A Different Kind of Perfect: Writings by Parents on Raising a Child with Special Needs

While all parents worry about their offspring, parents of children with special needs face a unique set of challenges that is served well by this touching collection. The conflicting emotions and frustrating dilemmas of raising special needs kids are well represented by more than 50 short essays; parents will find honest confessions that are wrenching, warming and probably familiar. ""Why make a birthday cake when she can't blow out the candles, make a wish or eat a piece of cake?"" laments one mom in the section on ""Depression""; another, in the ""Love and Joy"" section, is taken by surprise by her own happiness: ""The sun is shining, the day is brand-new, my child is humming, and God is so good!"" Divided at first into sections based on the emotional journey of parents of special needs children, essays on such topics as ""Denial,"" ""Anger,"" ""Acceptance"" and ""Empowerment"" give way to takes on ""Marriage, family and friends,"" ""Spirituality"" and ""Laughter,"" and include practical advice (""Don't Always Trust the 'Experts'""), philosophical musing (""The Kaledoscope of Our Life""), straight encouragement (""Dance Recitals Are Still Possible"") and life lessons (""We Take Nothing for Granted""). Though this text is not for parents who are expecting, it makes a valuable, readable, tear-jerking resource for parents raising a special needs child.