Advocate Like a Mother Podcast

Today on the show we have Larkin O’Leary and Harmony Harvell from the Non Profit, Common Ground Society. They are both former educators and are both raising a child with a disability. We love the work these ladies are doing and we know you will too!

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 setting.

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 More here: https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/push-is-on-for-states-to-ban-organ-transplant-discrimination/article_f481ad1c-6755-5368-a876-73451c4f50df.html

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 education. She’s won or settled every case she’s filed.

Allison shares about her diagnosis journey, she offers us plenty of advise for navigating assessments whether your child is a part of the public school system or charter homeschool and much more. 

Also, California parents can sign up for a free consultation at MakingSchoolWork.com, so check that out.

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.

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.

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 diverse world.

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.

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, how they celebrate when grocery stores and parks provide proper equipment, and they discuss how every space needs efforts for inclusion and advocacy & much more.

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! 

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 before becoming a running athlete, the people in her life that continue to motivate her toward her goals, and Sandy offers advise for parents supporting and raising their person with Down Syndrome.

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 children with cochlear implants, and she offers me (Andy) advise on how to emotional engage language as a parent to a child who is not deaf, but on a lifelong journey to overcoming her speech delay.

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, Megan lives life determined to experience life to the fullest and choose joy over despair.

In addition to being an author, Megan is a speaker, a wife, a mother and was crowned Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee.

**Thank you to our sponsor for this episode, Hertog Education Law at http://www.makeschoolwork.com. Schedule your free consultation if you live in CA.**

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.

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, and shout out the hurt. And, there’s hope on the other side.

Tameka Diaz is a mother to three girls: Luna, Evely and Skye. At birth Evely was diagnosed with bilateral anophthalmia meaning she was born with no eyes. Evely also has an undiagnosed genetic condition.

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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 with her Craft Beer enthusiast husband, Sarah is a mother to three {wild} boys and a retired-therapy dog named Bear.

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 of anti-ableism by looking at the work accomplished in advocating against racism.

Kenny Clutch joins us on the podcast today to discuss his story as “The Dancing Dad”, thoughts on positive parenting, and he keeps it real sharing with us a bit about his life before his positive reformation and what keeps him inspired.

After a hiatus the show is back and will official return in 2021. Enjoy this trailer episode where we share about some format changes and our new team members! Also head over to Instagram today for a special giveaway, head over to the website and sign up to be a guest or even be a guest co-host on the show!