Download or read book Finding a Different Kind of Normal written by Yenn Purkis and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This book was released on 2006-01-06 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jeanette Purkis spent her early life reacting violently against her feelings of embarrassment, anger and confusion about her 'difference' from other people. She was unaware until well into adulthood that everything she found difficult, including her lack of success in forming relationships, could be a result of having Asperger Syndrome. Used to being a misfit from a very young age, Jeanette found that being a member of a group in which she had a label - Jeanette the Communist; Jeanette, Enemy of the State; Jeanette the convict; Jeanette the drug addict - gave her a sense of order she could depend on, particularly in prison, where each day had a set routine and the inmates accepted her because of her rebel attitude. Finally diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome at the age of 20, the author only began to accept her diagnosis some years later when she felt for the first time that she might learn to cope with being herself. Jeanette's remarkable life and her journey towards finding a different kind of normal is compelling and inspiring reading for people with autism spectrum disorders, and those living or working with them.

Download or read book A Different Sort of Normal written by Abigail Balfe and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2021-07-22 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'I REALLY love it. Buy it for your kids, your parents, your grandparents. Mostly buy it for yourself' Holly Smale, author of the Geek Girl series 'This book is what I needed as a kid! Empathetic, joyful and beautifully authentic. I loved it!' Elle McNicoll, author of A Kind of Spark *The beautiful true story of one girl's journey growing up autistic - and the challenges she faced in the 'normal' world* I'm not like the other children in my class . . . and that's an actual scientific FACT. Hi! My name is Abigail, and I'm autistic. But I didn't know I was autistic until I was an adult-sort-of-person*. This is my true story of growing up in the confusing 'normal' world, all the while missing some Very Important Information about myself. There'll be scary moments involving toilets and crowded trains, heart-warming tales of cats and pianos, and funny memories including my dad and a mysterious tub of ice cream. Along the way you'll also find some Very Crucial Information about autism. If you've ever felt different, out of place, like you don't fit in . . . this book is for you. *I've never really felt like an actual-adult-person, as you'll soon discover in this book... 'Funny, fascinating . . . a rewarding and highly entertaining read' Guardian Told through the author's remarkable words, and just as remarkable illustrations, this is the book for those who've never felt quite right in the 'normal' world.

Download or read book A Different Kind of Normal written by Cathy Lamb and published by Kensington Books. This book was released on 2012-07-31 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From acclaimed author Cathy Lamb comes a warm and poignant story about mothers and sons, family and forgiveness--and loving someone enough to let them be true to themselves. . . Jaden Bruxelle knows that life is precious. She sees it in her work as a hospice nurse, a job filled with compassion and humor even on the saddest days. And she sees it in Tate, the boy she has raised as her son ever since her sister gave him up at birth. Tate is seventeen, academically brilliant, funny, and loving. He's also a talented basketball player despite having been born with an abnormally large head--something Jaden's mother blames on a family curse. Jaden dismisses that as nonsense, just as she ignores the legends about witches and magic in the family. Over the years, Jaden has focused all her energy on her job and on sheltering Tate from the world. Tate, for his part, just wants to be a regular kid. Through his blog, he's slowly reaching out, finding his voice. He wants to try out for the Varsity basketball team. He wants his mom to focus on her own life for a change, maybe even date again. Jaden knows she needs to let go--of Tate, of her fears and anger, and of the responsibilities she uses as a shield. And through a series of unexpected events and revelations, she's about to learn how. Because as dear as life may be, its only real value comes when we are willing to live it fully, even if that means risking it all. Beautifully written, tender and true, A Different Kind of Normal is a story about embracing love and adventure, and learning to look ahead for the first time. . .

