Child Development and Diversity: Special Needs Books

A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when prison guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.

The new girl at school tries to befriend Andy, an autistic boy who spends every recess by himself, spinning a yellow frisbee under the watchful eye of his older sister.

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic, fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.

A young girl realizes how much she cares for her autistic brother Ian when he gets lost at the park. When her autistic little brother, Ian, wanders off while on a walk to the park, Julie must try to see the world through his eyes in order to find him.

When a new boy with autism joins their classroom, the children try to understand his world and to include him in theirs.

Marcelo Sandoval, a seventeen-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces new challenges, including romance and injustice, when he goes to work for his father in the mailroom of a corporate law firm.

This realistic fiction tells the real-life story of the Peete family. A girl tells what it is like living with her twin brother who has autism and sometimes finds it hard to communicate with words, but who, in most ways, is just like any other boy. Includes authors' note about autism. Special needs.

Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic.

A boy describes his friendship with Matt, whose autism spectrum disorder causes him to behave strangely at times, and how he make things easier for Matt at school and in their neighborhood.

Pictures of cats in usual and unusual positions help illustrate how the behaviors of people with Asperger's syndrome are similar to those of cats.

Pictures of dogs in usual and unusual positions help illustrate how the behaviors of people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are similar to those of dogs.

Ollie, who has seizures when near electricity, lives in a backwoods cabin with his mother and rarely sees other people, and Moritz, born with no eyes and a heart defect that requires a pacemaker, is bullied at his high school, but when a physician who knows both suggests they begin corresponding, they form a strong bond that may get them through dark times.

Discusses disabilities, who has them, the physical and social challenges faced by disabled people, how they can work and play, and what kinds of help are available, with an emphasis on physical disabilities.

A young girl who hates her glasses learns to appreciate them after spending a day without them. Includes note to parents.

Eight-year-old Kevin is frustrated by his need to check things and repeat actions over and over until a counselor diagnoses obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and teaches him ways to manage this condition. Includes a note for parents and teachers explaining OCD.

Though David knows frustration and resentment at times, he feels he understands his disabled little brother even better than his parents ; and together the two boys experience a great deal of joy.

Lacking the athletic and reading skills of his older brothers, Prince Noah uses love and compassion to save the kingdom from the Black Knight. Special needs.

Describes the many ways in which handicapped people differ from one another.

When a tall, thin stranger with a horribly scarred face comes to Carlsbad, California, everyone is afraid of him until he and his big red rooster make them laugh. In English and Spanish.

Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.

Anna and her seeing-eye dog Natalie are chosen by Anna's teacher to participate in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

A grandfather and his blind grandson, Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses, reminisce about the young boy's birth, his first horse, and an exciting horse race.

Describes a day in the life of a seeing eye dog, from going with his owner to the grocery store and post office, to visiting a class of school children, and playing ball. Also describes their three-hundred mile walk from Boston to New York.

Rhyming text describes a variety of foods being put into a bowl, with sign language showing signs for each type of food.

Lee, a jazz pianist, has to leave his band when he begins losing his hearing, but he meets a deaf saxophone player in a sign language class and together they form a snazzy new band.

Lacey the family dog is jealous of the new baby that her human parents brought home, until she discovers that the baby cannot hear.

Presents the handshape for each letter of the American manual alphabet accompanied by an object whose name begins with that letter.

An introduction to two kinds of sign language: finger spelling, or forming words letter by letter with the fingers, and signing, or making signs with one or two hands for each word or idea.

Words and sign language depict friends helping a deaf woman celebrate her birthday.

Words and sign language depict children at the zoo discovering how to sign the names of various animals and how to tell time.

In the Himalaya Mountains of Nepal, a deaf Sherpa boy proves himself to his father by rescuing the family's yaks. Special needs.

Moses and his friends enjoy the first day of school at their special school for the deaf and hard of hearing, where they use sign language to talk to each other.

Catherine, a young girl with multiple learning disabilities whose challenges include being unable to speak, walk without assistance, and understand a lot of what is said to her, has many characteristics and abilities that make her special. Special needs.

At the beginning of eighth grade, learning disabled Max and his new friend Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces they make a powerful team.

Lucy and her younger brother examine their feelings about a mentally handicapped boy they both fear when he follows them home one snowy day.

Though he enjoys life with his family and attends school, Howie, a child with cerebral palsy, wants more than anything else to be able to move his wheelchair by himself.

The chronic condition of cerebral palsy is explained to help children better understand and cope with the condition and to educate regarding the prospects for a cure.

While volunteering with her mother at a community center, a seven-year-old girl befriends Suhana, also seven, whose cerebral palsy makes it difficult for her to communicate or control her movements. Includes facts about cerebral palsy. Special needs.

Although Christy considered him a pest, when Eddie Lee, a boy with down syndrome, follows her into the woods, he shares several special discoveries with her.

An understanding teacher helps her students welcome Hailey, a five-year-old with Down Syndrome who is excited about starting kindergarten.

A young boy named Charlie describes the activities he shares with his friend Isabelle, a girl with Down Syndrome. Special needs.

A " ... fine book to introduce physical and mental handicaps" (Canadian Materials). "This warm family story, lighted by color photos of Jai's busy, happy life, should be an inspiration to any reader".--Emergency Librarian.

Russ, a five-year-old with Down syndrome, visits his uncle's firehouse and gets to help with the daily chores.

Emma and her father discuss what they will do when the new baby arrives, but they adjust their expectations when he is born with Down syndrome. Special needs.

Although Tomasito's spina bifida keeps him in a wheelchair, where he often feels as confined as his flightless and featherless pet bird, he discovers that he can feel free when he is on the soccer field.

A young boy with muscular dystrophy tells how he is teamed up with a dog trained to do things for him that he can't do for himself.

Two Latino boys experience carefree camaraderie despite one boy's disability. Fun and friendship overpower physical limitations.

Ten-year old Mary come to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and mysteries of a locked garden.

Rhyming couplets describe a wide range of common emotions and activities experienced by a little girl who uses a wheelchair. Special needs