The Story of My Father or Classroom Language Skills for Children with Down Syndrome

The Story of My Father: A Memoir

Author: Sue Miller

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

In the fall of 1988, Sue Miller found herself caring for her father, James Nichols, once a truly vital man, as he succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease. Beginning an intensely personal journey, she recalls the bitter irony of watching this church historian wrestle with his increasingly befuddled notion of time and meaning. She details the struggles with doctors, her own choices, and the attempt to find a caring response to a disease whose special cruelty is to diminish the humanity of those it strikes. In luminous prose, Sue Miller has fashioned a compassionate inventory of two lives, a memoir destined to offer comfort to all sons and daughters struggling to make peace with their fathers and with themselves.

Book review: Beautiful Skin of Color or The New Beauty Secrets

Classroom Language Skills for Children with Down Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Teachers

Author: Libby Kumin

For children with Down syndrome one of the many benefits of learning alongside typical classmates is the increased opportunity for communication development. But these same opportunities can also create significant challenges because of wide-ranging abilities in speech and language among children with Down syndrome. Libby Kumin, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, a leading expert on individuals with Down syndrome and their communication development, shares her expertise in this practical guide for parents, teachers, and speech-language pathologists.

Classroom Language Skills for Children with Down Syndrome covers every aspect of a child's language needs from kindergarten through middle school. After a thorough overview of the characteristic communication problems associated with Down syndrome and how they affect children in school, the book explores the best strategies for adapting schoolwork and improving teacher-student communication. Included are tips on how to adapt curriculum, spoken instructions, written assignments, and classroom routines to meet the needs of students with Down syndrome. Samples of worksheets, checklists, graphic organizers, visual prompts, and an IEP planner make it easy to get started.

The book also covers augmentative communication methods for children who use little or no speech, as well as methods for enhancing conversation and social communication between children with Down syndrome and their peers. By illustrating the key connection between language, learning, and school success, this guide is a must-have reference for any parent or teacher of a child with Down syndrome.