Customer Reviews

Accessible Gardening for People With Physical Disabilities: A Guide to Methods, Tools, and Plants

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Janeen Adil's book is an excellent source for those persons with disabilities and/or those who live or assist persons with special needs. This book's methods can be used both in a private home setting or in an institution's horticultural therapy program

I was disappointed in the content of this book. It merely covers basic gardening. I was hoping it would cover some tips on accessible gardening for people with disabilities. It does mention some ideas on how to achieve that but the techniques they offer is outdated. The techniques they mention usually require costly physical modifications which can be somewhat frustrating to pursue. If you are really interested in gardening but have some physical limitations, there are products out there that are already adapted to your needs. There are many gardening tools that have extended and ergonomically desinged handles at Home Depot. There are also products that are ergonomically desinged if you have arthritis. Its better to do an internet search for these up to date products that spending a dollar on this book. Buy yourself a real gardening book and do an internet search on how to modify your garden and your tools.

This is a visually appealing book, starting with the cover, which demonstrates a gardener's ability and success in accessible gardening!The paper is brighter than most and the print is clear. This book is designed to give you specific ideas, aids, and the source to obtain them! It is full of B&W photos that show people gardening, while using the various products! It is a readable book for beginner gardeners. It is a helpful book for advanced gardeners that need to modify their gardening for increased accessibility. They need to print a revised edition to include more ideas and product update. The initial building of items would probably require help or hiring out.

Although Adil's book provides excellent information on accessible gardening at any age, it is in the area of gardening with children with disabilities that she excels. It is one of the very few books that even addresses this issue.

She devotes a complete chapter to "Children and Gardening". Because her own child was born with spina bifida, she brings a very knowledgeable approach to gardening with children. The information is both practical in terms of tools, design, and activities. But she also looks at the psychological and physical benefits of gardening for children.

Most books concerning gardening with disabilities usually ignore children's special needs, but this provides aid for parents, care-givers, and educators who want to introduce the joys of gardening to children.

The only reason for 4 stars is that some of the resources provided have changed since its 1994 printing, but the basic usefulness of this book has not diminished at all.