Differently Wired: Raising an Exceptional Child in a Conventional World
by Deborah Reber

Reber, host of the podcast, TILT parenting, shares her own challenging story of raising a twice-exceptional child in our society and in the world of education. Many enter the journey of parenting with expectations of how it should look, yet some experience the journey as less than their expectations. She shares heart-wrenching stories from parents who desperately try to make their child “normal,” and continues to write about TILTS or various strategies of looking at parenting for DW children.

Although the book aims more toward parents of differently wired children, educators and others working with children can learn from the shared personal stories. Reber’s launch to rethink education, to clarify and rethink the judgements put upon our children based on labels due to neurological differences, draws an educational reader into reflection. Rethinking their own classroom strategies for any child dealing with similar challenges can lead to success for the child and calm the hearts of parents. During my reading of this book, I was in the middle of a struggle with a neurologically different child. Looking more deeply at their way of thinking and applying TILTS within the classroom provided success for this child and hope for the parents. “I believe that we – you and I and every other parent raising an atypical kid – have the capability to truly change this paradigm from the inside out.” (Page 18) Educators should join the force to change the foreseen outcome and pattern.

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