How do you ensure that children's voices and ideas are heard and valued in relation to the settings that form part of their everyday lives? Presenting an easy to adopt step-by-step framework, this book argues in favour of children's potential to advocate for themselves, in contrast to the current model in which adults take full control and advocate on the child's behalf. By honouring and harnessing the involvement and contributions of children, social workers and education professionals will be able to improve their daily practice and positively transform key spaces within society to create environments where children experience a sense of belonging and purpose, full of potential benefits for both adults and children. Practical at its core, the book has wide applications, from examining the place of children in legal matters, such as divorce, through to the child's engagement in decisions about their education. International case studies reveal how the model works in practice and encourages children's voices and their participation.

True story! "I spoke soothing words and touched her pale fingers. The silent weeping stopped." The baby's chest heaved as she struggled to breathe. Airway scarring rendered spoken language impossible. Heather wasn't my child, but her distress tattered my heart. Fourteen months old, the little one lay swaddled in a blanket, forgotten and lost amongst unchanging hospital routines. “Just be glad she’s only abandoned, not abused.” The words on the other end of the phone line stung. I wrestled with anger, but instinct quieted any sharp response. A chance meeting turned tragedy to miracle. I wrote the book about our search to give the voiceless child a family, to find a surgeon who could reconstruct her airway. Otherwise she would never speak, never swim. When I met her, she'd never been outside, never seen the sun, never seen the moon. She could not even move a finger. She'd always lived in a hospital on a breathing machine, fed by a tube in her tummy. No one dared dreamed she might survive and have a family of her own. Might we adopt her? Were the damning prophecies true? Sometimes dreams come true, more fantastic than envisioned. There is a newer subspecialty, pediatric otolaryngology. These ear, nose, and throat surgeons can restore voice and hearing. READ THE BOOK. WRITE A REVIEW. TELL YOUR FRIENDS. Enjoy the adventure of healing Heather and discover the miracle surgery that restores her voice. "This is a true story of hope, unconditional love, faith, as well as an exceptional family who would not take "No" for an answer. Ann writes beautifully with vision and descriptions that take you bedside with Heather, on family outings to the river, or just inside her home filled with laughter, scary moments with how fragile Heather was, the exhausting routine of life at that time, and finally the miracle of seeing Heather grow up." Kathy, Reader *** Diana Forrest. I'm reading this book now, can hardly put it down. Thanks be to God to her awesome Adopted family and to so many great Doctors and nurses. Heather is a living beautiful Miracle and a precious gift from God. Dec. 25, 2017 Janet Kortright rated it amazing. I could NOT put this book down. I read it in one night. Start to finish. I felt like I was part of the journey, the family. I will read this again and recommend it to others. A feel good story that shows they're are good people in the world. To advocate for children. To stand your ground to get the care needed for your children. Lynn, January 3, 2018 Voiceless Child is an amazing true story on the trials and tribulations in adopting a special medical needs child. A must read for all especially those who can relate to caring for and having a premature baby like me and my husband. Such a double blessing: For Heather - to be adopted by a loving family and getting a voice. For the family - the experience of adopting and providing medical needs for Heather that takes them on extraordinary life experiences of faith, hope, perseverance, joy, and love. Thanks Ann for sharing your true life experience! *** Heather’s story is heartwrenching, captivating, frustrating. I was impelled to read on to discover who would help or hinder her recovery. What I learned applauds the magical minds and hands of innovative surgeons. The inspiring story of perseverance is relevant to anyone who is facing a challenging obstacle. --Dar Walks Out, Lakota Sioux, Pine Ridge, South Dakota Voiceless Child is a thoughtful exploration of the grace and imperfections inherent in medical care systems and individual providers. Heather epitomizes the motivation for devising surgical procedures that eliminate a parent’s constant worry of death associated with airway disorders. -- Dr. Robin Cotton, director of pediatric otolaryngology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Before the events evolved to the point whose impact could only be conveyed through a book, I published it as an article, “The Child No One Wanted” in Woman’s Day. “We’ve had a terrific reaction to it. Our readers really loved the story.” --Jane Chesnutt, then editor-in-chief of Woman’s Day.

