My Baby Rides the Shortbus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities
As parents of differently-abled children, we are often put on pedestals. People wonder in awe about how we cope, or hand us platitudes about how we have landed in a different but wonderful country where we need simply to dream new dreams for our special angel children. In truth, ur kids aren't angels, and no matter how much we love them, their challenges make our lives as parents incredibly complicated, messy, and sometimes heartbreaking.\ In My Baby Rides the short Bus, you'll find...
Search in google:
The stories in this collection provide parents of special needs kids with a dose of both laughter and reality. Featuring works by so-called alternative parents who have attempted to move away from mainstream thought, this anthology carefully considers the implications of raising children with disabilities. From professional writers to novice storytellers, including original essays by Robert Rummel-Hudson, Ayun Halliday, and Kerry Cohen, this assortment of authentic, shared experiences from parents in the know is a partial antidote to the stories that misrepresent, ridicule, and objectify disabled children and their parents.
Foreword vIntroduction Lisa Carver ixChapter 1 The Other Combat Boot Drops 1Rebirth Emily Zolten 3A Bus(wo)man's Holiday Kathy Bricetti 7The Story So Far Andrea McDowell 20Paging Dr. House Christina Witkowski 28Evaluating Ezra Kerry Cohen 32The Head Game (diagnosis) Kim Mahler 41Popeye Thida Cornes 42The Letter for Services Aileen Murphy 53Chapter 2 Enough Acronyms To Make Your Head Spin: Navigating the System & Advocating For Our Kids 57Exile To Bridlemile or Where the @#$%&! is My Village?! Chloe Eudaly 59After the IEP Kim Mahler 72Play Therapy Karen Wang 73Accidental Unschoolers Heather Newman 79An Inadvertently Compelling Argument for National Health Care in Five Mutually Incriminating Scenes Ayun Halliday 86Watching My Son Grow: An Illustrated Timeline from Birth to 'Three Years Old Joe Dimino 101Authentic Activism Maria June 117Interpreting the Signs Andrea Winninghoff 129Chapter 3 Seen, Heard, Respected, and Believed 135What I Said, and What I Didn't Say Sharis Ingram 137Jackpot! Amy Saxon Bosworth 144What Should Have Been… Megan Raines Wingert 152Building Bridges into Ordinariness Ziva Mann 159Diagnosis Invisible Stephanie Sleeper 167A View through the Woods Christy Everett 176My Friend Christine Marcy Sheiner 186Scout Robert Rummel-Hudson 192Chapter 4 How Do We Do It? Respite, Community Support, and Transitions 199My Mama Drove the Short Bus Sabrina Chapadjiev 201How I Met Jennyalice Shannon Des Roches Rosa 212No Use in Crying Jennifer Byde Myers 219Life Among the Doozies Anonymous 227Glass Houses Sarah Talbot 234Small Victories Elizabeth Aquino240Dragonflies and Inky Blackness: Raising a Child with Asperger's Syndrome Caryn Mir riam-Goldberg 242Chapter 5 Families: When the Balancing Act Induces Vertigo 253Our Closet Diana Robinson 255"Because He's Retarded, Ass!" Amber E. Taylor 260And We Survive Nina Packebush 267Thanksgiving Kim Mahler 276Dual Parentship Status Jennifer Silverman 277Taking the First Step Yantra Bertelli 285This is What Love Looks Like Andrea S. Givens 293Chapter 6 Righteous Resources What Do You Know: A Little Practical Advice After All 299A User's Guide to Self-Help Literature (Or, Who's the Real Expert Here, Anyway?) Dr. Mitzi Waltz 301Special Needs Trusts: The Lowdown 307Glossary of Terms 312Resources 317Contributors'Biographies 325Acknowledgments 333Index 335