Download or read book Some Kind of Normal written by Juliana Stone and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WHAT IS NORMAL? For Trevor, normal was fast guitar licks, catching game-winning passes, and partying all night. Until a car accident leaves him with no band, no teammates, and no chance of graduating. It's kinda hard to ace your finals when you've been in a coma. The last thing he needs is stuck-up Everly Jenkins as his new tutor—those beautiful blue eyes catching every last flaw. For Everly, normal was a perfect family around the dinner table, playing piano at Sunday service, and sunning by the pool. Until she discovers her whole life is a lie. Now the perfect pastor's daughter is hiding a life-changing secret, one that is slowly tearing her family apart. And spending the summer with notorious flirt Trevor Lewis means her darkest secret could be exposed. This achingly beautiful story about two damaged teens struggling through pain and loss to redefine who they are—to their family, to themselves, and to each other—is sure to melt your heart. Praise for Boys Like You: "The classic miscommunications, the emotional pushing and pulling, the "will she?" and "won't he?" of the destined-to-be-in-love. Readers of Miranda Kenneally, Jenny Han, and Susane Colasanti will enjoy Stone." —VOYA "The story handles challenging subjects like sex, drunk driving, and faith after tragedy in a sensitive and age-appropriate way ...just what readers need." —School Library Journal

Download or read book Sara and the Search for Normal written by Wesley King and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “It’s the vivid, insightful depiction of Sara’s internal struggles that readers will remember.” —Booklist In this prequel to the Edgar Award–winning OCDaniel, fan-favorite Sara quests for “normal” and finds something even better along the way. Sara’s Rules to Be Normal 1. Stop taking your pills 19. Make a friend 137. Don’t put mayonnaise on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sara wants one thing: to be normal. What she has instead are multiple diagnoses from Dr. Ring. Sara’s constant battle with False Alarm—what she calls panic attacks—and other episodes cause her to isolate herself. She rarely speaks, especially not at school, and so she doesn’t have any friends. But when she starts group therapy she meets someone new. Talkative and outgoing Erin doesn’t believe in “normal,” and Sara finds herself in unfamiliar territory: at the movies, at a birthday party, and with someone to tell about her crush—in short, with a friend. But there’s more to Erin than her cheerful exterior, and Sara begins to wonder if helping Erin will mean sacrificing their friendship.

Download or read book Looking For Normal written by Steve Slavin and published by . This book was released on 2023-04-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "AN AUTISTIC BOY WHO BEAT THE ODDS." Looking For Normal is the memoir of author, musician and filmmaker, Steve Slavin. His obsession with music, at an early age, led to a long career in the creative arts, albeit one plagued by clinical depression and the symptoms of a condition he was unaware of until 2008. In recounting the 48 years that led to his autism diagnosis, this darkly humorous memoir will inform and inspire anyone with an interest in mental health and autism. But more than this, it is the story of an "emotionally disturbed child, without a future" who, against the backdrop of low expectation, became an ambitious, independent adult, with a wife, daughters, and a career stifled by the long shadow of his childhood dysfunction. "A wonderful insight into an extraordinary life." - Peter Holmes Ph.D. "Insightful, inspiring, informative and entertaining. Looking For Normal is not just about overcoming the adversities that life throws at you on a regular basis. It is also about someone's journey of accepting, embracing and celebrating everything that comes with having autism." - Dr RF (Senior practitioner Educational Psychologist).

Download or read book A New Kind of Normal written by Carol Kent and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2007-03-28 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carol Kent has lived every parent's nightmare. After her only son was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Carol's life took a permanent detour. She and her husband, Gene, have been adjusting ever since, moving to Florida to be near the prison, starting a new ministry for prison inmates and their families, and sharing the faithfulness of God with anyone who will listen. A New Kind of Normal begins with the story of that horrible night when Carol and Gene learned their son had been arrested, but it doesn't end there. In fact, Carol knows what it means to live with an unthinkable circumstance that will never change-and to still make hope-filled choices. Through the eight chapters in this book, Carol will use their own story, the story of Mary mother of Jesus, and stories of women who have experienced their own "new normal" to share how God has led them to choose life, gratitude, vulnerability, involvement, forgiveness, trust, and action.

Download or read book Finding Normal written by Jeff Huxford and published by Morgan James Publishing. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In May of 2012, Jeff Huxford M.D. was in a near-fatal car accident, escaping death but suffering a severe traumatic brain injury. This devastating event led Jeff on a journey to a new life and a true purpose. After the brain injury took away his ability to practice medicine, Jeff learned a multitude of wonderful truths about God and he found his value and purpose rooted in Christ. In Finding Normal, Jeff tells of the truths that changed his heart and moved him away from his previous life of "lukewarm Christianity" towards an authentic faith and true relationship with Jesus. Finding Normal not only helps readers understand the reality of a brain injury, but shows how God can make "beauty from ashes." It tells the inspirational story of a seemingly hopeless and pointless tragedy being transformed into something absolutely beautiful. It's sure to offer hope to anyone facing adversity.

