Bringing Up a Challenging Child at Home
When Love is Not Enough
Will be published approx. on 1. May 2000
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-1-85302-874-8 (ISBN)
Description
Chrissy is Jane Gregory's oldest child, an attractive girl with a tremendous sense of fun. She also exhibits behaviour which other people find challenging - screaming fits, stripping off her clothes, violent outbursts and self-mutilation. It was apparent from an early age that Chrissy had a learning disability, and subsequently as an adult she was diagnosed with a rare chromosome disorder and autism.
In Bringing Up a Challenging Child at Home, Jane Gregory describes her life with Chrissy candidly and pragmatically. She relates her struggles to cope with Chrissy's difficult behaviour, the effects on the rest of the family, and her attempts to understand the reasons behind it. Offering practical advice for other parents, she explains how she got the right support and effective treatment. Her story provides professionals as well as parents with a unique insight into what it is like to bring up a complex and challenging child.
In Bringing Up a Challenging Child at Home, Jane Gregory describes her life with Chrissy candidly and pragmatically. She relates her struggles to cope with Chrissy's difficult behaviour, the effects on the rest of the family, and her attempts to understand the reasons behind it. Offering practical advice for other parents, she explains how she got the right support and effective treatment. Her story provides professionals as well as parents with a unique insight into what it is like to bring up a complex and challenging child.
Reviews / Votes
Jane Gregory's honest account of her experience as the mother of Chrissy, her daughter who has complex needs including epilepsy, learning difficulties and challenging behaviour, should be on the reading list for every professional in the field. What is so impressive about this account is its author's ability to follow threads that have connected Chrissy to the rest of her world, and so provide a complete picture. The book not only examines the long journey to a diagnosis and appropriate provision for grandparents, and professionals.While it covers in great detail the difficulties, trials and tribulations that Jane has experienced, it seeks always to balance this with the positives - the joy experienced in the small steps of progress; the relief felt when a professional spends time trying to understand. One of the key messages is that progress is best made when professionals listen to parents, and together they work as a team. -- National Society of Epilepsy Social workers, psychologists and doctors do need to hear from the frontline about the anger and frustration which parents feel. The book catalogues the faults and failures of services. Frustration and dissapointment abound. Doctors fail to give diagnoses, social workers dissapoint, teachers and psychologists do their best.'
'Jane Gregory takes us through life so far with her daughter: the slow, chilly realisation that she was not developing normally, the refusals by health professionals to take her concerns seriously and the stress of coping with violent, obsessive behaviour whilst caring for two young siblings. Jane shares these experiences and the effect they had on her family candidly in a book full of energy and compassion. Her struggles to find solutions to to manage Chrissy's behaviour and healthis full of practical suggestions and information. -- Community Care Jane Gregory gives a moving personal account of bringing up a child with an undiagnosed disability. Chrissy, Jane's eldest child, exhibits complex and challenging behaviour, including screaming fits, self-mutilation and violent outbursts. This is an easy-to-read and informative book, giving an insight to readers, into what it is like to bring up a child with complex and challenging behaviour. -- Share an Idea
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
295 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85302-874-8 (9781853028748)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2000
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
€19.99
Available for download
Person
Jane Gregory was 23 when she had Chrissy. Her interest in the issues surrounding Chrissy's needs led Jane to write features about her, and about other complex disabilities. Researchers at Great Ormond Street found the cause of Chrissy's condition to be genetic and she was later diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Jane lives in Hampshire and is a busy freelance journalist. Her website can be visited at www.sharingstories.co.uk.
Content
Acknowledgements. Introduction. Part One: Early Years. 1. Chrissy's birth and early development. 2. Why won't anyone tell us what's wrong? 3. Trying to cope. 4. Making contacts. 5. Beginnings and endings. 6. Struggling alone. 7. Sinking into depression. Part Two: Coming Through: Help and Recognition of Difficulties. 8. More support. 9. Outings and holidays. 10. Chrissy's uniqueness. 11. Changes for Chrissy, changes for me. 12. Two steps forward, three steps back. 13. Behaviour versus epilepsy. 14. Ups and downs. 15. In-patient assessment. 16. Making progress. 17. Adolescence and the importance of a diagnosis. 18. Deciding to let go. 19. Residential school - making a difference. 20. Making sense of the past and looking to the future. Part Three: Practical Help, Therapy and Support. 21. Treatment approaches. 22. How to help your challenging child. Further Reading. References.