Loving Lindsey: Raising a Daughter with Special Needs

(Paperback)

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Winner - 6th Annual Beverly Hills Book Award for Relationships and Parenting & Families
Award Finalist in the "Parenting & Family" category of the 2017 Best Book Awards
Finalist, 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the category of MemoirsOvercoming Adversity/Tragedy
Linda Atwell and her strong-willed daughter, Lindseya high-functioning young adult with intellectual disabilitieshave always had a complicated relationship. But when Lindsey graduates from Silverton High School at nineteen and gets a job at Goodwill, she also moves into a newly remodeled cottage in her parents backyardand Linda believes that all their difficult times may finally be behind them.
is a story about independence, rescue, resilience, and, most of all, love.

Reviews

2017 Beverly Hills Book Award Winner in Parenting & Family 2017 Beverly Hills Book Award Winner in Relationships 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in Memoirs (Overcoming Adversity/Tragedy) 2018 International Book Awards Finalist in the Parenting & Family category "Atwells evocative descriptions provide added depth to the characters, particularly Lindsey, whose voice emanates from the pages. A brutally honest, affecting memoir of family resilience." Kirkus Reviews Linda Atwell is a beacon of light in her book about the richness of raising a daughter with special needs. Lindsey stories are woven into the midst of Atwells own very full life, and she truly tells it like it is. She shares her experiences through the lenses of love, humor, and the human condition. Diana Dolan Mattick, Special Education Teacher and Learning Specialist "I LOVE this book! Loving Lindsey is a brave and big-hearted story every parent should read. Linda Atwell writes with generosity and depth about what it means to fiercely love and accept each other." Ariel Gore, author of The End of Eve and Atlas of the Human Heart "Atwell's strong relationship with Lindsey, her special needs adult daughter, carries her (and us) through heartbreaking times that include fear, frustration, and disappointment that are always tempered by unwavering love and a determination to equip her daughter with skills for an independent life. A riveting narrative of mother-daughter struggles and rewards." Matilda Butler, memoir coach and award-winning author of Rosie's Daughters: The "First Woman To" Generation Tells Its Story "Loving Lindsey is provocative and it will leave you changed, which is the highest praise I can give a book." Debby Dodds, Author of Amish Guys Don't Call "Atwell shines a light on the complicated issues involved in loving and living with someone with special needs. Whether you are a family member of someone with intellectual disabilities or just looking in from the outside, you will be moved." Teresa Sullivan, Author of Mikey and Me: Life with My Exceptional Sister "Told with astonishing honesty and candor, this is a story about the courage and bravery of daily life in a family bringing a 'forever child' into adulthood. It's a story about real love in real life." Corinne Tippett, Author of Just a Couple of Chickens and When No One Else Would Fly As the older sister of a brother with special needs, I despair over those stories that portray people with disabilities as carefree candidates for sainthood. Linda Atwell's Loving Lindsey provides a candid look at what it means to be the parent of an adult child with special needs. She captures the complexity of her relationship with her daughter in prose rich with compassion and wit. Lindsey emerges from these pages as a real person--complicated, challenging, and absolutely delightful." Melissa Hart, author of Wild Within: How Rescuing Owls Inspired a Family and Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood As the parent of a child with disabilities, I often wonder and worry about what the future holds for my son. Atwell's tender, funny, real, and at times heart-wrenching memoir about her daughterwho as an adult woman still sleeps with a Cabbage Patch doll yet holds a job, gets a place of her own and falls in love, as doomed as it may beportrays the self-sufficiency and experiences that I want my son to someday enjoy. Loving Lindsey shows that it is entirely possible to have intellectual disability and also have a good life. Ellen Seidman, author of the award-winning blog Love That Max Ms. Atwell writes with clarity and contemplation through the triumphs and tragedies of raising someone with special needs. Her memoir is a moving exploration of a mothers resolve to keep her daughter safe, despite Lindseys determination to dance to her own off-beat drum, and how the love that bonds this mother and daughter will prevail against the odds. At times funny and always candid, Loving Lindsey is a book every woman should enjoy reading, no matter where they fall on its relationship spectrum. Kathleen Cremonesi, author of Love in the Elephant Tent: How Running Away with the Circus Brought Me Home and 2016 Gold Medal Independent Publisher Awards for Coming of Age/Family Legacy The reader gets to see this family in a world we dont usually get to shareraising a teenage daughter compounded by the difficulties of developmental disability. Told with clear-eyed empathy for her daughter and the other members of her family, Atwells memoir is unflinchingly honest, allowing us to drop midstream into this remarkable familys life. Diana Y. Paul, author of Things Unsaid A suspenseful heart-wrenching tale of broken dreams and incredible burdens, Loving Lindsey is a first-hand account of raising a child with a diminished emotional and intellectual capacity. This harrowing journeya page-turner thats every parents nightmarewill stay with you long after you have put down the book. Highly recommended." Barbara Donsky, award-winning author of Veronicas Grave: A Daughters Memoir Linda Atwell is a master storyteller, and does a phenomenal job of sharing the love and grievances that come with raising her daughter. The moments and years of joy and frustration every family feels are especially touching as she navigates life with her sweet, defiant girl. Loving Lindsey is an exquisitely told account of a mothers protection, pride, frustration, and is, ultimately, a story about never giving up. I highly recommend Loving Lindsey to every parent. Kristi Rieger Campbell, speaker, author, advocate, and Finding Ninee creator "Loving Lindsey is a mom's heartbreakingly honest account of letting go of her daughter, Lindsey. The heroes of this book are Atwells fierce and imperfect love for her daughter and Lindseys determination to be as independent as possible. Loving Lindsey offers parents of children with special needs a glimpse of the challenges their children will face in adulthood and food for thought about how to prepare and navigate them. Jolene Philo, author of A Different Dream for My Child and Does My Child Have PTSD "Raising a child with an intellectual disability is tough. When that child becomes an adult, the challenges can be insurmountable. Linda Atwell puts the spotlight on her daughter Lindseyand herselfand never wavers, not in parenting her child or in telling her story. I couldn't put the book down." Amy Silverman, author of My Heart Can't Even Believe It: A Story of Science, Love, and Down Syndrome "Loving Lindsey is an unwavering and valuable motherhood memoir about the way intellectual disabilities manifest in daily life and affect relationships." Foreward Clarion Review

Author Bio

Linda Atwell lives in Silverton, Oregon with her husband, John. They have two incredible adult children. Linda earned her BA from George Fox College, but it is her entrepreneurial and adventuresome spirits that have inspired her career goals. She owned a successful home dcor business for ten years before switching to adjusting catastrophe insurance claims and climbing roofs for a living. Now she writes. Her award-winning work has appeared in print and online magazines. She irregularly writes a blog about her daughter with special needs. Atwell is happiest traveling the world, and hopes to get fifty stamps in her passport before it expires.