Helpful Books
We have a number of books shown here (with links to Amazon if you want to buy them) which we have all found helpful over the years. We have given you the synopsis from Amazon's web pages to give a quick reference to the book - hope you find that helpful!
If you have found reference or support books which you believe would be of benefit to other people affected by having children with Down's syndrome, please use our contact page to tell us. We can then add it to our growing library!
Click on the book cover images to go to Amazon if you need pricing or other information about these books.
Amazon Synopsis: Having a baby with Down's syndrome is not something most parents would willingly choose. Yet many who travel this path discover rich, unexpected rewards along the way.
In this candid and poignant collection of personal stories, sixty-three mothers describe the gifts of respect, strength, delight, perspective, and love, which their child with Down's syndrome has brought into their lives.
The contributors to this collection have diverse personalities and perspectives, and draw from a wide spectrum of ethnicity, world views, and religious beliefs. Some are parenting within a traditional family structure; some are not. Some never considered terminating their pregnancy; some struggled with the decision. Some were calm at the time of diagnosis; some were traumatised. Some write about their pregnancy and the months after giving birth; some reflect on years of experience with their child.
Their diverse experiences point to a common truth: the life of a child with Down's syndrome is something to celebrate. These women have something to say - not just to other mothers but to all of us.
Amazon Synopsis: The updated (2007) and expanded 2nd edition of "Fine Motor Skills in Children with Down's syndrome" continues to be a popular, practical guide to understanding fine motor skills in children with Down's syndrome and helping them develop these skills from birth through early adolescence.
The first edition won a Parent's Choice Award in 1999. The author, an occupational therapist who has worked extensively with children with Down's syndrome, is also the parent of a teenager with Down's syndrome.
She offers parents and professionals dozens of easy, home-and school-based activities, illustrated with black and white photos, which help children gradually acquire the skills they need for fine motor development.
Readers learn how to incorporate work on fine motor skills into everyday activities and routines and to emphasise tasks that children can use throughout life - play, self-help, printing, cutting with scissors, and computer use. New to this edition is a chapter on sensory processing and how the sensory system affects behaviour and learning in children with Down's syndrome.
Parents learn strategies that can help children handle various sensory problems so they can continue to learn daily living skills. Bruni includes new information on determining when a child is ready for 'pre-printing' activities (things a child can do to prepare for trying to print letters) and how to introduce related concepts (up and down; top and bottom; start and stop; left and right).
The 2nd edition also includes more information on ways to help children learn self-help skills, such as dressing, using a fork and spoon, and becoming potty trained. This new and improved edition gives parents and professionals the expertise and confidence they need to help children build fine motor abilities and become more independent.
This book is useful for parents of children with Down's syndrome, early intervention specialists, occupational and physical therapists, and teachers.
Amazon Synopsis: As six-year-old Emma anticipates the birth of her new baby brother or sister, she vividly imagines all of the things they can do together. Emma feels ready to be a big sister!
Then when the baby is born, her dad tells her that it's a boy and he has something called Down's syndrome. Finally she asks, "If Isaac has this Down thing, then what can't he do?". Her dad thinks about it, then tells her that as long as they are patient with him, and help him when he needs it, there probably isn't anything Isaac can't do.
In this touching story, Emma helps her father as much as he helps her to realise that Isaac is the baby they dreamed of. The book concludes with a set of commonly asked questions about Down's syndrome with answers for children and how it might affect their sibling and family. For ages 3-7
Amazon Synopsis: Tara and Jasmine, two sisters, describe what it is like living with their brother, Jai, who has Down's syndrome.
Amazon Synopsis: Children with Down's syndrome have a wide range of speech and language abilities, and most need the help of a speech-language pathologist (SLP) beginning at birth to maximise communication development.
Early Communication Skills for Children with Down's syndrome explains the role of a SLP, the stages of communication development, and how certain characteristics of Down's syndrome, such as low muscle tone, hearing loss, and cognitive delays, can slow progression of those skills.
Delays can lead to frustration and other problems for children who do not have intelligible speech until age 2 or later. This new book is the updated, expanded edition of Communication Skills in Children with Down's syndrome. It focuses on speech and language development from birth through the stage of making 3-word phrases, which is often around kindergarten age, but can occur later.
This book offers parents a wealth of information on intelligibility issues, hearing loss, apraxia (difficulty planning oral-motor movements), and other factors that affect communication for children with Down's syndrome. It explains how to prepare for and understand the results of a speech-language assessment, and goes on to describe what to expect in the years ahead when a child enters elementary school.
Throughout the new edition, the author incorporates the latest research on Down's syndrome and communication development. She has added new chapters on augmentative and alternative communication and other high- and low-tech supplemental communication options, as well as articulation, and literacy (how reading aids in the learning of language, speech, and auditory skills).
New checklists on evaluating and treating speech problems, and numerous home activities designed to help children master each stage of communication development have also been added
Amazon Synopsis: Providing information that does not patronize, over-simplify or judge, this series examines social phenomena that are difficult or harmful.
Each book traces the history, prevalence and consequences of such phenomena and offers ways of finding help for those involved or affected.
Amazon Synopsis: Combining medical knowledge with sympathetic common sense, this comprehensive handbook offers help and advice to all parents and carers of children with Down's syndrome, and shows them how to help their children flourish and reach their full potential.
Written in association with the Down's syndrome Association, this book goes beyond the average introduction to Down's syndrome and addresses the questions, practical or otherwise, that parents will often find themselves asking, and also offers information and advice on a wide variety of related issues, including: current medical knowledge about the condition; advice on the special care of babies and young children; education and training; emotional and sexual development; and, integration into society.
Amazon Synopsis: For ages 0-4. A delightful board book full of babies and toddlers with Down's syndrome going about the business of their lives.
Presented in crisp, uncluttered full-colour photographs, these children swim, take a bottle, share, eat spaghetti, laugh, play in the park, and more...looking adorable all the while!
This wonderful book will be reassuring to families with a new baby with Down's syndrome and makes a great gift. Day care centres, hospitals, infant-toddler programmes, libraries, paediatric practices, and support groups will want to have 'I Can, Can You?' available for the families they serve.