Parenting Exceptional Children with Ann Douglas and Kristine Barnett: Join two remarkable mothers for a conversation on the challenges they faced raising truly exceptional children. Their insight into how any parent can help their child find their spark, and how they navigated the difficulties at home and school is both practical and inspirational. 
 
Ann Douglas, Canada’s bestselling and trusted parenting authority, knows what it’s like to parent a child diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Ditto with depression, anorexia, Asperger syndrome and ADHD. Each of her four children has struggled with one or more conditions that fall under the children’s mental health umbrella. Her new book, Parenting Through The Storm: How to Handle the Highs, the Lows And Everything in Between, is an honest and authoritative compendium of advice for parents who are living with children who have mental illnesses. Ann shows how to cope with years of worry and frustration about a child’s behaviour; how to effectively advocate for the child and work through treatments; how to manage siblings’ concerns and emotions; and, most important, how to thrive as a family.
 
Kristine Barnett’s son, Jacob, originally diagnosed with severe autism, flourished into a universally recognized genius. The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing Genius is their story. Diagnosed at age 1 with severe autism, at 3 he was assigned to life-skills classes and his parents were told to adjust their expectations. The goal: tying his own shoes by age 16. Kristine’s belief in the power of hope and the dazzling possibilities that can occur when we keep our minds open and learn to fuel a child’s true potential changed everything. Today, at 13, Jacob is a paid researcher in quantum physics, working on extending Einstein’s theory of relativity.

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