Jensen, examine the various successful treatments for each child's unique symptoms in a way that is both comprehensive and simple to understand.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Views from Our Shoes: Growing Up with a Brother or Sister with Special Needs
Author: Donald Meyer, Ed.
Publisher: Woodbine House, Inc., 6510 Bells Mill Rd., Bethesda, MD 20817; 1997
ISBN #: ISBN-0-933149-98-0
Disability: Disabilities
Story Profile: Forty-five siblings share their experiences. The children whose essays are featured range in age from four to 18 with a variety of special needs, including autism, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, attention deficit disorder, hydrocephalus, visual and hearing impairments, Down syndrome, and Tourette syndrome.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Waiting for Johnny Miracle
Author: Alice Hendricks Bach
Publisher: Harper and Row
ISBN #: ISBN-0-06-020348-X
Disability: Cancer
Story Profile: Theo and Becky are 17-year-old twins when they find out Becky has a malignant tumor in her right thigh.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Whoa, Nellie!
Author: Hope Benton
Publisher: Open Minds, Inc., PO Box 21325, Columbus, OH 43221-0325; 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-1-888927-79-8; ISBN-1-888927-26-7
Disability: Physical Disabilities
Story Profile: A story of a young girl, Kathryn, who happens to have a physical disability and uses a wheelchair, her friends, and their experiences at summer camp as they search for a favorite horse.
Reading Level: YA

Title: Wish on a Unicorn
Author: Karen Hesse
Publisher: Penguin Books, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014; 1991
ISBN #: ISBN-0-14-034935-9
Disability: Mental Retardation
Story Profile: A sixth-grade girl, Mags, lives in a trailer and has a younger sister named Hannie with mental retardation. Hannie finds an old stuffed unicorn and believes it is magical when strange things start to happen.
Reading Level: YA


Children's Books About Disabilities
A - Adult

Title: The Doctor He Begged to Be
Author: A. McDonald Vaz
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc., 643 Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222; 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-0-8059-3815-X
Disability: Dyslexia
Story Profile: Garth Vaz is a Jamaican man with dyslexia who wanted to be a physician. His brother tells of his struggles during his two attempts at the University of Florida College of Medicine, and the challenges he faced including neurological, physical, financial, marital, and racial obstacles.
Reading Level: A

Title: The Me in the Mirror
Author: Connie Panzarino
Publisher: Seal Press, 3131 Western Avenue, Suite 410, Seattle, WA 98121-1028; 1994
ISBN #: ISBN-1-878067-45-1
Disability: Physical Disabilities
Story Profile: Connie Panzarino is a woman with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type III. She tells of her struggles and triumphs, relationships with family, her turn to lesbianism, and her pioneering work in the disability rights movement.
Reading Level: A

Title: The Silents
Author: Charlotte Abrams
Publisher: Gallaudet University Press, 800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington,
DC 20002-3695; 1996
ISBN #: ISBN-1-56368-055-6
Disability: Deafness
Story Profile: Charlotte writes her autobiography about day-to-day life with her deaf parents. She describes the communication challenges they faced as a Jewish family overcoming the Depression and the hardships of World War II, as well as the additional challenge and fear the mother faced when she found out she was going blind.
Reading Level: A

Title: Under the Eye of the Clock: The Life Story of Christopher Nolan
Author: Christopher Nolan
Publisher: St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010; 1988
ISBN #: ISBN-0-312-01266-7
Disability: Cerebral Palsy
Story Profile: The author, a 21-year-old Irishman severely disabled by cerebral palsy, tells the story of his childhood and how he must cope with his handicap, revealing the thoughts and realities of his world.
Reading Level: A

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/learning-disabilities/reading/5316.html?for_printing=1

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posted by AcrosticGuy @ 10:05 PM