The 10 Best Books For A Mom Of A Young Child With Down Syndrome
I’ve always believed knowledge is a powerful tool so when we found out Max would be born with Down Syndrome I went out and found every book I could on Down Syndrome. I read about potential health issues, common developmental delays, therapies, early intervention services, nutrition, medical guidelines, and on and on it went.
Hey Mama Bears, before you read more, full disclosure here. There are affiliate links in this post so if you click on the link and buy the product I will earn a small commission. Now that we’re clear on that let’s get back to rocking life with special needs!
I am an avid reader. Always have been. Once Max was born my ability to read for hours on end was impacted because…well I had a baby!
Once kids entered the picture and I didn’t have the time to devote to reading that I used to I became pickier as to what I chose to read. This may be where you’re at right now Mama Bear so I’m sharing with you my TOP 10 books every new Mom of a child with Down Syndrome should read.
These are in no particular order by the way.
Babies With Down Syndrome: A New Parents’ Guide
This was the first book I read after receiving Max’s diagnosis. We had a prenatal diagnosis and this book helped me prepare. It’s geared towards new parents and the first 5 years of a child’s life. It gives a great overview of what you may encounter as well as ideas and resources to manage and help.
It talks about potential medical issues, development and milestones, early intervention, potty training, and an overview of special education and special education law. It was my go to book for the first few years of Max’s life for any general information.
The back of the book has a great glossary, resource reading list and resource guide. It’s a gem of a resource and I highly recommend any new Mama Bear read it. This may be one you want to buy and keep for your own personal library.
Supporting Positive Behavior In Children And Teens With Down Syndrome
This is another book I recommend you buy for your own personal library. If you read this book early on when your child is a baby you are going to be WAY ahead of the game when they become a toddler and you have to start dealing with behaviors.
This book specifically looks at behaviors in our kids with Down Syndrome. It’s geared towards them. The author, Dr. David Stein, talks about brain differences we see in people with Down Syndrome, common behaviors we may see in people with Down Syndrome, as well as ways to manage behavior. This book is SO helpful. The earlier you read it the better prepared you’ll be. Rather than being completely befuddled when your child does the flop and drop on the way to swim lessons you’ll know exactly how to handle it!
Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives
Gifts 2: How People with Down Syndrome Enrich the World
Oh my heart!
Be sure to read these books with a box of tissues…you’ll need them! These two books of short essays are heart warming and uplifting.
I read an essay on days that are really hard.
The days when it feels like it’s impossible or I’m not doing enough or I’m doing it wrong. The days when I’m frustrated with Max, myself, others, or just life. The moments when I strongly dislike Down Syndrome or autism or being a special needs Mom, because you will have those moments Mama Bear and it’s ok. It’s ok to have those moments, but don’t pitch a tent and dwell there. That won’t help you or your child.
So when I have those moments this is one of my tools to pull me out. Reading an essay immediately gives me a different perspective. It gives me hope.
Gross Motor Skills For Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide For Parents And Professionals
Gross motor skills involve the coordination of the large muscles in the body such as the muscles in our legs, arms, and torso.
Examples of gross motor skills are walking, running, kicking, and throwing. Physical therapists work on gross motor skills. Our children with Down Syndrome have lower muscle tone so it’s harder for them to do activities such as walking, running, and jumping. Often, our kids start to walk later than a child who has no known disability.
Gross Motor Skills in Children with Down Syndrome has gross motor milestone checklists as well as numerous activities you can do with your child to get them to do things such as sit without support, stand without support, crawl, walk, run, and jump. This book is really great for a parent who may not have access to a pediatric physical therapist.
Fine Motor Skills For Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide For Parents And Professionals
Fine motor skills are the coordination of small muscles such as the muscles in our fingers and hands typically in coordination with our vision.
Examples of fine motor skills would be things like pushing a button, picking up an object, cutting, writing, snapping snaps, zipping up a zipper, or buttoning a button. In a young child examples of fine motor skills would be clapping, stacking blocks, using a toddler spoon or fork to feed self, and pointing to an object.
Occupational therapists work on fine motor skills as well as sensory processing which is the way the brain receives, organizes, and responds to information received from our senses.
This book focuses solely on fine motor skills and sensory processing in children with Down Syndrome. It talks about fine motor skills development and challenges our children may face as well as gives activities you can do with your child to improve fine motor skills. There are helpful lists of tools and toys that can be beneficial to your child and in the back of the book there’s visual motor worksheets you can use.
