Sappi Ideas that Matter - Book 7
Sappi Ideas that Matter - Book 7
Sappi Ideas that Matter - Book 7
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North America<br />
Who Asked Me?<br />
Fraser<br />
“As a mother of a child with a disability, I witnessed the<br />
range of emotions my other two children experienced<br />
growing up with a sibling with special needs – including<br />
feelings of isolation, guilt, resentment, perceived<br />
pressure to achieve, and concern for the future. Since<br />
about seven million children in the US have a brother or<br />
sister with a special need, I wanted to create a resource<br />
<strong>that</strong> lets these children explore the sometimes hard-todiscuss<br />
feelings they might have about their sibling, as<br />
well as share the unique bonds <strong>that</strong> develop between<br />
them and their sibling.”<br />
This is how Adele L Bergstrom, designer and editor at<br />
A Light Communications in Minneapolis, describes her<br />
motivation for producing a book ‘by and for’ siblings<br />
of children with special needs.<br />
The book itself takes the form of a journal ‘by and for’<br />
siblings of special needs children. The result is a book<br />
of striking honesty and candour, covering such topics<br />
as this is my life, what our siblings have taught us,<br />
sharing good times ... and hard times, and twenty years<br />
from now. The vibrant colour scheme, combined with<br />
splashy layouts <strong>that</strong> include family photos along with<br />
handwriting fonts, all contribute to a contemporary,<br />
youth-oriented piece.<br />
During spring 2007 alone, the book was presented<br />
at six conferences on special needs, followed by a<br />
book signing event with the authors in the summer<br />
and a significant promotional schedule including press<br />
releases, news articles, and disability newsletters set<br />
to continue for several years.<br />
92<br />
Adele chose to work with Fraser because of the<br />
agency’s focus on serving the total family – not just the<br />
individual child enrolled in their programme. Fraser also<br />
had the national credibility and distribution outlet<br />
(www.fraser.org) needed to get her book into as many<br />
hands as possible.<br />
Initial feedback has been positive and, with 2,000<br />
comment cards due to return from 2,000 copies in the<br />
first year, the enthusiastic reception of Adele’s book is<br />
sure to continue.
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