Retarded Isn't Stupid, Mom!, Revised Edition (Kaufman)

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You, Your Child, and "Special" Education: A Guide to Making the System Work, Revised EditionTable of Contents

Read an Excerpt #1:
Nicole is 2 years old and has just been diagnosed with mental retardation. Now what?

Read an Excerpt #2:
Everyone is yelling at me!

Retarded Isn't Stupid, Mom! Revised Edition
By

Sandra Z. Kaufman

"What a wonderfully honest and moving book. . . . I recommend this book not only to any mother or father of a retarded or disabled individual, but to anyone caught up in the never-ending tugs and demands of parenthood." —Josh Greenfeld, author, A Child Called Noah

"This is a moving, direct account of a mother's and daughter's struggle for mutual independence. Nicole's retardation is obviously a center issue, but the trials of growing up, making mistakes, learning how to function in a complex world, and forging an identity independent of one's family are processes every adolescent faces." —Marty Wyngaarden Krauss, Ph.D.

Nicole is 2 years old, and her family, after months of worrying, has just learned she has mental retardation. In a fast-paced, engaging story, mother Sandra Kaufman frankly reveals the feelings of denial, guilt, frustration, and eventual acceptance that result in a determination to help her child live an independent life. This edition, revised on the 10th anniversary of the book's original publication, adds a "progress report" that updates readers on Nicole's adult years and reflects on the revolutionary changes in society's attitudes toward people with disabilities since Nicole's birth. Retarded Isn't Stupid, Mom! remains a celebration of all that a child can grow to be.

ORDERING INFO
ISBN 1-55766-378-5
Paperback / illus.
272 pages
5-1/2 x 8-1/4
1999 / $24.95
Stock# 3785

Table of Contents

A Note from the Publisher

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Prologue: Nicole at Two

No! No! No!
Is Mommy tired?
Everyone is yelling at me!
I am capable.
Mom, I know that I'm retarded, but I'm not stupid.
Can't do nuthin' on the amount I make.
I don't know if anyone loves me.
Seems like I'm learning to live alone the hard way.
Do you know how I could prove I'm handicapped?

A Mother's Epilogue: 1988

Progress Report: 1998

An Afterword, by Robert B. Edgerton

Resources