My Child's Different

The Lessons Learned from One Family's Struggle to Unlock Their Son's Potential

By: Elaine Halligan

Narrated by: Elaine Halligan, Sam Halligan, Melissa Hood

Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Elaine Halligan's My Child's Different explores the enabling role that parents can play in getting the best out of children who are seen as different or difficult.

Foreword by Dr Laura Markham:

Society favors children and adults who conform. The notion that our children may be shunned for being different breaks our hearts, but there is plenty we can do to help such children develop into thriving, resilient adults.

In My Child's Different, Elaine shares the true story of her son Sam who, by the age of seven, had been excluded from three schools and was later labelled with a whole host of conditions ranging from autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) to pathological demand avoidance (PDA) before finally being diagnosed with dyslexia. He had become the Alphabet Kid. His family never gave up on him, however.

Drawing lessons from Sam's transformation journey from difficult child to budding entrepreneur, My Child's Different offers encouragement to parents who may be concerned about what the future might hold. It demonstrates how, with the right support and positive parenting skills, their children can grow up to surprise and delight them.

The book chronicles Sam's journey from birth to adulthood, allowing listeners to spot past and present patterns that may be comparable with their own children's experiences and provides pragmatic parenting advice that will be of benefit to any parent whose children may or may not have a diagnosed learning difficulty and is struggling with life educationally or socially.

Elaine narrates with warmth and compassion as she revisits the challenges faced, the obstacles overcame, and the key interventions that helped instill in Sam a sense of self-belief, a drive to succeed, and an emotional intelligence beyond his years.

Interspersed throughout the narrative are the reflections and insights of parenting expert Melissa Hood, who illustrates the key concepts from Sam's story and shares practical positive parenting techniques to help parents better connect with their children. Also included are contributions from Sam himself providing an additional, uniquely rich perspective that will help deepen parents understanding of their children's feelings and emotions.

Suitable for parents, educators, and anyone who works with children, My Child's Different is a celebration of all the unique qualities that those who are different bring to society.

©2018 Elaine Halligan (P)2019 Elaine Halligan

Life changer

This book brought me to tears. It’s a very lonely place to have a complex child that doesn’t fit in a labeled box, in a conventional school and with conventional parenting. I have hope that we will have a happy ending for our 12 year old boy who has many similar difficulties. We also have hope that we can repair the damage done by our poor parenting and help his siblings, too. Hope is what we needed. I’ve used a few of the positive parenting, reflective listening and descriptive praise techniques and already see glimmers of hope. Thank you for sharing your story. You are not alone.