One Small Starfish (Hardcover)

by Anne Addison (Author) "I wasn't even supposed to be able to have children..." (more)
Key Phrases: special needs camp, therapeutic day school, personnel including teachers, Asperger's Syndrome, Anne Addison, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
How can my son develop friendships when he has poor social skills?

What can we do to get the school services that our daughter needs?

Anne Addison is a mother of a boy with ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome and developmental delays, who shares her techniques and strategies for overcoming the little and large challenges of raising an exceptional child. Translating her successful business skills and health care knowledge to the world of special needs, Anne shows how she determined her way into her son’s world to learn what she must do to change the course of his life.

From every day life skills such as getting dressed and going to bed to crafting a circle of friends, effectively working with the school, encouraging hobbies and interests and negotiating public situations, Anne shares easy-to-implement strategies and solutions to the myriad of problems facing parents and those who work with children who are behaviorally challenging. One Small Starfish is a deep and compassionate story of one mother’s struggle and triumph to raise a child beyond what the world thought he could be. A must-read for parents, educators, therapists and anyone working with special needs children.

About the Author
Addison graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and earned a Masters of Business Arts from Kellogg School of Management. She worked for nearly 10 years in marketing management for several Fortune 100 companies before she launched her own management consulting practice.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 373 pages
• Publisher: Future Horizons (September 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885477872
• ISBN-13: 978-1885477873
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #930,386 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I'm having a hard time with this one, June 6, 2004

By A Customer

As the mother of a young boy with ASD, I am a devotee of 1st person narratives dealing with the autism experience. Anne Addison's book shares many practical, fairly easy to implement suggestions, but the book got under my skin as well. This book is indeed easy to use and read. However, the author just has too much money to throw at situations to create a realistic portrait of raising a special needs child. I cannot "hire" the "help" that Anne is able to hire for fulltime babysitters, housecleaners, and random other folks who keep hearth and home for her. Nor can I afford (and I don't believe that the majority of us out there can) to fly my child around the country to the have consultations with the leading experts in the field, as Addison repeatedly does. Yet, these means are frequently recommended to the readers.

Addison also came off like a "supermom," even though her advice was to try not to be one. I'm sorry, bot only a person who does not have to clean, watch her children, run errands and cook is going to be able to write all of the letters to insurance companies, teachers and other team members that she recommends.

This book did have some valuable insights. Her advice on hospitalization was particularly compelling, and worth the read for that alone.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sister speaks, November 8, 2002

A Kid's Review

My own brother has the exact same problems as the boy in the story. I am 13 years old, and it is hard to cop with someone who is not like the other brothers and sisters that you want and that your friends have. This sister dealt with the brother in different ways, helping me to find what works for my family. This is the best book that i have read yet! It helped me so much more then i would have thought. I would recommend it to anyone who has a sibling, it helped me to understand that someone else was dealing with the same issues as i was.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Parent friendly", highly recommended observations, January 6, 2003

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

One Small Starfish: A Mother's Everyday Advice, Survival Tactics & Wisdom For Raising A Special Needs Child is the true story of Anne Addison, a mother who worked hard to raise a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Asperger's Syndrome, and developmental delays, and sensory integration problems. Facing the formidable challenges of teaching a child who is constantly pulled onto paths only he understands, Addison mastered the basic necessities of familial survival and helped her son learn how to cope in a dangerous world. One Small Starfish is a 372-page compendium of practical, "parent friendly", highly recommended observations and experiences from which the mothers and fathers of special needs children can draw information, advice, and hope. Addison's son is currently a successful student in a typical fourth grade classroom and, as other boys his age, actively participates in sports, church choir, and music.