Conference

Save the Dates!

MACMH's 2006
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Conference

April 30 to May 2

To ensure you receive information about our annual conference, e-mail your current contact information to info@macmh.org or click here to download the MACMH mail list form.

Volume 15, Issue 1

From the Bookshelf When you buy any of these books from amazon.com by clicking on the book image, MACMH will receive a portion of the purchase price. Your cost will stay the same, but MACMH will benefit from your purchase.
Different Brains, Different Learners: How to Reach the Hard to Reach by Eric Jensen, 2000. Jensen is an educator who has built his career on interpreting modern brain research in the context of the classroom. This slim volume concentrates on the learning difficulties of students with common mental health disorders and related conditions including dyslexia and learned helplessness. His suggestions are often simple, sometimes provocative, and always focused on the concept that every student can learn. Jensen's work is useful for parents as well as educators.
Hope and Healing: A Caregiver's Guide to Helping Young Children Affected by Trauma by Kathleen Fitzgerald Rice and Betsy McAlister Groves, 2005. This book discusses the losses experienced by children who have faced trauma and the power of connections to develop resiliency and recovery. The authors also address the "invisible losses that can occur when children don't find order in the turmoil that surrounds them, don't find the care they need from traumatized parents and communities, and don't feel certain that they will be safe from harm."
Kids in the Syndrome Mix of ADHD, LD, Asperger's, Tourette's, Bipolar, and More!: The One Stop Guide for Parents, Teachers, and Other Professionals by Martin L. Kutscher, with contributions from Tony Atwood and Robert R. Wolff, 2005. This is the first book to buy if the doctor has just added a second or third diagnosis for your child, or if you have a friend whose child has just been diagnosed. Dr. Kutscher has done a great job of meeting his goal, which was to write the "one-stop guide for parents, teachers, and other professionals." Most valuable are the first two chapters—they provide remarkable summaries of the process of evaluation and the general principles of treatment. Chapter 2, "Principles of Treatment," is a must-read for anyone who raises or works with children because it summarizes techniques and strategies for changing behavior patterns typical of children who experience these syndromes. Though it challenges many firmly held assumptions about why kids do what they do, the chapter is clear, easy to understand, and friendly in tone. In addition to the disorders included in the title, Kutscher, a pediatric neurologist, also covers anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, sensory integration dysfunction, depression, oppositional defiance disorder, and central auditory processing disorders. There is also a full chapter on medications, a behavioral checklist, information on executive functioning, and a list of resources.
The Myth of Laziness by Mel Levine, 2004. Mel Levine, professor of pediatrics and author of the acclaimed book A Mind at a Time, tackles the problem that occurs when children's learning differences—such as inefficient handwriting, memory problems, as well as problems with organization and verbalizing thoughts—are seen as failures of student "output." Levine recognizes that these learning differences stem from neurodevelopmental problems and he compares these students' problems to the damage done to the heart muscle when it must strain to keep up with the expected output to the body: "We don't call a failing heart lazy," he says. Levine uses case studies to explain various deficits and outlines both successful and unsuccessful interventions. He also includes charts that are useful when assessing skill levels in the various output areas.
Peace Quest by Kelly Guinan, 2002. Teachers or parents wishing to teach tolerance, peacekeeping, and self-esteem will want to review this book of activities. Many of the activities are suitable for adults as well as children, and the activities provide a wide variety of ways to discuss and share personal feelings.
Poems to Learn to Read By: Building Literacy with Love by Betty S. Bardige and Marilyn M. Segal, 2005. Segal, a leader in preschool education and the early development of children with disabilities, shares a collection of poems designed for young children and the adults who love them. The book also offers information and ideas about how the verses can help children manage strong emotions, strengthen language learning, build literacy skills, and enhance relationships.
Quirky Kids: Understanding and Helping Your Child Who Doesn't Fit In —When to Worry and When Not to Worry by Perri Klass and Eileen Costello, 2003. Written by two pediatricians, this is a simple and reassuring guide about kids who are a little or a lot different. The doctors focus on the process of working with children who are on the autism spectrum as well as those who have nonverbal learning disabilities, sensory integration disorders, and mental health disorders. This book would be good reading for a parent who is concerned about their childÕs behavior but is not certain whether their child needs intervention and support; it would also be useful for someone who is just entering the world of evaluations and acronyms.
Skilled Dialogue: Strategies for Responding to Cultural Diversity in Early Childhood by Isaura Barrera with Robert M. Corso and Dianne Macpherson, 2003. This book presents a field-tested model for improving family/professional interactions, assessments, and interventions by working to improve cultural understanding and challenges of diversity. It also includes guidelines on using interpreters and offers information to help differentiate between behaviors that may be caused by trauma and those that may reflect cultural differences.
A Teenager's Guide to ADD: Understanding and Treating Attention Deficit Disorders through the Teenage Years by Antony J. Amen and Sharon Johnson with Daniel G. Amen, M.D., 2005. Teen authors and a leader in the field of neuroimaging explain ADD and handle difficult issues such as relationships, anger, driving, and drugs and alcohol. "These are real stories about real teenagers that will both inspire you and touch your heart," says one specialist who is using the book in her practice.

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