Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs: Stories of Love and Understanding for Those Who Care for Children with Disabilities
‘These powerful heart-rending stories are filled with honesty, humor, hope and offer inspiration to parents, teachers, and anyone else who cares for children with special needs. By embracing the magnificence, inner peace, and beauty each child possess, our own attitudes are shifted from despair to promise.’
—Gerold G Jampolsky, M.D., Founder of International Center of Attitudinal Healing, Sausalito , California
Raising a child with special needs is a lifelong commitment that is as unique as each person who embarks on it. Written by a variety of authors who share in this distinctive relationship, Chicken Soup for the Soul Children with Special Needs offers a glimpse into the lives of others who are on a similar path.
These stories provide insight, comfort, and connection with others who have walked this powerful and transformational journey. The authors of these candid stories relate their own experiences of adjusting, reaching out, and flourishing and share their universal worries, their tears, and the laughter that come with this extraordinary relationship. Most important, through these stories, you will be guided with the wisdom of fellow parents, caregivers, and those with special needs to help you be the very best parent or caregiver you can be.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Everything & everyone connects
I was so excited to receive this book. I read it cover to cover in 3 days. The stories are all very good. They help “connect” anyone who knows or cares for a child with “special needs”. I would see little glimpses of my 8 year old son in different stories and if not the “same” I could relate to the situations and the emotions. On those really rough days, it helps to know that there are others out there that know just how you feel. It gives the inspiration to keep going. “Special Needs” kids definately are SPECIAL………they help us to remember what is important. Thank you for this collection of stories.
5 Stars chicken soup for the soul:children with special needs…
I love this book…I can totally relate to the stories-I have a
8yr.old daughter with Cerebral palsy-she has been my worst heartache
and she has givinen me the most joy-she has taught me a lot…I am
glad they have this book-no one really knows what its like unless
they have a special needs child….I recommend it to anyone…
kathleen younce
5 Stars A Wonderfully Touching Read
I am a special educator who is always looking for new inspiration for my on-going teaching. This book warmed my heart. I could relate to the stories as if I had written them myself. Like the other Chicken Soup Books I have read, the editors have truly chosen a nice sample of stories of people who have achieved much, struggled long and hard, and continued living their lives to the fullest. This book can help people who wonder what special needs people can do. This book is a source for inspiration to help special needs children to live their lives to the fullest. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.
5 Stars As one of the coauthors . . .
Heather McNamara says:
Being one of the coauthors of this book I can’t tell you how many times I check to see if there are any new readers’ reviews. Unfortunately, the one written by Mom of 3 Stephanie, stays at the top of the comments page with its unfortunate one star rating. I don’t understand how she could have even given a review without reading the book in its entirity.
I was the editor-in-chief for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series for over ten years and I am most proud of this title. There was extensive research by forty different people that we approached for their input. All of these forty people were involved in the field of special needs: parents, siblings, advocates, caregivers, doctors, teachers and individuals with a disability.
If memory serves me correctly there were only a handful (maybe five tops) “repeat” contributors. Not repeat stories, repeat contributors. Chicken Soup always sends a call out to our past contributors in hopes that they have a story they can contribute to the latest collection of stories. The other 70 stories were written by new contributors, mostly parents.
This particular book was a phenomenon in of itself. I sent out one solicitation/guideline letter to NYSRA–now in its 31st year as a statewide trade association of not-for-profit providers of services to New Yorkers of differing abilities. This letter was forwarded to another company and then another and then another . . . From that one letter I received over 5000 submissions!
Anyway, I hope people reading this review won’t let it sway them from reading Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs. It truly was a labor of love and I think one of the best in the entire series.
Heather McNamara
Co-author, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs
1 Stars Actually disappointed in this book as a whole
I was so excited to get this book right when it was released but was generally disappointed in it. There were many VERY good stories that I absolutely loved, but overall there was something about it that lacked the really personal connection and everyday stories. I found myself skipping over stories and still never finished the book to the end. I have 2 kids with special needs one with Down syndrome and one currently undergoing testing for Autism, and I SO desperately wanted to Love this book.
I guess I expected it to be written from a Caregivers perspective (parents, grandparents, teachers, etc). When it seemed like more than half of the contributers have already had their stories published by Chicken Soup books or other big name publications, not just your average person. And I caught the names of 2 contributers in this book that each have 2 of their stories in this special needs edition. (many already published in MANY other Chicken soup books)
To me it almost feels like the creators of Chicken Soup sent out a staff email asking for any stories involving a person with special needs… I remember reading one story written about a typical person’s high school days and her encounter with a girl with special needs and what she wishes she would have talked to her. Nothing about reaching out to her and building a friendship, even if years later. As a parent, I would have loved to read about how this person affected a persons life, not how she felt guilty about being afraid of a disabilty (that’s exactly why I want to shelter my children)- Didn’t leave a warm and fuzzy feeling. But I guess her article was accepted because her career happens to center on people with disabilites???
I know there are millions of people out there that could contribute more personally touching stories. I just wanted more “average people” doing great things stories. Just by compararing random biograpies of the stories I wanted more people like the contributor Chynna Tamara Laird- average mom advocating for her child. In the bio of contributer S. Thompson it states “she has had stories in 10 Chicken soup books” and her job is writing, not advocating for disabilities or living it first hand.
It does have some great stories, but I just couldn’t relate to the book overall and I expected to not want to put it down. I felt like I would read 2 good stories then 2 stories that lacked connection…. SORRY… I really wish I could Love it.
Filed under: Jack Canfield Book Reviews