Disability Awareness and Inclusion: Recent Episodes
Andrea
Meet individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities, along with their families. Each interview will expose real life struggles and needs regarding disability inclusion within our homes and communities. Hear their stories, and learn from their miraculous lives as you work toward becoming an advocate in your own corner of the world.
August's spotlight interview is with Tina and her beautiful daughter Abby. Tina is a mother of 3, and her youngest daughter was born with skeletal dysplasia, or bone and cartilage abnormalities. As a huge fan of Abby's, I've been looking forward to this interview for quite some time! This is our first disability interview focused specifically on physical disabilities. We discuss some of the unique experiences and difficulties that come with having limb loss or experiencing limb differences. Born with one leg, one foot, and one typical hand, Abby is a sweet two-year old with tons of energy and endless potential. Both, mother and daughter are determined individuals that have overcome great odds. I'm so excited for you to learn from Tina and to witness, what a strong girl she is raising.
This month's interview is really more of a discussion between Tom and I. We speak about the importance of choice in our decision to have our child with disabilities. With the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade, we felt it was a relevant thing to discuss. Abortion laws affect everyone, including individuals with disabilities and their families. We'd really appreciate any and all to hear what we have to say, but more importantly we hope that all of you consider the blessing of being able to choose for yourself. We so love our sweet baby, and we're grateful that we chose to have her, but we went through a painful road of decisions to get there. Thank goodness we had options and the ability to choose for ourselves, a freedom which is now disappearing.
This month is such a fun family to learn about! Lizzie and I have known each other for over 8 years now, and her experience with her boys has always been close to my heart. She’s an incredible mother and Graham is such a ray of light. Lizzie and her sweet family have been through some challenging times, but their story is an uplifting and positive one. Lizzie and her husband Nathan so openly share their adoration and praise for the heroic life of their son. Taking a detour from neurological disorders, join us in learning more about tracheostomy tubes and life with a super toddler! I learned so much from talking with these two and I can’t wait for you to gain some exclusive insight on living with a trach!
Happy Mother’s Day! I couldn’t be blessed with a better mother. Joyce is a constant, loving, dedicated mother who has carried me through my own motherhood journey. Her life has been filled with trials and struggles that have molded her into a generous and empathetic human being. I’m so excited to share this interview with all of you. My mom shares very practical approaches to being an advocate for individuals with disabilities and their families as the sister, aunt, and grandmother of unique individuals with disabilities. I’ve learned so much from her over the years and I know this will be enlightening for all of you as well. To the woman who raised me, thank you and I love you forever. To those mother’s listening and striving to teach your children to be inclusive, thank you and I love you. Your job role is irreplaceable and mother’s like me, pray for mother’s like you. Happy Mother’s day.
April's interview is with some very important people to me. I’ve known Brittney and Carter for about 7 years and they’ve played such a huge role in my life. Working with Carter as his caregiver, was the experience that completely redirected my life. After the summer I spent with this incredible family, I decided to become a Special Education teacher and the rest is history! There is NO doubt in my mind that God led me to this special boy and his INCREDIBLE mother. Be prepared to have your mind blown by the resilience and heart of these two. I’m forever grateful for the role they’ve played and continue to play in my life. Meet Carter and Brittney!
Also, please forgive my messy beginning …I accidentally forgot to hit record and Brittney had to repeat about 30 minutes worth of information….yaaaaa….live and learn! Thanks for your patience everybody!
I am so excited to share this first interview with all of you! Erin and Christian are fantastic people and parents. They have 4 adorable kids, including 2 daughters with Down’s Syndrome, Hope and Sunny. I could’ve listened to these two all day. They’re incredible advocates for their children, and the overall message I think you can take away from our conversation is “Just Try”. When it comes to knowing how to interact with individuals and families with disabilities, just try. I’m so grateful for all of you taking the time to listen to these! It’s the perfect jumping off point to inclusion and it means so much to me. It means so much to us.
As a mother of a daughter with significant physical and intellectual needs, I'm highly motivated to share our story and the stories of families I know and love to increase disability awareness and inclusion. I hope your minds and hearts will be opened as you learn more about what it means to have a disability and ways that you can help. Learn in this episode about my sweet Cece, my motivation for all of this. Thank you for listening!