Ordinary Families, Special Children : A Systems Approach to Childhood Disability

This comprehensive and clinically useful resource provides a multisystems perspective on childhood disability and its effects on family life. The volume examines the many variables that shape the ways families respond to childhood disability and the extent to which they can overcome the physical, cultural, and social barriers to a satisfactory lifestyle. Integrating theory and research with evocative first-hand accounts from parents, siblings, and grandparents, the authors demonstrate how to apply a social and family systems-based approach to assessment and intervention with diverse families.

Milton Seligman, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair, Counseling Psychology Program, University of Pittsburgh.

Rosalyn Benjamin Darling, Ph.D., is the Graduate Coordinator in the Sociology Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she also teaches courses in human services, at-risk children, and the sociology of disability. Prior to assuming her present position, she served for 15 years as the Executive Director of Beginnings, an agency serving young children with disabilities; in that capacity, she also served on various state-level policy advisory committees in the area of early intervention. Dr. Darling is the author of five books and numerous articles and chapters about children with disabilities and their families. She has also served on a number of national-level, disability-related advisory boards and continues to act as an advocate for children.