Best of 2023

This odyssey of parenting, caregiving, and disability can be so many things: isolating, overwhelming, joyous, lonely, full, exhausting, exhilerating. The extreme ups and downs; the highs and lows. You can't fully understand it unless you live it. 

This episode explores why professional family to family support is so critical - so peers with lived experience can give us the information and empathy we so desperately need. We also celebrate the many accomplishments of our Center for Family Involvement staff, and share how their work is changing lives. 

The Odyssey: Parenting. Caregiving. Disability. 

The Center for Family Involvement at VCU School of Education's Partnership for People with Disabilities provides informational and emotional support to people with disabilities and their families. All of our services are free. We just want to help. We know how hard this can be because we're in it with you. 

 

SHOW NOTES: 

Nickie Brandenburger is the Director of the CFI's Family to Family Network. 

More about I'm Determined.

Interview with I'm Determined founding member Dr. John McNaught. 

More about the sibling perspective. 

Lisa Richard is the CFI's Regional Network Coordinator for Southwest Virginia. She is also the Rural Outreach Specialist. 

Lisa is also a part of the Genetic Navigator Program. 

More about Carilion which Lisa mentioned.  

River's Way is the community organization that Lisa's children find benificial.

Lisa was a guest on the podcast back in May, sharing her experiences as a parent, advocate, and person.  

Jen Reese is the Regional Network Coordinator for Northern Virginia and part of the Genetic Navigator Program. 

The STXBP1 Disorders website features the lattest on the condition as well as the FDA recording that Jen participated in.

A podcast on the diagnostic odyssey one mother faced for her child's rare genetic condition.  

Parenting Special Needs feature on transitioning to the empty nest. 

Mauretta, Edgar, Lisa, and Patrice are all part of the CFI's Cultural Broker Initiative

Elderhood and Aging Families. 

 

 

TRANSCRIPT:

 

01:00:07:21 - 01:00:37:14

Erin Croyle