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Easter
Seals and Autism
Book review: Lisa Ackerson Liebermans A Stranger
Among Us
by Patricia Wright on December 16th, 2009
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this review |
Academy
of Special Needs Planners
Book review: Lisa Ackerson Liebermans A Stranger
Among Us
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this review |
A
"Stranger" Among Us
Book Review by Marna Ares (Colorado Developmental Disability Council)
With
openness. That is how Lisa Lieberman provides the much-needed
details of finding, welcoming and including support people for
in-home care. So often we parents search, first, for the recipe,
and then discover that our life requires improvisation. And what
we need for improvisation is a combination of philosophy and practicality.
Two things linger for me, after reading the book. Most importantly,
Lisa models the personal openness required when including someone
new in the day-to-day life of your family. The reader is welcomed
into varied and intimate details of the Lieberman-Ackerson household.
Though it may seem at first a surprising revelation of family
life, it is exactly what allows for an honest beginning to a relationship
with support providers and helps to ensure the relationship has
staying power.
And
as personal as the foundation for the book is, in that you feel
you know each member of Lisa's family and could comfortably spend
an afternoon with them, the practical details of the search, hiring
and employment of support people are the best I've come across
anywhere. Lisa provides lists of questions to consider before
you begin the search for support people, and more lists of questions
to ask prospective employees. Not only is it important to be at
the same time honest and respectful in the way you describe the
person who needs the support, it is important to require honesty
from those you are considering as the support providers in your
home. I especially appreciate that Lisa calls on others' experiences
with the children and family members who have autism and other
neurological differences in order to provide a range of perspectives.
You will find answers to questions you have, whether the person
who needs support is a young child, teenager or adult. You'll
also be offered ideas you may not have considered, as yet.
The
book begins with ideas and questions to consider concerning your
family, its culture and needs. The following chapters help you
describe the job you are creating, and offer suggestions for ways
and places to get the word out. Finally, you are treated to a
host of ideas, cautions and practical lists for interviewing,
hiring, training and sustaining the work of the people who are
working with you and for you. As important as is the beginning,
so is the ending. For many reasons, people will leave your employ,
and Lisa helps explore how to be as thoughtful about that process
as with the hiring process.
This
book is warm and instructive - a wonderful combination.