It's So Much Work to Be Your Friend: Helping the Child with Learning Disabilities Find Social Success

Lavoie, Richard; Reiner, Michele [Preface]; Reiner, Rob [Preface]; Levine M.D., Mel [Foreword];

ISBN 10: 0743254651 / ISBN 13: 9780743254656

Published by Atria Books, 2006

Seller Inventory # 0743254651-4-21035768

Synopsis:

Answers the most intense need of parents, teachers, and caregivers of learning disabled children -- or anyone who knows a child who needs a friend.

ADHD • Anxiety • Nonverbal • Communication • Disorders • Visual/Spatial • Disorders • Executive Functioning Difficulties

As any parent, teacher, coach, or caregiver of a learning disabled child knows, every learning disability has a social component. The ADD child constantly interrupts and doesn't follow directions. The child with visual-spatial issues loses his belongings. The child with a nonverbal communication disorder fails to gesture when she talks. These children are socially out of step with their peers, and often they are ridiculed or ostracized for their differences. A successful social life is immeasurably important to a child's happiness, health, and development, but until now, no book has provided practical, expert advice on helping learning disabled children achieve social success.

For more than thirty years, Richard Lavoie has lived with and taught learning disabled children. His bestselling videos and sellout lectures and workshops have made him one of the most respected experts in the field. Rick's pioneering techniques and practical strategies can help children ages six to seventeen

-Overcome shyness and low self-esteem
-Use appropriate body language to convey emotion
-Focus attention and avoid disruptive behavior
-Enjoy playdates and making friends
-Employ strategies for counteracting bullying and harassment
-Master the Hidden Curriculum and polish the apple with teachers

It's So Much Work to Be Your Friend answers the most intense need of parents, teachers, and caregivers of learning disabled children -- or anyone who knows a child who needs a friend.

About the Authors: Richard Lavoie, M.A., M.Ed., has worked as a teacher and headmaster at residential special education facilities for the past thirty years. He holds three degrees in special education and serves as a consultant to several agencies and organizations. The father of three adult children, he lives with his wife in Barnstable, Massachusetts. He welcomes visitors to his website at www.ricklavoie.com

Rob Reiner, a two-time Emmy–winning actor for his role in the landmark television series, All in the Family, was also the acclaimed director of This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President, Ghosts of Mississippi, and The Bucket List. He most recently directed the Emmy–nominated documentary Albert Brooks: Defending my Life, and the sequel to This Is Spinal Tap. As a dedicated political activist, he spearheaded a tobacco tax initiative in California to fund early childhood development and chaired the state commission to oversee its implementation. In 2008, he cofounded The American Foundation For Equal Rights, which paved the way for marriage equality nationwide. He was also the co-author of A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever, the behind-the-scenes story of the making of This Is Spinal Tap.

DR MEL LEVINE is a professor of paediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School and the director of the university's Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning. He is the co-founder and co-chair of All Kinds of Minds, a non-profit institute that develops products and programmes to help parents, teachers, clinicians and children address differences in learning. He is a Rhodes scholar and graduate of Harvard Medical School.

Bibliographic Details

Title: It's So Much Work to Be Your Friend: Helping...
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 2006
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Fair