Download or read book The Myth of Normal written by Gabor Maté, MD and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The instant New York Times bestseller By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing. In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health? Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Cowritten with his son Daniel, The Myth Of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.

Download or read book Back to Normal written by Enrico Gnaulati, PhD and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2013-09-17 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A veteran clinical psychologist exposes why doctors, teachers, and parents incorrectly diagnose healthy American children with serious psychiatric conditions. In recent years there has been an alarming rise in the number of American children and youth assigned a mental health diagnosis. Current data from the Centers for Disease Control reveal a 41 percent increase in rates of ADHD diagnoses over the past decade and a forty-fold spike in bipolar disorder diagnoses. Similarly, diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, once considered, has increased by 78 percent since 2002. Dr. Enrico Gnaulati, a clinical psychologist specializing in childhood and adolescent therapy and assessment, has witnessed firsthand the push to diagnose these disorders in youngsters. Drawing both on his own clinical experience and on cutting-edge research, with Back to Normal he has written the definitive account of why our kids are being dramatically overdiagnosed—and how parents and professionals can distinguish between true psychiatric disorders and normal childhood reactions to stressful life situations. Gnaulati begins with the complex web of factors that have led to our current crisis. These include questionable education and training practices that cloud mental health professionals’ ability to distinguish normal from abnormal behavior in children, monetary incentives favoring prescriptions, check-list diagnosing, and high-stakes testing in schools. We’ve also developed an increasingly casual attitude about labeling kids and putting them on psychiatric drugs. So how do we differentiate between a child with, say, Asperger’s syndrome and a child who is simply introverted, brainy, and single-minded? As Gnaulati notes, many of the symptoms associated with these disorders are similar to everyday childhood behaviors. In the second half of the book Gnaulati tells detailed stories of wrongly diagnosed kids, providing parents and others with information about the developmental, temperamental, and environmentally driven symptoms that to a casual or untrained eye can mimic a psychiatric disorder. These stories also reveal how nonmedical interventions, whether in the therapist’s office or through changes made at home, can help children. Back to Normal reminds us of the normalcy of children’s seemingly abnormal behavior. It will give parents of struggling children hope, perspective, and direction. And it will make everyone who deals with children question the changes in our society that have contributed to the astonishing increase in childhood psychiatric diagnoses.

Download or read book Just This Side of Normal written by Elizabeth K. Gerlach and published by Future Horizons. This book was released on 2004 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "When I grow up I want to be a screwdriver!" A small boy spins down the sidewalk as his mother follows him with her eyes and heart. Nicky has autism. Winner of the ASA Outstanding Literary Work of the Year Award, Just This Side of Normal is a powerful story of a parent's search for understanding in a world that sometimes makes no sense. This book was one of the first autobiographies written by a parent of a child with autism and it continues to inspire both parents and professionals in the autism community.

Download or read book A Nearly Normal Family written by M. T. Edvardsson and published by Celadon Books. This book was released on 2019-06-25 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now a Netflix Limited Series "...A compulsively readable tour de force." —The Wall Street Journal New York Times Book Review recommends M.T. Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family and lauds it as a “page-turner” that forces the reader to confront “the compromises we make with ourselves to be the people we believe our beloveds expect.” (NYTimes Book Review Summer Reading Issue) M.T. Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family is a gripping legal thriller that forces the reader to consider: How far would you go to protect the ones you love? In this twisted narrative of love and murder, a horrific crime makes a seemingly normal family question everything they thought they knew about their life—and one another. Eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell stands accused of the brutal murder of a man almost fifteen years her senior. She is an ordinary teenager from an upstanding local family. What reason could she have to know a shady businessman, let alone to kill him? Stella’s father, a pastor, and mother, a criminal defense attorney, find their moral compasses tested as they defend their daughter, while struggling to understand why she is a suspect. Told in an unusual three-part structure, A Nearly Normal Family asks the questions: How well do you know your own children? How far would you go to protect them?

