Special Needs Parenting: From Coping To Thriving Paperback – March 4, 2015

I highly recommend this book.I was a member of one of Lorna Bradley’s pilot groups while "Special Needs Parenting – from coping to thriving" was under development. Each week, we’d read one chapter at home beforehand and then discuss it for an hour during our group meeting.There are many good things about Lorna’s book. I’ll highlight what I believe are its three biggest strengths.The first strength of this book is it provides insight into the challenges a special needs parent faces. These may not be challenges you have put a name to or even recognized before. Things like chronic grief and maintaining healthy relationships. By the time I found Lorna’s group and this book, I’d been a special needs parent for over 10 years. So I was surprised when several times I caught myself saying, “That’s it. That’s what I’ve been experiencing. I never understood it before.”The second strength of this book is it gives you strategies on how to cope with those challenges facing a special needs parent. When I read books about my son’s diagnosis, I gained medical knowledge, understanding and strategies for how to help him cope with his special need. From Lorna’s Special Needs Parenting book, I gained knowledge, understanding and strategies for how to help me cope as a special needs parent. But I also gained more from it. It gave me a spiritual perspective of special needs. It gave me a release of feelings and tension that I didn’t know I had built up. It gave me hope.The third strength of this book is it helped connect the members of our group. Over two months, we had about 20 women participate. We had mothers, grandmothers and caregivers of special needs children. Our children ranged in ages from under a year to mid-20s. Our children had a dozen different diagnoses. We were from different religions, and some members weren’t active in any religion. We were different races and from different countries. We were a diverse group. This book provided a framework for discussion that bridged that diversity and yielded meaningful learning and discussions.A few notes on the format of the book. There are 7 chapters that pretty much stand on their own; so you don’t have to read the book from cover to cover. Each chapter incorporates scripture and personal stories from the author and other special needs parents. At the end of each chapter are Questions for Small Groups and Personal Reflection, a prayer for the next week, and a reprinting of the scripture found throughout the chapter. The appendix includes: Notes for Small Group Leaders, a Blessing of the Parents Liturgy, a resource list, and a self-care inventory.I found this book very helpful. I found it a useful tool for guiding group discussions with special needs parents – so I shared it with two clergy. But I also found it helpful by itself – so I shared it with two friends with special needs children.

This book is just what I needed. It gave me a sense of hope in my journey as a special needs mom. It can be difficult to trust God while watching my daughter severely miss milestones, wondering if she'll ever walk or talk, or stop having seizures. Dr. Bradley uses biblical accounts to illustrate how to cope with disappointment, loneliness, exhaustion, etc. I'm using this book to start a small group for special needs parents and pray it is a blessing to all who read it and reflect on the questions. I highly recommend this book to anyone who's looking for hope.

Great book! We loved how she used Scripture. This book is great for parents of special needs kids. It works well for a group to go through the book together.

Dr. Bradley's book, in some ways, truly saved my family's life. The challenges of parenting a special-needs child can be burdensome although there are great rewards as well. This book outlines strategies for celebrating the joys and facing the difficulties, and she offers this advice from sound research and personal testimony. And she does it all with great humor! I strong recommend it to anyone related or even associated with special-needs parenting.

Our Special Needs Mom's group had a weekly book club with this amazing book. I highly recommend it! Even as a mom with adult special needs kids, I learned so much. It brought wonderful discussions each week.

I've struggled with my son's diagnosis over the past 6 years but thru the study of this book and my special needs connect group I realize that my daily walk with Him is closer than I realized. He truly understands all things.

So far one of the best books I've read on this issue. As the parent of a 29 yr old I am still dealing with depression and found the concept of "chronic grief" enlightening. Each phase brings its own challenges and I felt validated and like I am not alone.

Fabulous book for any believer with or without a special needs child. Very insightful!!