I You and Us : Living with a Special-Needs Family on the Journey to Self-Discovery

A gradual appreciation of the challenges people with special needs-and those who care for them-face day to day in navigating their broader social environment has been emerging in this country since 1990, with the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act. That achievement, long fought for and long in coming, has been a significant one. But an appreciation of people with special needs themselves has yet to emerge in America. Many of us-including, at times, members of their own families-still feel awkward and uncomfortable in their presence. Or embarrassed. Or angry. And even with the best of intentions, we still don't know how to break the ice. This heartfelt, lucid book was written to demystify what it means to do just that-how to overcome our innate reluctance in the presence of people with special needs and realize what Carl Rogers meant when he said, "We are all more simply human than otherwise." "IYou And Us" dispels the fog of uncertainty that surrounds our understanding of the special-needs population, by revealing the author's own journey to self-discovery, expressing a new language of acceptance, and showing us all-step by step-how to have fun being open and engaged.