Library Thursdays: Friendship Resources

There is an interesting article on friendships for children with disabilities by David and Faye Wetherow on the Apraxia-KIDS website. This topic is of concern to all parents. The article discusses what makes friendships grow and gave some good suggestions to help. Among these are creating opportunities for children to be around other children, having time to connect, finding shared interests and choosing a conducive place. The article also mentions creating Circles of Friends (see library resources below) as well as supported networks for adults with Down syndrome discussed in an earlier blog. From Downs Ed is an article (Special at school but lonely at home: An alternative friendship group for adolescents with Down syndrome by Jeanne D'Haem) about going beyond a Circle of Friends at school and creating a community circle. Also from Downs Ed in our library we have in the Issues and Information series: Social development for individuals with Down syndrome - An overview. I am looking forward to the completion of the publication of Social development for each age range.

Another look at friendships for children with special needs is: Delicate Threads by Debbie Staub. It tells of 7 different friendships in an inclusive school between children with developmental disabilities and mainstream classmates. It is interesting to look at each of the different friendships to see what makes each work and what makes the friendships that break down do so.

Other Friendship resources:

Circle of Friends DVD by Inclusive Solutions

Creating Circles of Friends: A Peer support and inclusion workbook by Colin Newton

Peer buddy programs for successful high school inclusion by Carolyn Hughes and Erik Carter

Kids with Down syndrome: Staying healthy and making friends DVD by Will Schermerhorn

It's so much work to be your friend: helping the learning disabled child find social success by Richard Lavoie

Also of interest may be the upcoming Making Friends Workshop in Albury

If you are would like to borrow any of these resources discussed above or anything else from the library, please just email us or call.