Parenting Children With Health Issues: Essential Tools, Tips, and Tactics for Raising Kids With Chronic Illness, Medical Conditions, and Special Healthcare Needs [Paperback]

Foster W. Cline (Author), Lisa Greene (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007

Does your child have a helath condition which requires special medical or dietary care? Whatever the health issue, you will learn the essential parenting skills you need to help your child comply with medical requirements, cope well with health challenges, and live a hope-filled life. Get practical and compassionate answers to your toughest questions as you discover effective ways to communicate about medical issues with children of all ages.This book will teach you how to:. Encourage your child to love life despite health challenges.. Handle refusal to take medication and do medical treatments.. Skillfully respond to your child's special emitional needs.. Avoid power sturggles and other common parenting traps.. Promote responsibility without nagging or lecturing.. Navigate sibling, family and couple relationship issues.. Enable your child to make good self-care decisions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

As I read this book, it sounded like a compilation of my last 30 years of caring for children with special healthcare needs. It literally felt as though the authors had been sitting in the corner of my exam rooms for all 180,000 office visits [my wife's calculation]. The fact that both Dr. Cline and Lisa Greene have children with chronic, life-shortening illnesses comes through loud and clear in their authenticity, compassion, and honesty. You will enjoy their superb use of cases, scenarios, and examples. Every parent of a child with special healthcare needs will see themselves and their children many times over in their reading of this book. I highly recommend this book to both colleagues and patients. -- Tracy L. Trotter, MD, Fellow American Academy of Pediatrics

Children are encouraged to learn self-control, have a positive self-image and learn to deal with life's frustrations with a positive attitude. This highly-readable book is really a how-to book for parents looking to support the emotional development of their ill children. -- Stanford Health Library, November 2007

I literally felt as though you had been sitting in my exam rooms for all 180,000 office visits. Every parent of a child with special healthcare needs will see themselves and their children many times in their reading of this book. I highly recommend this to colleagues and patients. -- Tracy L. Trotter, MD, Fellow American Academy of Pediatrics, April, 2007

If you're having behavior struggles with an ill child or want to start your kids on the path of good health management, it's an approach worth studying. -- About.com's Guide to Parenting Special Needs; Terri Mauro

If you're having behavior struggles with an ill child, or want to start your kids on the path of good health management, it's an approach worth studying. -- Terri Mauro, Your Guide to Parenting Special Needs; About, Inc., A part of the New York Times Company

The authors show readers how to help kids identify themselves as having a disease (rather than being one) and grow into increasingly responsible, life-loving individuals with age-appropriate nurturing, intervention, coaching, and rewards/consequences. -- Library Journal Review, June 2007

Winner 2008 Indie Excellence Award (Parenting and Family)
Winner 2008 Gold Mom's Choice Award (Health, Nutrition, Fitness & Safety)
Finalist 2007 ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year (Parenting)
-- Book Awards

From the Author

Author of fourteen books and numerous other publications, well-known child psychiatrist Foster Cline, MD says: "Coping with adversity lays the foundation for almost all true greatness. With a few simple tools, parents can encourage their special needs children to become the heroes they are destined to be." See "All Editorial Reviews" to read Dr. Cline's revealing comments.

Co-author Lisa Greene is the mother of two children with cystic fibrosis: "Having two children with a chronic, life-shortening illness has given me a perspective on life that I wouldn't have otherwise appreciated: Each day we share with our kids is a gift and every moment matters. But the difficulties that arise in living day-to-day with massive amounts of medications, medical treatments, and chronic stress can take its toll.

Kids who suffer can become understandably difficult to live with and resistant to medical requirements. This, of course, raises stress levels even more. But what can we do? We parents need answers and practical tools that work when we are down in the trenches.

Instead of theories, Love and Logic gives us realistic, easy-to-implement tools. They tell us what to say and how to say it. I have seen hundreds of families' lives change when they implement this material. Our family is one of them. I am passionate about this program because it works. Thank you, Love and Logic, for giving us the tools to be great parents when every moment matters."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 343 pages
• Publisher: Love and Logic Press; 1 edition (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930429894
• ISBN-13: 978-1930429895
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #360,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wise guide for raising empowered children under difficult circumstances, November 18, 2007

By 

Laura E. Marshak - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Parenting Children With Health Issues: Essential Tools, Tips, and Tactics for Raising Kids With Chronic Illness, Medical Conditions, and Special Healthcare Needs (Paperback)

This book is a profound yet practical guide to raising resilient children who have significant health issues. The publication of this book can best be described as a gift to families who are faced with far more complex challenges than are found in those with more typical children. These challenges include how to help children feel a sense of control, acceptance and hope while living with serious disorders. It provides a wise guide for helping raise children who are able to embrace life while taking good care of their health conditions. The book reflects a synthesis of the best in parenting skills along with a rich understanding of child psychology, family dynamics and a range of chronic disorders. This wealth of information is distilled for the reader in a format that is easy to follow; readers are provided with numerous examples of how to implement these insights. It is a unique and thorough guide to critical aspects of child-rearing that are just not found anywhere else. I regard this book as simply indispensable for families and professionals alike. It is a gem.

Laura E. Marshak
Author (with Fran Prezant) of : Married with Special-Needs Children [A couple's guide to keeping connected], Woodbine House 2007

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable, experience-laden guide accessible to parents and caretakers of all backgrounds, highly recommended., October 6, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parenting Children With Health Issues: Essential Tools, Tips, and Tactics for Raising Kids With Chronic Illness, Medical Conditions, and Special Healthcare Needs (Paperback)

Child psychiatrist Foster W. Cline and mother of two children with cystic fibrosis Lisa Greene present Parenting Children with Health Issues: Essential Tools, Tips and Tactics for Raising Kids with Chronic Illness, Medical Conditions & Special Healthcare Needs, a guide to learning and applying the parenting skills needed for raising children who require special medical or dietary care. Chapters discuss how to handle a child's refusal to take medication or undergo medical treatments, promote personal responsibility, deal with sibling, family, and couple relationship issues, and much more. "Because chronically ill children can so easily drift into feeling 'unfair-ed upon' by life, some become entitled and demanding, developing and exploiting placating parents who, as their child becomes more demanding, have increasing difficulty separating 'wants' from 'needs.' Entitled people, children or adults, have a tendency to control others through what they define as their 'needs.'" An invaluable, experience-laden guide accessible to parents and caretakers of all backgrounds, highly recommended.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Addition to Your Parenting Library--tender, brilliant writing, August 7, 2007

By 

Caron B. Goode "Inspired Parenting Coach" (Fort Worth, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Parenting Children With Health Issues: Essential Tools, Tips, and Tactics for Raising Kids With Chronic Illness, Medical Conditions, and Special Healthcare Needs (Paperback)

Authors Cline and Green offer a truthful testimony to the question "How would you spend your precious moments with your child with health problems?" They present a systematic approach, Love & Logic, to positive parenting, the goal of which is to enable a child to learn the health habits to care for him\herself. Moreover, the parenting in these family situations requires thoughtfulness and compassionae conversation about real issues as grief, death, medications, self-care as well as normal child rearing tasks.

Part One of the book focuses on the basic Love & Logic strategies that most parents face: self esteem, boundaries, problem solving, and how children learn. Part 2, Advanced Love & Logic applications discusses the realities of the medical challenges within the family and how to deal with them. Added bonuses at the back of the book are extra parenting tips, the authors' personal stories, and resources.

The book is thorough, well written and easy to read. You will appreciate the honest approach in dealing with the real world situations through loving strategies. I highly recommend it.

For additional resources for stressful family situations see Help Kids Cope with Stress & Trauma