Browsing Tag

galway writer

Featured In the Media Love

Connection, Compassion and adventure in Finding Victoria

June 27, 2022

New Book to help when things don’t go according to plan

Parenting small children can be challenging at the best of times. There are hundreds of books out there listing things for parents to do, but what happens when you’re in the real world, and things don’t go as planned?

Finding Victoria is Peter Pan meets Mary Poppins…with the science. This book written by Kristin Ruane (who is from New Jersey but has been living and working in Galway for the past eight years) is a training guide to the science of Applied Behavior Analysis written as a novel. The idea is to bring some awareness of the science to parents in an accessible, yet enticing way, by adding context to the lessons through relatable characters, and unexpected plot twists.

Finding Victoria is a book for anyone who enjoys a story about connection, compassion, adventure, and magic! The story follows Victoria, an adorable, yet stubborn child who meets her match when her mother, Valerie, decides to call a behavior analyst. Kay is an experienced therapist who has been working with families for years, but she’s never met a girl quite like Victoria. Kay works hard to untangle some of her challenging behaviors, and to teach Victoria her most hated task – writing. Therapy takes a sudden turn when Kay immerses herself in Victoria’s play world and discovers her secret – she’s magic.

The book is for parents, teachers, behaviour analysts, psychologists, and pretty much anyone who knows children.

“For a long time, I wrote fairytales. It never occurred to me to write about what I did for a living, until one day, I was talking with a parent that I was working with, and she told me, “You need to write about this!” It was then that I realised I could combine my love of writing fairytales with my love of psychology, teaching and behaviour analysis. I’m hoping the book will help to increase awareness of the field of ABA, and offer support to parents that need it,” explained Kristin.

“This book is a great example of how to humanize the science of behavior and allow the general public to appreciate what wonders it can do for us. Kristin Ruane perfectly blends scientific knowledge and years of experience of its application to solving human problems with a deep sense of compassion and empathy for her subject and packages this in a beautifully-written story of progress and hope. Thoroughly recommended!” Dr. Ian Stewart NUIG.

“As the mother of an energetic four-year-old, I found this book to be incredibly valuable in learning how to manage my son’s tantrums and to help improve his listening skills. It is written in a way that is both engaging and informative, making it a worthy use of any busy parent’s time.” Megan Gibbons, Mother.

Practical, insightful, compassionate – a lifeline for the modern family.” Niamh O’Regan, Mother.

“I’m fascinated by connection, it’s why my research was what it was, and it’s why I’ve written this book. The world has changed so much, and I think we’re unaware of how much we’re disconnecting from each other, and ourselves. We probably all have a lot to learn about why we do the things we do, and if we’re honest with ourselves, we probably all need a little hope and magic in our lives, too,” Kristin said.

People can support the project by pre-ordering a book from the Kickstarter website. The books are offered at a discounted price on Kickstarter (€15/€18) retail price is €20.

For now, you can find the book at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/findingvictoria/finding-victoria , or on Instagram @kristinruane, or @princesscottonfairy. The hope is that it will be available at all of the local book shops.