The Girls' Guide To Growing Up: Choices & Changes in the Tween Years

Here's a book just for girls beginning a new phase of their lives! This appealing and easy-to-follow guide for girls with intellectual disabilities is an introduction to the physical and emotional changes they'll encounter during puberty. Written on a third-grade reading level for preteens or young teenaged girls to read by themselves or with a parent, it's filled with age-appropriate facts, realistic illustrations and photos, icons, and a Q&A. The Girls' Guide to Growing Up advises girls about their changing bodies, privacy issues, and how to feel their best, including:

• What is puberty?
• Body changes (height & shape, breasts & bras, body hair, skin & blemishes, body odour)
• Emotional changes (moodiness & handling your feelings, sexual feelings & what to do about them, flirting do's & don't's)
• Periods (what to expect, using a pad)
• Hygiene (keeping face & body clean, showering, using deodorant)
• Privacy, safety & social appropriateness (private parts, rules for who can touch you & when, rules for touching others, what to do if you feel unsafe)

The Girls' Guide to Growing Up is written by an experienced sex educator who specialises in working with people with intellectual disabilities and who is also the author of the popular Teaching Children with Down Syndrome about Their Bodies, Boundaries, and Sexuality. Parents, physicians, schools, and support groups will want to share this encouraging book with girls to help answer their questions about puberty and reassure them it's all part of growing up.

Table of Contents

PUBERTY BASICS

• What Is Puberty?
• When Will You Begin Puberty?

OUTSIDE CHANGES: What Changes Will You See?

• Changes in Your...Growth
• Changes in Your...Breasts
• Changes in Your...Hair
• Changes in Your...Skin

INSIDE CHANGES: What Changes Will You Feel?

• Changes in Your...Feelings
• Changes in...Sexual Feelings

PERIODS

• What’s a Period?
• Handling Your Period
• How Do You Use A Pad?
• How Do You Know When to Change Your Pad?

CARING FOR YOUR BODY

• Keeping Your Body Clean
• Keeping Yourself Safe

PUBLIC OR PRIVATE

• What Are the Private Body Parts?
• Public or Private?

FINAL WORDS

• Growing Up Is Normal!
• Common Questions and Answers about Periods

Index

"Often I get asked if a book exists that moms can share with their tween girls in preparation for the changes brought on by puberty. Finally - here it is! The explanations and illustrations are concrete, specific, and easy to understand. The Girls’ Guide to Growing Up emphasizes the private aspect of puberty and has reminders of what information need not be shared publicly. This is important because many on the spectrum do not pick up by osmosis the difference between personal and public information. There are lots of practical explanations in here that will help a mother to guide her tween through puberty. I highly recommend this book."
- Chantal Sicile-Kira, Author of Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum and Autism Life Skills

"Puberty is a challenging time for all young adults. Now girls with intellectual disabilities can grow up with confidence, benefiting from this very clear, practical, and honest guide."
- Dr. Brian Skotko, Physician, Down Syndrome Program, Children's Hospital Boston