Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son's First Two Years With Down Syndrome | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennifer Graf Groneberg
Publisher: NAL Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $2.55
You Save: $11.45 (82%)
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Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 107842
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0451222954
Dewey Decimal Number: 618.92858842092
EAN: 9780451222954
ASIN: 0451222954
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Mint!!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
An exceptional memoir that provides emotional insight and practical advice.
It's like planning a trip to Italy, only to get off the plane and discover you're actually in Holland. You need a new road map, and fast...
When Jennifer Groneberg and her husband learned they'd be having twin boys, their main concern was whether they'd need an addition on their house. Then, five days after Avery and Bennett were born, Avery was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
Here, Jennifer shares the story of what followed. She dealt with doctors-some who helped, and some who were disrespectful or even dangerous. She saw some relationships in her life grow stronger, while severing ties with people who proved unsupportive. And she continues to struggle to find balance in the hardships and joys of raising a child with special needs. This book is a resource, a companion for parents, and above all, a story of the love between a mother and her son-as she learns that Avery is exactly the child she never knew she wanted.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
Great Book For Everyone, Not Just Down Syndrome People July 31, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Nobody in my family has Down syndrome, but I still found this book to be well written. It is not a how to book, it is simply the experiences of a mother who was surprised at birth with premies, including one premie with Down Syndrome. It is not a happy happy uplifting I'm so grateful for all my blessings book but it is an honest story of the work, the shock, the complicated set of feelings, the processing of said feeling, and the reactions of friends and family. I was left with a determination to keep up with this family and especially darling Avery.
How I wish that the young people I work with could read this book and realize that a child is not a cute toy to dress up, but a human being that may have profound needs, or at any rate special needs, and that they need to build a firmer support system and gain maturity before throwing that B/C away.
PS If you're reading this, former neighbor who shunned the family as if Down is as easy to catch as chicken pox, your cruelty shocks me.
A must-read for all new parents facing a DS diagnosis June 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book took my breath away with its factual, emotional, and honest capturing of the journey through the birth, diagnosis, and early growth of a child with Down syndrome. Groneberg clearly displays the confusion, guilt, exhaustion, fear, and (later) unparalleled joy that the news, 'Your baby has Down syndrome' brings. I hope that all new parents of babies with DS will read this book and find validation, encouragement, and most of all hope as they walk through the initial maze of doctors' offices, therapy appointments and stacks of insurance papers. Groneberg rightly emphasizes that the delights and treasures brought to their family by their son with DS makes it all worth it.
I think this book should be the first thing a parent receives from the hospital, along with the diagnosis of Down syndrome. If it were, so many new parents would be spared some of the misconceptions, confusion, and fear that often accompanies the initial diagnosis. If you are a doctor, family member, or therapist in contact with new parents of babies with DS, please consider giving them this book. It will do them a world of good.
A joyous story about what really matters...or ought to. June 19, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
In ROAD MAP TO HOLLAND Jennifer Graf Groneberg reveals a lifetime of lessons learned in a very short time-span. Her message of hope resonates with the joy of her ultimate discovery that one of the greatest gifts she can give her children is to simply teach them how to love. Read this book, read Jennifer's blog, and join in a celebration of a unique family with a mom-writer at the helm who's gracious and generous enough to invite us all along on her ongoing journey of discovery.
Road Map to Holland June 17, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is wonderful! As a new mom with a son with DS, I cannot express how accurate this book depicts the wide range of emotions, confusion, feelings of being lost and guilt, and most of all love we all feel for our children. This book should be handed out in the hospital before you leave with your child. It would help to ease so much fear and help you understand, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I was in tears so many times through out this book and remember thinking, "YES, that is exactly how I feel/felt!"....HIGHLY recommend to anyone and everyone! If you don't understand DS, read this and educate yourself!! Great book!
A Must Read for Moms June 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I couldn't put this book down.
The author writes about her experience with premature delivery of twins, one of whom is diagnosed with Down syndrome, and the first two years of their life.
This isn't just a story of a mom having to come to terms with that trip to Holland, but an honest mom's story--of balancing the arrival of twins with her preschooler, the affect that her situation had on friendships--both good and bad, her marriage, and her perception of herself as a woman.
This is an excellent book--honest without being morose, uplifting without coming across as saccharine-sweet. A must read for all moms.
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