Joan Matthews – författare

The growth of complementary medicine over the past decade has been accompanied by calls for greater regulation. To date, discussions on regulation have confined themselves to the parameters set by orthodox medicine, and a result, critical issues which need to be more publicly aired have been overlooked. The first book to address this increasingly important topics, Complementary Medicine and the Law is a timely response to this need. The authors explore the way in which the law presently affects the practice of complementary medicine. At the heart of the book is a challenging of the notion that the legal and regulatory mechanisms which govern orthodox medicine form an appropriate model for the regulation of most complementary therapies. The patient-centred, holistic approach central to the theory and practice of many complementary therapies presents a unique problem for the law: the highly individualised, more intuitive, whole-person approach of complementary medicine is not amenable to the quantification and certainty required by the law. The authors argue that only by implementing a more dynamic form of ethics-directed regulation can the consumer be protected without sacrificing the unique contribution that complementary medicine has to make.

James Williams is an SP or special person - he was diagnosed with autism during early childhood. His mother, Joan Matthews, is an NP or normal person. As James grew up, his different perception of the world and the lack of understanding from NPs created problems. Together, he and his mother met the challenges with ingenuity and humour. One day, while taking a walk, James and Joan decided to write a book of their practical solutions. The Self-Help Guide for Special Kids is that book.Covering everything from eye sensitivity, to knowing how far away to stand from other people, to being polite when someone is crying, James and Joan's book describes the problems that an SP may face, and the solutions which they have found to work successfully. Pervaded by their caustic humour and common sense, The Self-Help Guide for Special Kids will be invaluable to other SPs and their families both as a source of advice and a fresh and witty account of how it feels to be an SP.