Teaching Reading To Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide For Parents And Teachers
This book uses a reading program designed for kids with Down Syndrome. It’s parent friendly which is important since we’re often the ones working with our children. The reading program is broken down into simple steps and the book provides activities that allow our children to practice and master skills before moving on to the next skill. I’ve found this is such an important part of the process for Max!
Teaching Math To People With Down Syndrome And Other Hands-on Learners
Math and Max don’t really get along. Out of all his subjects this is the one he struggles with the most. He groans whenever it’s time to work on math.
This book focuses on practical math skills such as counting, measuring, telling time, and money.
The great thing about this book is that it teaches you how to teach practical math skills to your child in a very hands-on manner. There are lots of activities in the book to teach math concepts that tell you EXACTLY what to do. There’s an activity objective, activity material list, a success step which is something you ask the child to do first that they’ll usually get right to build confidence and motivation, then how to do the activity with your child followed by how to generalize the math concept into daily activities.
It’s a fabulous book for parents as we help our kids understand math concepts and it does the hard work of coming up with activities to teach these concepts for you!
Early Communications Skills For Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide For Parents and Professionals
This book focuses on speech and language development in young children with Down Syndrome. It walks you through the development of speech and language and is jam packed with ideas on how to support your child and encourage communication. It helps parents understand speech and language evaluations on your child and it suggests children's books to read with your child to target specific sounds. This book is truly geared towards parents and professionals who work with our kids to give practical ideas to help encourage language and communication.
Many of our children with Down Syndrome struggle with communication. Due to various factors they can be difficult to understand. Max is no exception. This book helped us tremendously and I often wonder where he would be if we hadn’t used it when he was younger.
Be sure to check out page 303 in the 3rd edition. There’s a cutie pie proudly taking a picture of the brownies he just baked with his Mom!
Wrightslaw: From Emotions To Advocacy, 2nd Edition - The Special Education Guide
This is a book you don't need to read right away. You can buy it and stick it on your shelf for a few years. Maybe peruse it when you have a little extra time…so that means you won’t crack it open until your child reaches the age of 3.
Once your child hits 3 you’re definitely going to want to take this book off the bookshelf and read it. You need to do this before the first IEP meeting and before your child goes off to Kindergarten at around age 5.
This book is going to help you A LOT! It’s my “go to” book for special education and special education law. It explains special education law in a way that’s easy to understand and KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. This is definitely a “must buy” book in my opinion because IEP meetings and IEPs are super important to help your child succeed!
Down Syndrome Parenting 101
This book was written by Natalie Hale, a fellow Mama Bear who has a son, Jonathan, who was born with Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome Parenting 101 takes you through every stage of parenting a child with Down Syndrome. She offers great advice peppered with funny stories from her own experiences raising a child with Down Syndrome.
I love Natalie’s writing style as well as her wit and humor. This is a book from a Mom who has been there, done that, and is willing to turn back and lend a hand to fellow Mama Bears.
So there you have it Mama Bears!
My TOP 10 books for a new Mom of a child with Down Syndrome.
Is there a book on here that’s one of your go to books? Or maybe there’s a go-to book of yours that didn’t make the list?
Let me know! I would love to read it and perhaps do a post about it!
If you enjoyed this post then you may want to check out…
25 Best Toys For Your Toddler With Down Syndrome
5 Toys To Help Your Toddler With Down Syndrome Improve Fine Motor Skills
Dandelion Tribe Takeaway: My top 10 books for a new Mom of a child with Down Syndrome in no particular order…#1 Babies With Down Syndrome: A New Parents’ Guide #2 Down Syndrome Parenting 101 #3 Wrightslaw: From Emotions To Advocacy, 2nd Edition - The Special Education Guide #4 Early Communications Skills For Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide For Parents and Professionals #5 Teaching Math To People With Down Syndrome And Other Hands-on Learners #6 Teaching Reading To Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide For Parents And Teachers #7 Fine Motor Skills For Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide For Parents And Professionals #8 Gross Motor Skills For Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide For Parents And Professionals #9 Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives and Gifts 2: How People with Down Syndrome Enrich the World #10 Supporting Positive Behavior In Children And Teens With Down Syndrome
Mama Bear Share: What are your must have books?
