ISBN# 1-59385-362-9
Ordinary Families, Special Children
Publication Date: 2007
Milton Seligman, Ph.D.
Rosalyn Benjamin Darling, Ph.D.
 

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Hardcover, 428 pp

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About the Author
Milton Seligman, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology in Education at the University of Pittsburgh. His chief academic interest is in the area of childhood disability and the family. Other areas of instruction and scholarship include individual and group psychotherapy and clinical supervision. Retired since 2004, Dr. Seligman maintains his private practice, serves on the editorial board for the Journal for Specialists in Group Work, and is currently writing a book for parents on childhood disability and the family. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife.

Rosalyn Benjamin Darling, PhD, is Professor of Sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she has taught since 1994. Prior to assuming her academic position, she served for 15 years as the executive director of an agency serving young children with disabilities and their families and was the founder and first president of the Early Intervention Providers Association of Pennsylvania. Dr. Darling has authored or coauthored eight books and numerous articles and chapters on disability and human services. She has played an active role in many state- and national-level disability-related organizations and committees and is currently engaged in research on orientations toward disability.

Summary

Now in a revised and expanded third edition, this popular clinical reference and text provides a multisystems perspective on childhood disability and its effects on family life. The volume examines how child, family, ecological, and sociocultural variables intertwine to shape the ways families respond to disability, and how professionals can promote coping, adaptation, and empowerment. Accessible and engaging, the book integrates theory and research with vignettes and firsthand reflections from family members.

New in the Third Edition:

  • Updated with current research, counseling approaches, and resources
  • New chapter on the challenges and opportunities of adulthood
  • Expanded coverage of disability pride, family diversity, and the role of fathers

Reviews

"Seligman and Darling effectively blend clinical insight, current research, and cultural sensitivity in this substantive and exciting third edition. Of particular interest are a newly updated discussion of modes of adaptation and a new chapter on adult outcomes, both of which advance our understanding of disability in the family context. The book demonstrates how researchers look beyond the impact of special children on mothers, promoting a conceptualization of family well-being that includes fathers, siblings, and grandparents. Offering fresh perspectives on families, this extraordinary book is sufficiently accessible for students and will also be appreciated by professionals in the field."
-Jan Blacher, PhD, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside

"For nearly 20 years, the scholarship and keen insight of Seligman and Darling have informed and guided my work as a clinical psychologist with families of children with disabilities, as well as my own family life with a child who has autism. This third edition is a tour de force of breadth and depth in its summaries of research and theory and their real-life applications. It is truly an essential and comprehensive resource for practitioners and researchers, and an excellent text for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in special education, social work, psychology, family studies, and pediatric specialties."
-Robert A. Naseef, PhD, private practice, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"The third edition of this important book does a wonderful job of integrating the authors' longstanding themes of respect and compassion with the most current information on the family functioning, treatment, and education of people with a range of disabilities. This is an exceptionally valuable resource for professionals in any discipline who serve families coping with disability."
-Sandra L. Harris, PhD, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology and Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Contents

  1. Conceptual Framework
    1. Introduction and Conceptual Framework I: Social and Cultural Systems
    2. Conceptual Framework II: Family Systems Theory and Childhood Disability
    3. All Families Are Not Alike: Social and Cultural Diversity in Reaction to Childhood Disability
  2. The Family Life Cycle
    1. Becoming the Parent of a Child with a Disability: Reactions to First Information
    2. Childhood: Continuing Adaptation
    3. Looking to the Future: Adolescence and Adulthood
  3. The Family System
    1. Effects on the Family as a System
    2. Effects on Fathers
    3. Effects on Siblings
    4. Effects on Grandparents
  4. Approaches to Intervention
    1. Professional-Family Interaction: Working toward Partnership
    2. Perspectives and Approaches for Working with Families
    3. Applying a Partnership Approach to Identifying Family Resources, Concerns, and Priorities: Developing Family Service Plans