The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs

By Denise Brodey

Book Overview

A view from within the whirlwind of parenting a child with special needs Four years ago, Denise Brodey's young son was diagnosed with a combination of special needs. As she struggled to make sense of her new, chaotic world, what she found comforted her most was talking with other parents of kids with special needs, learning how they coped with the emotional, medical, and social challenges they faced. In The Elephant in the Playroom , Brodey introduces us to a community of intrepid moms and dads who eloquently share the extraordinary highs and heartbreaking lows of parenting a child with ADD/ADHD, sensory disorders, childhood depression, autism, and physical and learning disabilities, as well as kids who fall between diagnoses. Hailing from Florida to Alaska, with kids ages three to thirty-three, the parents in this collection address everything from deciding to medicate a child to how they've learned to take care of themselves , offering readers comfort, kinship, and much- needed perspective.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452289084
• ISBN13: 9780452289086
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Very moving book

I teach young children and found this book quite helpful in understanding the stuggles of children with specail needs and how it affects the entire family. The book also helped me to realize the wide variety of behaviors exhibited in these children. I have already recommended this book to several fellow teachers.

A Poignant Resource for Parents

"The Elephant in the Playroom" is a collection of very personal accounts from parents of children with a variety of special needs. In their words, you will recognize your own raw emotions. There is something cathartic in empathizing with these remarkable stories.

Must-have for parents of kids with autism

This book fills a much-needed void in the literature of books written for parents of special needs children. It's not a how-to manual on getting your child diagnosed, treated, or educated. It doesn't tell you what's the best kind of doctor to go to for your child's disability, or where the best resources are in your state. Instead, it tells very personal stories by parents you recognize, even though you've never met. Any parent who has felt that agonizing pain of strangers judging them because of how their special needs child behaves in public, or who has been isolated from family or friends because they don't understand that the normal rules of discipline don't apply, should read this book. You will know that you aren't alone.

Heart rendering

The essays in this book are written mostly by mothers and fathers who have children, young, teenagers and adults, with special needs. Their sad and hopeful recollections are so heart rendering and honest. Valiantly the families asked for, fought, and begged for the proper services for their children. Denise Brody opens each chapter with her feelings of the discussed relevant issues, such as medical, educational, social, emotional, and familial. These parents daily their utmost to be their child's best advocate.

Honest, Endearing and Smart Reading for Any Parent

Brodey carefully weaves together the intimate stories shared by parents of special needs kids, introducing each chapter with tales from her own family's story. Anyone who has a speical-needs child, relative or friend should read this book. Parents of mainstream kids will benefit from the insights provided by Brodey and her fellow writers.