Differently Wired: Raising an Exceptional Child in a Conventional World

Reber (What Smart Girls Know) brings the optimistic, child-centered approach of her Tilt Parenting website and podcast, which focus on raising neuroatypical children, into the self-help book format, but doesn’t have much advice that’s particularly original. Reber posits that “today’s increasingly large population of atypical children may actually be a modern-day evolution,” before launching into complaints about schools with one-size-fits-all approaches ill-suited to students with conditions like dyslexia and autism. Leaning heavily on her own experiences with Asher, her son diagnosed with ADHD, who struggled in school until her decision to homeschool him, Reber offers 18 “tilts”—practical shifts in behavior or attitude to improve family life. Many are similar to ideas offered to overwhelmed parents generally, such as avoiding becoming isolated from one’s peers, not being concerned with the judgments of others, and practicing self-care, though some, like parenting “from a place of possibility instead of fear” and letting children exist “on their own timeline,” are more targeted to atypical kids. Though Reber’s upbeat voice may be inspiring for some parents, her advice on subjects like dealing with schools and building community tends toward the generic, preventing her manual from standing out amid the host of books covering the same topic. (June)