Uncommon Voyage: Parenting a Special Needs Child in the World of Alternative Medicine

by Laura Shapiro Kramer

After Seth Kramer was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in 1984 at the age of ten months, his mother Laura Shapiro Kramer became dissatisfied with the incomplete diagnoses and the inadequacy of information and emotional support coming from the mainstream medical community. She began to try out alternative therapies and medicines - and they worked. This is the remarkable story of the family's journey through the world of alternative medicine, then and today.
Uncommon Voyage will educate you about these unconventional medical options, which can benefit children with many different kinds of special needs. Ms. Kramer blends practical information and advice on when - and how - to take risks and challenge treatment with an intensely personal, spiritual story of her own and her family's adjustment to having a special needs child and sibling. To guide you in your own search for answers, included is an invaluable resource guide to medical, therapeutic, and counseling organizations, as well as to experts in various alternative therapies

205 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

Before becoming a mother, Laura worked in the entertainment business. She helped manage the first national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar; produced Slab Boys on Broadway with Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, and Val Kilmer; and developed Smashville by David Mamet for ABC. In 1979 Laura married Jay Kramer, an entertainment lawyer in New York City. Their son Seth was born in 1983, followed by daughter Haya in 1987.

The direction of Laura’s life changed when Seth was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in 1984. She embarked on a journey to improve the quality of Seth’s life, plunging into a world that lacked today’s information-rich internet to get everything she could for Seth—at first within the mainstream and later in a wider world that came to include osteopathy, Feldenkrais, Iyengar yoga, and more.

In 1992 Laura wrote an article for Family Circle Magazine, "A Second Chance for Seth," detailing the maverick work she was doing with Seth. This led to an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show".

Subsequently, Laura wrote the first edition of Uncommon Voyage: Parenting Children with Special Needs Uncommon Voyage, about her experiences as Seth’s mother. The first edition was published in 1995, the paperback edition was issued in 1998, and a second edition in trade paperback was published in 2002.

Laura currently lives on Cape Cod. She was the Chair of the Board of Resources for Children with Special Needs (now includeNYC) for ten years. Laura is Founder and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York (IYAGNY) and she serves on the Advisory Board of New York City Outward Bound (NYCOBC). Her travel articles about Iran and Tasmania appeared in The Forward. Laura was Project Director of the Albyon Project for the New York Foundation for the Arts.