Road Map to Holland

An exceptional memoir that provides emotional insight and practical advice.

It's like planning a trip to Italy, only to get off the plane and discover you're actually in Holland. You need a new road map, and fast...

When Jennifer Groneberg and her husband learned they'd be having twin boys, their main concern was whether they'd need an addition on their house. Then, five days after Avery and Bennett were born, Avery was diagnosed with Down syndrome.

Here, Jennifer shares the story of what followed. She dealt with doctors-some who helped, and some who were disrespectful or even dangerous. She saw some relationships in her life grow stronger, while severing ties with people who proved unsupportive. And she continues to struggle to find balance in the hardships and joys of raising a child with special needs. This book is a resource, a companion for parents, and above all, a story of the love between a mother and her son-as she learns that Avery is exactly the child she never knew she wanted.Jennifer Graf Groneberg's exceptional memoir Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son's First Two Year's with Down Syndrome provides practical insight and emotional support to parents of children with special needs. Graf Groneberg is also the editor of My Heart's First Steps: Writings That Celebrate the Gifts of Parenthood and is a contributor to anthologies such as The Maternal is Political, Car Seat on a Camel, Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Have Enriched Their Lives, Woven on the Wind and Crazy Woman Creek. Her essays have appeared in Baby Talk, Child, Parents, Parenting, Mothering and Midwifery Today. She lives and writes at the foot of the Crazy Mountains in central Montana with her husband, author Tom Groneberg, and their three sons.