Reading Up on Childhood Disabilities
"WHEN you have a child who is born with Down syndrome, after the initial shock, you want information," Steve Riggio said recently. "You want to know how to raise the child. You want books on Down syndrome."
Mr. Riggio, the executive vice president of Barnes & Noble Bookstores Inc., spoke from personal experience.  His daughter Melissa was born three years ago with Down syndrome. Despite his company's connections to the publishing industry, Mr. Riggio had great difficulty finding books about her chromosome disorder.
The search for literature that began with Melissa's birth has led to an effort by Barnes & Noble to provide more books about childhood disabilities. The company recently added a Children With Special Needs Collection to the shelves of its 715 B. Dalton and 41 Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide.
The collection, made up of more than four dozen titles, includes books about disabilities like autism, cerebral palsy, dyslexia and speech and hearing impairments. There are also books on health care and educational and recreational opportunities for disabled children.
Most of the books were written for adults and have not been widely circulated until now, Mr. Riggio said.
"Many of these books are published by small presses and are hard to track down," he said. "Some can be found only in a handful of libraries."
George Greller, the buyer for Barnes & Noble's family and child-care division, said, "We are trying to offer as much breadth as possible, to cover as many disabilities as possible. The books are primarily for parents and professionals who work with disabled children, but there are also some for siblings that parents can read to children."
Among the titles are "Children With Epilepsy: A Parent's Guide," edited by Helen Reisner (Woodbine House Inc., 1988), "Susan's Story: An Autobiographical Account of My Struggle With Dyslexia" by Susan Hampshire (St. Martin's Press, 1982) and "Your Hyperactive Child: A Parent's Guide to Coping With Attention Deficit Disorder" by Barbara Ingersoll (Doubleday, 1988).
For children, the collection includes "Shelley: The Hyperactive Turtle" by Deborah M. Moss (Woodbine House Inc., 1989).
Mr. Riggio said he hoped that Barnes & Noble's effort would lead to the publication of more books about childhood disabilities.
"We want to encourage publishers," he said. "We want to get out the word that our company is behind these books. If publishers know there is a home for them in our stores, that they won't be relegated to a few shelves in libraries, they are more likely to publish them."
The potential audience for books on childhood disabilities is significant.  According to the Paul H. Brookes Company, which specializes in publishing books in the field, 5 percent of children in the United States, or more than 3 million, have a developmental or physical disability.
The Children With Special Needs Collection can be found on the top shelves in the Family and Child Care sections at B. Dalton and Barnes & Noble stores. Later this month the stores will provide a brochure that explains the collection and invites customers to suggest additional titles.