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Helping your handicapped baby
The book ts dt\ided into three sections. dealing respectively wtth. foundattons <)I”applied behJ\iour resc;trch: instructronal i>srems and anaiyscs. and social and edusarionai applications. There are tuenty chnprsrs. written b> thirty one cc~~trib~?c~s. Xs ci!retldy mentioned. tht- I~el is high Athough ine\ttably somewhat u~eten.
Educstianaf problems perhaps IO educational
predominate. psychologists
as might have been expected. so that the book wiif be of most interest or people working with educational probirms of one kind or another The _ for a handbook conramlng 750 paces. The uncompromtGny nature of the
price IS high but not unreasonable treatment HAI be real&d when the reader notices the complete absence of authors like Wolpe or La.znrus from the list of references; the revieher’s name is also missmg. and Rachman is only mentioned once en ~~s~nr. For the authors of this book. clearly. the distinction between behaviour therapy and behaviour modiiicntion is complete.
By brief psychotherapy the authors appear to mean Rationnl-Emotive Therapy and other beha\ioural methods that can be integrarted into its framework. Surely another general popular introductton to RET is unnecessary. so the case for this one hangs on its intended applicatton to medical problems. However. only a minority of the chapters have even a superficial orientation in this direction. Maybe the authors have a rich clinical expertence with medical problems and a thorough knowledge of the growin p literature on psychological methods of treating them. but they conceal both in this book. Nevertheless. they write in an arroganriy uncritical tone that is unsuimble even for a popular introduction to psychotherapy.
This is ;Lrecent book by the author of that excellent text book The Double Brcritr which dealt with hemispheric spsciJisation. The br~nil jides of the author in producing an introductory text book of neuropsychology are ttrercfore not in doubt. However. the end result is most difhcult to evaluate. The first three chapters contain much of interest loften written in rather purple prose), yet Iittit to give the reader a clear idro of the current scope of namqxychofogy. Against this. one mtlst nofe that the fo!fowrng IWO chapters on The Cerebrai Cortex. and the Spiit-Brain Condttion are weii thought out, inrerestingiy presented and weii discussed. The need for an introductory text in neuropsychology is plain. Current text books ail tend to assume a fair degree of special&d knowledge on the part of the reader and it might have been hoped that this book would fill the gap. Unfortunately. I am not convinced that this does achieve this, The choice of topics is rather idiosyncratic. and while many of the topics (for example The Infant Brain. Psychiatry, Psychotechnology) are of interest in themseives. their role in building up a picture of current day neuropsychology is not clear. The book does not contain references as such, only a suggested reading list. and this is a mrrjor omission in an introductory text. which should give the reader clear guidance as to suppIsmentary reading. The publisher‘s blurb rugges:s that the book V&I be of interest to a wide variety of speciaiised professionals suck as neurologists, psychologists. psychiatrists etc. My guess is that any sptciatised professional would seek introductory information elsewhere, and it is very difficult to know exactly what group this book is likely to ;Ittr;Ict.
CLIFF CUNNI~‘GHAMI and PATRKIA SLUPER: Helping Your Eiundicapprd Baby. Fiuman Horizons Series, Souvenir Press, London, 1978. 335 pp. f6.50 hard-cover, f4.50 soft cover. CHRIS KIERNAN. RITA JORDAN and CURIO SAUNDERS: Srmring 08 Human Horizons Series, Souvenir Press, London. 1978. 320 pp. f5.95 hard-cover, E3.95 soft cover. Aithough both worthy of attention in their own right, these two books are reviewed together since they de& essentialty with the same psobiem: the need to give practical help to the parents of a handicapped child. The first book is addressed principally to the parents of Down’s Syndrome Children and is divided into three main sections. The first gives a brief but useful account of what is meant by mental handicap. and includes a searing account of a mother’s first reactions on learning that her child is a ‘mungol’-reactions which must be shared by all parents of a congenitally handicapped child. The authors then go an to discuss practical ways in which the handicap can. at least, be ameliorated. The need for careful assessment of the child prior to teaching is stressed throughout, and there are detailed developmental ‘checkiists‘ to help parents in this. Parents are then
advised
how they may best organ&z
rhc time they spend with their chi!d so as to foster the skiUs the child iacks.
