The Girls' Guide to Growing Up: Choices Changes in the Tween Years

Here's a book just for girls beginning a new phase of their lives! This appealing and easy-to-follow guide for girls with intellectual disabilities is an introduction to the physical and emotional changes they'll encounter during puberty. Written on a third-grade reading level for preteens or young teenaged girls to read by themselves or with a parent, it's filled with age-appropriate facts, illustrations and photos, icons, and a Q&A. The Girls' Guide to Growing Up advises girls about their changing bodies, privacy issues, and how to feel their best, including: • What is puberty? • Outside changes (height & shape, breasts & bras, body hair, skin & blemishes, body odor & deodorant) • Inside changes (moodiness & handling your feelings, sexual feelings & what to do about them, flirting do's & don't's) • Periods (what to expect, using a pad) • Hygiene (keeping face & body clean, showering) • Privacy, Safety & Social Appropriateness (private parts, rules for who can touch you & when, rules for touching others, what to do if you feel unsafe) The Girls' Guide to Growing Up is written by an experienced sex educator who specializes in working with people with intellectual disabilities and who is also the author of the popular Teaching Children with Down Syndrome about Their Bodies, Boundaries, and Sexuality (see page 13). Parents, physicians, schools, and support groups will want to share this encouraging book with girls to help answer their questions about puberty and reassure them it's all part of growing up.

Terri Couwenhoven, M.S., is an AASECT certified sexuality educator who specializes in working with people with intellectual disabilities, their families, and the professionals who support them. She is the author of Teaching Children with Down Syndrome about their Bodies, Boundaries and Sexuality: A Guide for Parents and Professionals and other publications. When she is not teaching, she is Clinic Coordinator for the Down Syndrome Clinic of Wisconsin at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Terri has two daughters, her oldest has Down syndrome.