Book Review and Giveaway: Make Your Worrier a Warrior by Dan Peters, PhD

Raising Asperger's Kids:  Dealing with your fear of fear. That is how I always describe the boys' need to worry. Of course the doctors call it generalized anxiety disorder or even the anxiety that goes hand in glove with autism. This drive that something is never perfect or that something in our life is wrong or could be better if only...if only, but you don't know what that only is. The  catastrophizing about your reality. Worrying that the most awful things will happen, even if there are no realistic basis for the worry. Allowing this worry to prevent you from having a happy and enjoyable life.

Anxiety is the monster that attacks us in our brains and in our every waking hour It is the monster that hides in the recesses of our  minds and prevents us from living life. As parents it is hard to watch your child deal with anxiety. It is hard to not know how to help them. It is hard to not understand what is going on inside their head. Anxiety is a complex pattern of thoughts and ideas that just seem, seem seem to be on the otherside of a divide that we cannot get ahold of.

Well here comes some help. Dr. Peters breaks everything down for us in a matter of fact way that makes it very understandable in his book Make Your Worrier a Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Child's Fears.  He teaches us the basics and gives us useable information on how to help our children and even ourselves. He breaks down the types of fears and anxiety you might encounter and then goes about telling you how to handle them. He gives you practical advice. He also acknowledges that debilitating anxiety isn't something that just happens in a vacuum. That dealing with anxiety you may also have to deal with other mental health or learning disabilities as well. He talks about a convergence of ideas that incorporates all aspects of your child. He discusses how to get your child's (or even your) village on board with a treatment plan. (As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am a big fan of the concept of "village" to help your child. You cannot do this alone and neither should you have to. It is NOT a matter of weakness, but of understanding that at times you do and are entitled to seek help for yourself and/or your child.)

What is equally important is that Dr. Peters, unlike many other authors,  doesn't stop with the parents. He writes a companion book for children, From Worrier to Warrior.  Using the same methodology that he does in the parent's book, he tells children about the "worry monster" and what it means. He explains through vignettes how there are other children who feel like they do. In the end he gives your child advice and understanding on how to help themselves.  Of course if you do buy these companion books for younger children you would simply want to pick out the applicable stories to your child and their situation. In fact, I would say reading the stories together goes along way in helping and supporting your child.

Note: This book is not really for younger elementary school children. It is definitely too much information for a young child to process. The book is also for independent learners. Even if your child is a tween or adolescent, it is not a bad thing to read it together if that is what it takes for them to synthesize the information.

Actually remember that these two books are meant to be read together. I would say its akin to a family therapy session. I would coordinate the chapters in the two books so that after each one is read you could sit down with your child and help them process what they have just learned. Discussions could also be helpful for you to see just how your child views themselves in relationship to their worry monster. My personal opinion is that these books are helpful for any family dealing with anxiety issues. It is definitely a good place to start.
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Here's something new and fun for me:  in conjunction with Mother's Day, which here in the USA, is May 11, I will be doing a giveaway of these companion books. Please leave me a comment about what you think of the book review above along with your email address so I can contact you once a winner has been randomly chosen. The contest runs from today until May 1, since I would like to send the books out to the winner before Mother's Day.

There are several rules: (1) only ONE entry per person and; (2) since this is my first contest I am going to limit it to those people who live in the USA (sorry to my foreign readers); (3) If you are going to do a critique of my writing be kind, and (4) FYI the caveats. If the comment doesn't fit into the prescribed rules, it doesn't get published and you are not entered. Go to Raising Asperger’s Kids to comment and enter.

Good luck,

Elise

Technorati Tags: Anxiety,ASD,Autism,Book Review,Depression,Generalized Anxiety Disorder,OCD,Contest,Solutions,Disabilities,Mother's Day,Asperger's

Next Tuesday and the Fate of ObamaCare

American Thinker – Cross-Posted at AskMarion: No election -- state or national -- will be as important in sending a message about ObamaCare or massive lawbreaking by government than the one on Tuesday in the Virginia governor's race.

Republicans running in 2014 and 2016 are watching whether Ken Cuccinelli wins to determine if they should be bold, hard-charging Ted Cruzes, or whether they should roll over by making weak, token passes at ObamaCare that will do nothing but ensure its permanence.

