Customer Reviews

Uncommon Voyage: Parenting a Special Needs Child in the World of Alternative Medicine

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

 

 

Any mother wants what is best for her child and Laura Shapiro Kramer does not differ in that respect. Leary of what modern medicine had to offer her mild to moderately cerebral palsied child, Seth, she began to explore alternative therapies from homeopathy to Feldenkrais. A mother's struggle to help her young child lead her beyond the mainstream and into the oft times controversial world of alternative medicine. A powerful book, a success story for one family, but not for everyone.

This book opened my eyes to the alternatives that are available for children with cerebral palsy. I have tried one of the methods with my son and he has made incredible progress

Laura Shapiro Kramer's book is wonderful.

It shows how a family dealt with circumstances thrust upon them by seeking and exploring every available option.

I gained a great deal of knowledge and insight reading about this family's experiences. It is an inspiring and thought-provoking story particularly for anyone dealing with a child who has special needs. I highly recommend this book!

I bought this book because I have a child with severe cerebral palsy and profound mental retardation. I wanted to explore alternative therapies for him and thought this book would provide useful information. I was sorely disappointed and sorry I had wasted my time and money. I can't imagine that many parents will relate to this author who complains about the stress of traveling back and forth to stay in her waterfront house in La Jolla in order to get expert care for her son. Most parents reading this--though I hope not many waste their time--would love to have the means the wonderful care that this author was able to afford but continually complained about. It seemed to me that the author gave no thought whatsoever to the reader and instead as the other reviewer said was just looking to exploit her child's disability and make herself feel better by spreading misery. By her account, her son was not nearly as disabled as my son and I found her attitude offensive and far from uplifting. Her incessant whining about people and her advantaged circumstances were extremely annoying. It seemed to me that she probably just published her journal without putting any time, effort or thought into what readers might get from the book. The only reason I give this wretched litany of spoiled rotten whining, one star is that the resource section did contain some useful information. (although even that didn't contain any information that isn't available from many other, less painful sources) Save your money and encourage this author to end her writing career by warning your friends to buy a better book.

This book sounded to me like the author felt sorry for herself and liked to talk about herself more than anything. Some useful information included, but overall just another case of a parent trying to make a buck from her disabled child.