"As participants in family therapy, children have unique and specific needs, and they present distinct challenges for the family therapist. All too often, children are inadvertently relegated to a secondary role because, given their inability to verbally express themselves, their opinions are not heard as clearly as those of other family members. In attempting to remedy this situation, therapists may simply transpose child therapy techniques into the family therapy. However, this is an inadequate solution, as those techniques have not been developed for use in a family context. Rather, an innovative, systemic approach is needed, as Carole Gammer persuasively argues in The Child's Voice in Family Therapy." "Emphasizing a range of practical interventions, Gammer offers the clinician an array of methods for recognizing the needs of children taking part in family therapy, and for helping children gain the most benefit from the therapeutic experience. Individual chapters are devoted to useful techniques and tools, including dramatization, therapist-generated metaphors, art therapy, video-supported intervention, and play therapy. Clinical case studies appear throughout the book, so that every technique is clearly conveyed through numerous examples of actual families in therapy."--BOOK JACKET.

MORE THAN 100,000 COPIES SOLD! New York Times bestselling author Rachel Macy Stafford shares simple words of daily inspiration in this unique, seasonal devotional to help you find new and more connected ways to live undistracted, heart-led, and hands-free every day. Rachel Macy Stafford, known to millions as the Hands Free Mama, equips readers to breathe life into what really matters: the ordinary moments in our routine lives and the people in them. Her inspiring words fill this beautiful book of short pieces constructed around the seasons of life. From finding daily surrender in the autumn and daily hope in the winter to finding daily bloom and daily spark in the spring and summer, you will always find fresh, beautiful words for your day. With a flexible, non-dated devotional structure, Only Love Today offers life-giving words that remind you of the tools you already possess and insights you already have as you seek to find: Clarity when you're conflicted Unity when you're divided Faith when you're uncertain Rest when your soul is weary Meaning in the meaningless A reset button directing you back to what matters most Regardless of what you're experiencing or what season you're in, in these pages, you'll find wisdom, encouragement, strength, vision, and clarity to live for what really matters.

Children are inherently musical. They respond to music and learn through music. Music expresses children's identity and heritage, teaches them to belong to a culture, and develops their cognitive well-being and inner self worth. As professional instructors, childcare workers, or students looking forward to a career working with children, we should continuously search for ways to tap into children's natural reservoir of enthusiasm for singing, moving and experimenting with instruments. But how, you might ask? What music is appropriate for the children I'm working with? How can music help inspire a well-rounded child? How do I reach and teach children musically? Most importantly perhaps, how can I incorporate music into a curriculum that marginalizes the arts?This book explores a holistic, artistic, and integrated approach to understanding the developmental connections between music and children. This book guides professionals to work through music, harnessing the processes that underlie music learning, and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children's lives through play, games, creativity, and movement. Additionally, the book explores ways of applying music-making to benefit the whole child, i.e., socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and linguistically.

Gittel and her mother were supposed to immigrate to America together, but when her mother is stopped by the health inspector, Gittel must make the journey alone. Her mother writes her cousin’s address in New York on a piece of paper. However, when Gittel arrives at Ellis Island, she discovers the ink has run and the address is illegible! How will she find her family? Both a heart-wrenching and heartwarming story, Gittel’s Journey offers a fresh perspective on the immigration journey to Ellis Island. The book includes an author’s note explaining how Gittel’s story is based on the journey to America taken by Lesléa Newman’s grandmother and family friend.

Society today often fails to hear the wake-up call embedded in the happenings of the world, which, in many ways, are driven by technology and concerns of profit at the cost of human lives, especially the lives of children. It is important to protect children and strengthen their voices, which are often muffled or silenced by abuse, victimization, crime, domestic abuse, abandonment, poverty, labour, wars, pornography, crime and similar atrocities. This collection of papers presented by international experts at a global conference titled “Giving Children a Voice – The Transforming Role of the Family in a Global Society” challenges society at large to note the seriousness of child abuse, and the impact of technology on children. It raises questions on the rights of the child, and the role of parenthood in today’s contexts. The book, an excellent resource manual for researchers and those in professional practice, is sure to be a perennial source of inspiration to all those dealing with children.