Download or read book This Is Not a Normal Animal Book written by Julie Segal-Walters and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-11-07 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blobfish! Blobfish blobfish blobfish! This is a silly picture book about animals and collaboration—or lack thereof. But mostly blobfish. This is a book about animals. It is? I mean, it sort of is. It does have animals in it. It’s a book about animals. I hear you, but you have to admit it’s pretty strange. This is NOT a normal animal book. You should read it. At least we can agree on that. This offbeat picture book asks hilarious questions about animals and art, who’s in charge of a picture book—the author or the illustrator—and really gets you thinking about…BLOBFISH!

Download or read book Finding Normal written by Alexa Tsoulis-Reay and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alexa Tsoulis-Reay's Finding Normal is an author's up close tour of people who are using the Internet to challenge the boundaries of what's taboo and what it means to be normal. Finding Normal explores how people are using the internet to find community, forge connections, and create identity in ways that challenge a variety of sexual norms. Based on a highly candid interview series conducted for New York magazine's human science column—"What It's Like"—each story in Finding Normal intimately immerses the reader in the world of a person who is grappling with a unique set of circumstances relating to sexuality. Finding Normal at once celebrates the power of our evolving media landscape for helping people rewrite the script for their lives and offers a wanring about the danger of that seemingly limitless freedom. Tsoulis-Reay shows the enduring power of the search for belonging—for humans and society. Like happiness of life purpose, finding normal is perhaps the definitive human struggle.

Download or read book Normal People written by Sally Rooney and published by Crown. This book was released on 2019-04-16 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NOW AN EMMY-NOMINATED HULU ORIGINAL SERIES • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • “A stunning novel about the transformative power of relationships” (People) from the author of Conversations with Friends, “a master of the literary page-turner” (J. Courtney Sullivan). “[A] novel that demands to be read compulsively, in one sitting.”—The Washington Post ONE OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S TEN BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: People, Slate, The New York Public Library, Harvard Crimson Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At school, Connell is popular and well liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation—awkward but electrifying—something life changing begins. A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other. Normal People is the story of mutual fascination, friendship, and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t. WINNER: The British Book Award, The Costa Book Award, The An Post Irish Novel of the Year, Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire, Vox, The Paris Review, Good Housekeeping, Town & Country

Download or read book It s Perfectly Normal written by Robie H. Harris and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fully and fearlessly updated, this vital new edition of the acclaimed book on sex, sexuality, bodies, and puberty deserves a spot in every family’s library. With more than 1.5 million copies in print, It’s Perfectly Normal has been a trusted resource on sexuality for more than twenty-five years. Rigorously vetted by experts, this is the most ambitiously updated edition yet, featuring to-the-minute information and language accompanied by new and refreshed art. Updates include: * A shift to gender-neutral vocabulary throughout * An expansion on LGBTQIA topics, gender identity, sex, and sexuality—making this a sexual health book for all readers * Coverage of recent advances in methods of sexual safety and contraception with corresponding illustrations * A revised section on abortion, including developments in the shifting politics and legislation as well as an accurate, honest overview * A sensitive and detailed expansion on the topics of sexual abuse, the importance of consent, and destigmatizing HIV/AIDS * A modern understanding of social media and the internet that tackles rapidly changing technology to highlight its benefits and pitfalls and ways to stay safe online Inclusive and accessible, this newest edition of It’s Perfectly Normal provides young people with the knowledge and vocabulary they need to understand their bodies, relationships, and identities in order to make responsible decisions and stay healthy.

Download or read book Faking Normal written by Courtney C. Stevens and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-02-25 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An edgy, realistic debut novel praised by the New York Times bestselling author of Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys, as “a beautiful reminder that amid our broken pieces we can truly find ourselves.” Alexi Littrell hasn’t told anyone what happened to her over the summer by her backyard pool. Instead, she hides in her closet, counts the slats in the air vent, and compulsively scratches the back of her neck, trying to make the outside hurt more than the inside does—and deal with the trauma. When Bodee Lennox—“the Kool-Aid Kid”—moves in with the Littrells after a family tragedy, Alexi discovers an unlikely friend in this quiet, awkward boy who has secrets of his own. As their friendship grows, Alexi gives him the strength to deal with his past, and Bodee helps her summon the courage to find her voice and speak up about the rape that has changed the course of her life.