The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs

Candid, passionate, personal, and heartbreakingly funny, a view from within the whirlwind of parenting a child with special needs When then-magazine editor Denise Brodey's precocious four-year-old son was diagnosed with a combination of sensory integration dysfunction and childhood depression, she was desperate to talk to people who understood his diagnosis. As she struggled to make sense of her new, often chaotic, often lonely world, what she found comforted her "most" was talking with other harried, hopeful, and insightful parents of kids with special needs, learning how they coped with the feelings they encountered throughout the day. In "The Elephant in the Playroom," moms and dads write intimately and honestly about the joyful highs and disordered lows of raising children who are ?not quite normal.? Laying bare the emotional, medical, and social challenges they face, their stories address issues ranging from if and when to medicate a child, to how to get a child who is overly sensitive to the texture of food to eat lunch. Eloquent and honest, the voices in this collection will provide solace and support for the millions of parents whose kids struggle with #ADHD, #sensory disorders, childhood #depression, Asperger's syndrome, and autism?as well as the many kids who fall between diagnoses. Offering readers comfort, community, and much-needed perspective, "The Elephant in the Playroom" has become essential reading for parents of special needs kids.