Advocate Like a Mother Podcast

Guest host Amanda Garzon, Chief Operations Officer of the Hydrocephalus Association, is joined by Eileen Rodger and Melenie Dailey, mothers of young-adult children living with hydrocephalus. Bringing twenty years of their shared experiences navigating the medical system with their medically complex children, Amanda, Eileen and Melenie share stories and lessons learned on advocating effectively with doctors and in the hospital setti...

Today we have Jayci Dalrymple who is advocating for people with Down Syndrome to be able to receive Organ Transplants. She lives in Montana with her family and on Feb. 8, a bill nicknamed “Griffin’s Law” passed the Montana Senate 50-0. The bill is named for Griffin Dalrymple, whose mom, Jayci, right, campaigned for legislation that would ban physicians from denying an organ transplant based solely on a patient’s disability.

Read Mo...

Today on the show we have Allison Hertog, an attorney and former special ed teacher, is passionate about advocating for students with disabilities because she was once one, herself. before becoming a lawyer, she earned a masters degree in special education and taught children with varying special needs.  Allison’s experiences as a special needs student and as a teacher make her a highly unique lawyer in the field or special ed...

Today on the show I sit down with Rachel who goes by Raya Horcher. She is a mother of  two, a certified holistic resilience coach, and advocate for the rare Elhers-Danlos Syndrome, and her mission  is to walk with, educate and provide resources as people journey into and through their vulnerabilities and find their own light and joy to live a life that feels good. You can learn all about her and more at www.rayalife.life

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Lindsey Strickland of Worth the Conversation joins us this month in observation of Child Abuse Awareness month. Lindsey spends her time with us sharing abuse prevention tools and strategies, the type of circumstances we should avoid and be aware of, and the types of questions we should be asking caretakers or organizations when placing our kids in their care.

Lindsey is an adopted mother to her child Ben who has Down Syndrome and r...

Today we have Breggett Rideau, who is a mom to her son Terrance, grammy nominated vocal Jazz artist, and pioneered legislation in Texas to add cameras to the classroom.

Breggett Rideau had been lobbying the Texas Legislature for several years to require school districts around the state to install and operate video cameras in some special education classrooms if requested by parents, a trustee or a staff member.

Connect with Bregge...

Today on the podcast we are joined by mother and advocate, Elisabeth Parker. Elisabeth lives with her family in Portland as a Noonan Syndrome Advocate, she is a yoga instructor, and also the founder of @Move2Advocate that provides Rare Disease Mamas, Advocates and Friends with inspiration, accountability, and empowerment for self-care through all things movement.

CONNECT WITH ELISABETH

ELISABETH PARKER OFFICIAL

ELISABETH O...

Ben and Laura are the founders of Jonas Paul Eyewear and join me for a conversation about raising their son Jonas who was born blind, a result of a rare eye condition called Peters anomaly. We discuss life before and after diagnosis, how community changes with family changes, and they offer some advice if you’re thinking about starting an organization or company in response to your child’s diagnosis. In addition, Jonas himself take...

Host of the Finding Happy Podcast, Sinead Quinn and Author of Special, Melanie Dimmett, take over the show today for our Guest Hosted episode this month! They discuss the dynamics of grief, how vulnerability plays a part in the early stages of parenting, and how they continue to find motivation in their ongoing advocacy efforts.

**THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR | MINILAND DOLLS

Children’s toys and products made for a more open, inclusive and ...

Today we offer you a special bonus episode that requires your attention. We speak with Julie Payne Neward and Marisol Rubio who have proposed to very important legal resolution for legislative consideration including 1) For increasing Caregiver support and 2) Exposing disability sexual assault history within state and federal funded organizations by means of releases 10 years of secret settlement lawsuit details.

SIGN CAREGIVER RES...

We’re celebrating Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day this week on March 25th, and we’re so excited to share that occasion this week with Nicole La Ha Zwiercan. Nicole is Mrs. USA Universe 2018, a parent advocate to her daughter with Cerebral Palsy, blogger at Its Simple to Be Kind and more.

In this episode, Ileana De Sosa and Nicole share a conversation about life and mind transition once becoming a parent to a child with Cerebral Palsy,...

Welcome to our first branded content episode, paid for and presented by Miniland Educational. 

These episodes are curated and designed by the brand to bring you a conversational experience to hear about their company and products. We invite you to check out what our sponsors are all about, as they keep our show on the airwaves! 

Check out Miniland Dolls and their other products at https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/C24D59...

As we approach World Down Syndrome Day at the end of this week (3/21/21), we are joined by the first woman with Down Syndrome to complete the Austin Half Marathon, Kayleigh Williamson and her mother Sandy. Since then, Kayleigh has completed many half marathons and will attempt her first full marathon this year. She is also the author of the children’s book, It’s cool to be me.

In our conversation we discuss her health and life befo...

Today on the show Marine wife and mother, Valli Gideons. Valli Gideons is the author of the children’s book, Now Hear This and writer at MyBattleCall.com and parent to two deaf teenagers. Valli spends her time writing about navigating through the fog of raising kids with cochlear implants and other things from the heart.

We chat about her diagnosis story and experience as a hearing parent to deaf kids, the home dynamics of raising ...

Today we are joined by our friend, Megan DeJarnett.  Megan is the founder of No Such Thing, a company with a mission to help others redefine purpose by removing defining labels. As an author, she is currently producing a series of children’s books including No Such Thing as Normal.

Megan was diagnosed at the age of 2 with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).  With a tremendous faith in God and the love and support of her family...

We are excited to release our first Guest Hosted Episode! In this episode, our hosts will take a back seat and pass the mic to one of our beloved members of the Down Syndrome community.

On today’s show Liz Plachta, founder of Ruby’s Rainbow, interviews Kelle Hampton, author of New York Time bestseller Bloom: Finding Beauty In the Unexpected  and fellow Vice President of Ruby’s Rainbow.  They share the touching stories of ...

Our friend Tameka Diaz spends some time with us on the show sharing about her experiences with grief and how important it is to develop a self care regiment. She goes into detail about a never before shared experience in her own life that stopped her in her tracks before things could have gone terribly wrong. Tameka’s conversation is filled with grace and space for those who've hit rock bottom and need that empathy to cry, scream, ...

Today on the show, Sarah Dhooge shares with us about her experience as an SLP and her unique approach to her clients, industry in B.C., and how it effects her day to day life with her 3 boys. Sarah is a paediatric Speech-Language Pathologist who specializes in naturalistic developmental interventions to help support the communication development of children with speech and language delays. Currently living in the Okanagan Valley wi...

Amy Webb joins the podcast today and spends some time sharing her journey toward speaking up for inclusion for her daughter "Lamp" (Not her real name) who was born with a condition called microgastria and limb reduction complex. In addition, we revisit some blog content she previously wrote as a way to look at what's changed in her life and how we can observe that as a mirror to see our own prejudice and we talk about the practice ...