Educstianaf problems perhaps IO educational
predominate. psychologists
as might have been expected. so that the book wiif be of most interest or people working with educational probirms of one kind or another The _ for a handbook conramlng 750 paces. The uncompromtGny nature of the
price IS high but not unreasonable treatment HAI be real&d when the reader notices the complete absence of authors like Wolpe or La.znrus from the list of references; the revieher’s name is also missmg. and Rachman is only mentioned once en ~~s~nr. For the authors of this book. clearly. the distinction between behaviour therapy and behaviour modiiicntion is complete.
By brief psychotherapy the authors appear to mean Rationnl-Emotive Therapy and other beha\ioural methods that can be integrarted into its framework. Surely another general popular introductton to RET is unnecessary. so the case for this one hangs on its intended applicatton to medical problems. However. only a minority of the chapters have even a superficial orientation in this direction. Maybe the authors have a rich clinical expertence with medical problems and a thorough knowledge of the growin p literature on psychological methods of treating them. but they conceal both in this book. Nevertheless. they write in an arroganriy uncritical tone that is unsuimble even for a popular introduction to psychotherapy.
This is ;Lrecent book by the author of that excellent text book The Double Brcritr which dealt with hemispheric spsciJisation. The br~nil jides of the author in producing an introductory text book of neuropsychology are ttrercfore not in doubt. However. the end result is most difhcult to evaluate. The first three chapters contain much of interest loften written in rather purple prose), yet Iittit to give the reader a clear idro of the current scope of namqxychofogy. Against this. one mtlst nofe that the fo!fowrng IWO chapters on The Cerebrai Cortex. and the Spiit-Brain Condttion are weii thought out, inrerestingiy presented and weii discussed. The need for an introductory text in neuropsychology is plain. Current text books ail tend to assume a fair degree of special&d knowledge on the part of the reader and it might have been hoped that this book would fill the gap. Unfortunately. I am not convinced that this does achieve this, The choice of topics is rather idiosyncratic. and while many of the topics (for example The Infant Brain. Psychiatry, Psychotechnology) are of interest in themseives. their role in building up a picture of current day neuropsychology is not clear. The book does not contain references as such, only a suggested reading list. and this is a mrrjor omission in an introductory text. which should give the reader clear guidance as to suppIsmentary reading. The publisher‘s blurb rugges:s that the book V&I be of interest to a wide variety of speciaiised professionals suck as neurologists, psychologists. psychiatrists etc. My guess is that any sptciatised professional would seek introductory information elsewhere, and it is very difficult to know exactly what group this book is likely to ;Ittr;Ict.
CLIFF CUNNI~‘GHAMI and PATRKIA SLUPER: Helping Your Eiundicapprd Baby. Fiuman Horizons Series, Souvenir Press, London, 1978. 335 pp. f6.50 hard-cover, f4.50 soft cover. CHRIS KIERNAN. RITA JORDAN and CURIO SAUNDERS: Srmring 08 Human Horizons Series, Souvenir Press, London. 1978. 320 pp. f5.95 hard-cover, E3.95 soft cover. Aithough both worthy of attention in their own right, these two books are reviewed together since they de& essentialty with the same psobiem: the need to give practical help to the parents of a handicapped child. The first book is addressed principally to the parents of Down’s Syndrome Children and is divided into three main sections. The first gives a brief but useful account of what is meant by mental handicap. and includes a searing account of a mother’s first reactions on learning that her child is a ‘mungol’-reactions which must be shared by all parents of a congenitally handicapped child. The authors then go an to discuss practical ways in which the handicap can. at least, be ameliorated. The need for careful assessment of the child prior to teaching is stressed throughout, and there are detailed developmental ‘checkiists‘ to help parents in this. Parents are then
advised
how they may best organ&z
rhc time they spend with their chi!d so as to foster the skiUs the child iacks.