Take the Next Step with Amy Julia Becker

Will your child with a disability truly belong at church—or simply be accommodated? How can you recognize genuine welcome? How could a church rethink accessibility, Sunday school, and worship so your family can fully participate? 

Nakoa Dantzler Merritt, the Community Engagement and Partnerships Coordinator for With Ministries, joins Amy Julia Becker to offer practical advice and real-life examples for families and church...

Are you exhausted from caregiving? Anxious? Burned out? Do you find yourself resenting your spouse or keeping score in your marriage over who does most? Therapist Monica DiCristina joins Amy Julia Becker to help parents of children with disabilities recognize the signs of chronic stress, understand how it can affect marriage and family life, and discover small, meaningful ways to respond differently, even when the circumstances the...

How can we help a child grieve when they may not have the words to tell us they’re hurting?

Therapist Sissy Goff joins Amy Julia Becker to explore how children with disabilities experience and express grief. Grief doesn’t always look like sadness; it can show up through regression, anger, anxiety, changes in behavior, and more.

Sissy shares practical ways parents and caregivers can help children express their emotions, se...

What happens when the rhythms of caregiving make it difficult to establish any rhythms at all? 

That’s the question guiding author Jen Pollock Michel as she considers what spiritual practices can look like in the midst of caregiving for a family member with a disability. Drawing on her own experience caring for her mom who has Alzheimer’s, Jen shares with Amy Julia Becker how caregivers can create space for meaning,...

Do you have to fight everyone around the table to advocate well for your child? Many parents feel intimidated by disability advocacy. They worry they're not doing enough and don't know enough to be a good advocate for their child and a good teammate to the other people in their child's life. Researcher Meghan Burke joins Amy Julia Becker to share what non-adversarial advocacy looks like—from special education and IEPs to the ...

Overwhelmed, isolated, afraid of the future? You don't have to figure it all out at once. Author Misty Coy Snyder joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about family life and disability. She shares practical encouragement for parents and caregivers, including ways to:

• Find community and build meaningful connections
• Focus on what matters right now
• Make room for joy

00:00 Introduction to Misty and Her Family
03:09 Why "Happiness is D...

How can my child with a disability learn and grow? What does it look like to cultivate capability while honoring their limitations? When am I wrongly making life easier for them? When should I let them struggle? And what if I feel incapable as a parent? Therapist David Thomas joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss:

• parenting in an anxious age
• building resilience
• helping children develop coping skills and confidence

00:00 Introducti...

When your child needs support now, “just wait” isn’t good enough. Chris Cipriano, mom and developmental psychologist, helps parents of children with disabilities move from frustration and apology to confident advocacy. She shares with Amy Julia Becker how to:

• navigate waitlists
• work with teachers and providers as partners, not opponents
• see disability as a different vantage point and a source of value

Discove...

Parenting a child with a disability can feel overwhelming, isolating, and uncertain, but you don’t have to figure it out alone. Take the Next Step offers encouragement and practical guidance for navigating disability parenting, finding connection, advocating for your child, and creating more joy at home. Join Amy Julia Becker and fellow parents, therapists, researchers, and disability advocates for short, hope-filled conversa...

E25—What do you do when the child you imagined isn’t the child you have? Pastor Mike Erre experienced the slow dismantling of achievement-based parenting when his son with Down syndrome was born. If you’re exhausted by comparisons and milestones, this conversation invites a different way forward: noticing, delighting, and being with your child as they are.

00:00 Introduction and Personal Stories
03:06 Connecting...

E24—"I don't know what life can look like for my child." If you've ever felt that, this episode is for you. Sheli Reynolds, PhD, is a leader in disability innovation. She joins Amy Julia Becker to share free, practical tools that support individuals and families experiencing disability in planning for friendship, independence, employment, and joy.

00:00 Dr. Sheli Reynolds and Disability Advocacy
03:40 Understanding the Life...

E23—The meals stop coming. The texts slow down. And suddenly you feel like you’re navigating disability alone. Friends can be great at showing up in a crisis, but how do you find community for your family when life stays hard day after month after year? Katherine Wolf, stroke survivor, mother, and disability advocate, shares her story with Amy Julia Becker. They consider:

• Grief
• Limits of toxic positivity
• Finding commun...

E22—Is having a sibling with a disability hard on kids? Researcher Meghan Burke has spent years studying (and living) this question. Her findings might surprise you. In this episode, she joins Amy Julia Becker to share:

• what siblings actually say about growing up alongside disability
• why the "burden" narrative is mostly a myth
• the one conversation every family needs to have before a crisis hits

00:00 Introduction to Sibl...

E21—As the mom of a daughter with Down syndrome, I have felt my fair share of complicated emotions over these past twenty years. And sometimes, I haven't known what to do with those emotions, especially the ones that seem negative, like grief or fear. I'm talking today with psychiatrist, speaker, and author Curt Thompson about all these things—how we can name our emotions in safe and trusted communities, and the way rec...

E20—Does your child struggle to understand who they are in a world that sees disability as a deficit? Renee Dollenmayer, founder of Even If Ministries, shares how living with cerebral palsy shapes her joy, sorrow, and purpose—and why every person with a disability needs to know their presence matters. 

00:00 Introduction to Renee's Story and Disability
03:15 Joy and Sorrow in the Context of Disability
05:56 Cr...

E19—Many parents of children with disabilities carry deep spiritual questions and have very little space to process them. Amy Julia Becker talks with Pam Harmon about spiritual direction and why it can be a lifeline for parents navigating caregiving, uncertainty, and burnout. Together they explore practical ways to slow down, notice God in everyday life, and find renewed hope in the middle of disability parenting.

00:00 Introd...

E18—Your child isn’t “misbehaving.” They’re trying to be understood. Many children with disabilities communicate through behavior, especially when spoken words aren’t available in the moment. Behavior analyst Emily Longino shares practical tools for recognizing communication signals before they escalate and helping parents build connection with their kids. Amy Julia Becker and Emily explore:

• H...

E17—Is your family welcome at church? If Sunday mornings leave you more exhausted than encouraged, you’re not alone. Rebecca Wall, Executive Director of With Ministries, joins Amy Julia Becker to explore why so many disability families are leaving church—and the small, practical changes that can create real belonging. Find (or help build) a community where people with disabilities aren’t just accommodated, b...

E16 — Parent and medical caregiver. Many parents of children with disabilities know the complexity of these two full-time roles. Juli Henderson, founder of In Our Arms, was the caregiver for her son Robert, who passed away at eighteen from a rare mitochondrial disease. She joins Amy Julia Becker to explore:

• Caregiver burnout, guilt, and isolation
• How to pace yourself
• Creating community (even when you’re exhausted)
• Pract...