The Lucky Few

Jennifer Gray is a certified speech-language pathologist with over 20 years of experience working with the Down syndrome community. Today we’re asking her all the questions we’ve forgotten to ask our children’s own speech therapists.

When should speech therapy start for individuals with Down syndrome? (Hint: Jennifer says research shows it can be helpful before age 1)

What makes speech more challenging for individuals with Down syndr...

Last week we sat down for an interview with trauma expert Dr. Karyn Harvey and today the three of us are unpacking all of our feelings about it. We’re asking ourselves some pretty heavy questions about trauma and intellectual disability.

Do our kids really encounter trauma every time they step out the front door?

Are we holding our children to unrealistic standards and expectations for behavior?

Do the benefits of an inclusive educati...

Dr. Karyn Harvey is a psychologist, author, trainer, speaker, and EXPERT in the field of psychology, intellectual disability, and trauma. Have you ever thought of the trauma that individuals with intellectual disabilities face each day? The examples are endless.. a negative diagnosis experience, being excluded, or even being placed in an institution. Today Dr. Karyn Harvey is on the show to teach us:

Last week we had an important conversation with Dr. Michael Rafii all about the link between DS and Alzheimer’s disease. If you’re still processing everything you learned from that interview, that’s okay. Sit down with the three of us + our good friend Kandi Pickard (CEO of the National DS Society) and we’ll talk through it together!

As we continue this season on brain health, its time to dive deep into the link between Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. It’s not an easy topic.. and that’s why we are so grateful to have Dr. Michael Rafii with us. He’s a physician-scientist whose research focuses on developing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, including a genetic form that occurs in people with Down syndrome. Dr. Rafii is breaking down these topics today:

Last week, we heard from motor planning expert, Brooke Poston, so today the three of us are diving deep into our experiences of apraxia with our own children! Here’s what we’re chatting about:

Have you ever found yourself asking your child to do the same thing over and over again? Why won’t they just stand up and put their shoes on? Why do they hit so often for what seems like no reason? Today is your crash course in motor planning and apraxia, where we’re diving deep into how the brain + body connection impacts behavior. We have Brooke Poston (Clinic Director and Spellers Method Practitioner) on the show to answer all o...

Ellie Goldstein is the first person with Down syndrome to ever be on the cover of British Vogue. She’s also the first person with DS to ever be on the show, “Strictly Come Dancing” — basically UK’s equivalent of “Dancing With The Stars!” Naturally, the internet has A LOT of opinions about it. Today we’re diving into a Facebook post full of ableist comments disguised as empathy. And we’re wondering:

Welcome to a new season of the podcast and happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month! Or should we say DS Acceptance Month?! The advocacy language has definitely changed over the years. Lets talk about it. Here’s what you can expect this week:

How did DSAM become a thing? (Huge shout out to all the advocates who blazed a trail back in the 80s!)

What are we doing to celebrate this month? (Hint: not much!)

What is the difference ...

Today we’re talking about the people and places where we can keep our shoulders down and know that our children with Down syndrome will be accepted no matter what. Join us as we chat about:

We’re so gratefu...

Having a child with Down syndrome means you’re always learning about something new! And today’s topic is: oral facial myofunctional therapy.. a technique used to improve the way our mouth and face muscles work! We have Irene Iskander (dental hygienist + lucky mama) on the show today to answer all of our questions:

• Why is mouth breathing so common amongst individuals with DS? What are the long term effects of mouth breathing?

• What...

Friends! Have you listened to The Telepathy Tapes Podcast? In this show, creator and host Ky Dickens explores the “profound abilities of non-speakers with autism - individuals who have long been misunderstood and underestimated.”

Let’s talk about it:

Have we experienced a shared consciousness with our own children? Is telepathy possible?

Why are people having such a hard time believing the stories from the autistic individuals and th...

Sid Ghosh is 18 (going on 81) years old and he just published his first full length book of poems with a major poetry company. He’s been given extraordinary praise from renowned authors, and us too of course! Here’s what we’re talking about today:

Sid’s poems about his profound experience the world, as an autistic adult who has Down syndrome and uses a communication board (Spellers style!)

Why it’s important to challenge our comfort...

Oxford Dictionary defines ableism as: “discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.” And on today’s episode, we’re defining ableism with our own examples:

A lot of ableism is just actions and systems that we may have never questio...

After so many years in the Down syndrome community, we’ve had our fair share of surprising and even disappointing experiences with other advocates. The more we put ourselves out there, the more opportunity there is for disagreement. So what happens when there’s division amongst mothers in the Down syndrome community? Join us for a chat about:

Summer isolation for our kids with disabilities.. It’s not fun to talk about.. which means we probably should. Lets unpack it:

With our kiddos growing up, we’ve n...

In this current political climate, one of our goals is to keep you all up to date on the legislature that impacts our community. So friends, its time to talk about the “Big, Beautiful Bill” and how it will affect individuals with Down syndrome. We are SO grateful for an incredible guest to help us out. Sean Feely is the new Director of Advocacy and Policy at the National Down Syndrome Society and he’s here today to answer all of ou...

We’re talking about a not-so-fun part of summer today.. summer school! Specifically, extended school year (ESY) for our children with Down syndrome.

• What is extended school year? Is it necessary?
• Are our kids in ESY this summer?
• Will our kids regress if they don’t go to summer school? Or is traveling/playing throughout the summer also a beneficial learning opportunity?

This is an interesting conversation about what it me...

Welcome to a new season of The Lucky Few Podcast! We’re starting off strong with an episode all about… diversity, equity, and inclusion. Because these are more than just buzz words, friends. Let’s talk about it:

• What is DEI? What is it NOT?
• Recent changes to DEI standards.. have we seen these changes in our own lives?
• The intersection of race and disability

We’re also introducing our guest host for the season.. Brandy ...