Managing life with a disability is tough for a child, the parents, siblings, and for the child's teacher and classmates. Every person, disabled or not, wants to be happy, loved, and respected. They want to be accepted. Parents also desire these same things for their child. But, often, society doesn't accept people with disabilities.
In Give Me a Chance, author Janis Gilbert offers insight into the world of the disabled. Based on her professional experiences as a special education teacher and a mother of two sons with life challenges, she shares what she's learned. This guide:
gives an overview of disabilities, defining what they are, how they're acquired, and provides statistics about disabilities in the United States;
looks at well-known people with various disabilities and how disabilities have been portrayed in popular culture through movies;
covers the history of the treatment of people with disabilities and how it's changed throughout the years;
examines diagnosis and treatment of disabilities and challenges associated with this work, including shortages of resources;
gives insight into aspects of life for people with disabilities including family and social relationships, education, employment, transportation, housing, and others; and
discusses caregiving, advocacy, community support services through governmental and nonprofit agencies, and planning for the time when parental caregivers are gone.
Give Me a Chance provides an understanding of disabilities and the complex issues people with disabilities and their caregivers face every day and suggests ways we can make a person's life better and more fulfilling.
About the Author: Janis Gilbert worked in mental health administration for fifteen years after teaching everything from preschool to post-high school classes. She earned a master's degree in special education K-twelves and taught high school special education for eleven years. Gilbert is the mother of two adopted boys (now young men) with special needs who continue to challenge her. Now retired, she's active in community organizations advocating for people with special needs and mental health issues.