The Washington establishment wants to paint this election as a referendum on principled conservatism -- tea partyism.  Ken Cuccinelli is more than just a conservative.  He is a constitutional conservative, and like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, (Sarah Palin, and Michele Bachmann), makes establishment Republicans nervous.

The collaboration of establishment Republicans with big government and their lack of effectiveness in controlling it are exposed when constitutional conservatives hold office.

Already the forces for bloated, lawbreaking government are giddy with the prospect that Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli will go down in defeat.  The Washington Post headline reads, "Cuccinelli's hard-line conservatism seems headed for decisive rejection in Va."

Democrat Terry McAuliffe, an ObamaCare supporter who has stated his desire for a public option that would lead to a government-run healthcare system, has the lead and a huge money advantage in these final days.  The lead is shrinking, and may be overcome.

ObamaCare is not merely a massive expansion of the federal government.  It stands for the imposition of federal government lawbreaking in the most basic, private elements of our lives.

It will be run in the same fashion shown by the lawbreaking IRS, NSA and EPA, and as the incompetent rollout shows, even worse.  The more the imposition of government in our daily lives, the worse it acts.

Bureaucrats will bully ordinary Americans over basic medical decisions, some of life or death, some of religious importance, and many about our loved children and our elderly.  Those who fight the system will be targeted for heavier handedness.  The Bill of Rights will become even less relevant than they are now.

The left and the political establishment understand the stakes next Tuesday more than conservatives do.  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has poured over $1 million into this race to squelch gun rights.  Bill and Hillary have been helping their friend McAuliffe, who rented the Lincoln Bedroom when he was their top fundraiser. 

Crony capitalists far and wide will see if one of their own will be rewarded in the face of his own highly questionable GreenTech business that is under investigation by the SEC, and has raised questions of whether it is a visa-for-cash scam.

Ken Cuccinelli was the first state attorney general to file suit against ObamaCare, appropriately saying that the case was about freedom instead of healthcare.  The election on November 5 is a signal to Republicans.  Will they get the right message?  More appropriately stated, will we send them the right message?

President Obama will campaign with Terry McAuliffe this Sunday.  With his presidency collapsing around him as his signature accomplishment shows itself to be a massive failure, he is eager to pass the torch for his agenda.  A win for McAuliffe would be resuscitation for ObamaCare and government lawbreaking.  A win for Cuccinelli would be the real beginning of the end of Obamacare.

Ken Cuccinelli for Governor of Virginia

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Rand Paul on ObamaCare Battle

Video: Paul: ObamaCare’s Free… and They Still Can’t Sell It

NewsMax:  Sen. Rand Paul: Delaying ObamaCare Would Be a 'Victory'

Delaying the Affordable Care Act for a year would be a "victory" for Congress and the nation, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday.

Paul told "The Steve Malzberg Show" lawmakers have to "do anything we can to stop the monster."

"I’d just as soon get rid of the whole thing but if we can't get rid of the whole thing (at least not now), we ought to do everything we can to make it less bad," he said. ". . . If we can slow down or derail ObamaCare for a year, that would be a victory."

Rand chided President Barack Obama "with his kingly powers" for amending the new healthcare law "after the fact," including subsidies for congressional staffers.

"He isn't asking us about any of these things," Rand said. "This is legislation that he's amending after the fact. It's blatantly unconstitutional, it's illegal, but he just goes right on doing it."

And he praised Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for his historic 21-hour speech on the Senate floor, saying "it was a great feat of stamina" that "brought a lot of attention to an important problem."

Even some Democrats see "real problems" with the new law, he said.

"The Teamsters Union came out and said, 'look, we're not happy to pay a tax on our good healthcare benefits we have now,'" he noted. "Ex-President Bill Clinton [is] also saying, 'you know what, a lot of people are going to be required to buy this insurance but aren't going to be able to afford it because we're driving the prices up.'" (But as usual, Ex-President Bill Clinton is talking out of both sides of his mouth.  He was also simultaneously attacking Fox News for presenting all sides of the argument as promoting division, rather than educating the voters and presenting a fair and balanced presentation of the facts.)

Rand said whether the Senate passes a continuing resolution with "some modification to ObamaCare" or passes a CR "in the short term and it does nothing . . . I can't, in good conscience, vote to fund ObamaCare."

Technorati Tags: ObamaCare,Rand Paul,Affordable Care Act,Defund ObamaCare,Delay ObamaCare,solutions,educate yourself,small victories