The Special Needs Parent Podcast

In this video episode, I chat with Irene Martinez about how to take the complex world of baby development and simplify what we consider by focusing first on 3 areas. These areas, says Irene, tell us about foundational aspects of our baby's development. Better still, while the 3 areas are ideally to be focused on from as early in baby's life as possible (Irene recommends starting to build the awareness and focus from as early as a couple of months before baby is born), it is never too late to tune in on these areas. So if your child is no longer a baby, it still all applies, and you also can place the focus on you, so as to support yourself.

Irene Martinez runs Best Baby Beginnings, and puts her Early Intervention expertise of 20+ years as a "Baby Whisperer", Neuro-Development Expert", "Sensory Integration Specialist", "Occupational Therapist", and "Feeding Guru" into helping parents, guardians, and grandparents to see and support their precious littles with enhanced intuition, uncommon skill, and grace. Irene runs a supportive free community where she helps parents build connections with one another and shares answers to burning questions that boost understanding of what parents may observe, may worry about, or may need guidance on. You can join her Best Baby Beginnings community here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2778324362387351 Additionally, you'll find more resources on her website, so reach out and connect with her at https://bestbabybeginnings.com/

Best of all, you can book a free consultation call will Irene to have a talk and receive some guidance either as an expecting parent or as a parent of a newborn, via these links:

Complimentary Consultation Expectant Families: https://calendly.com/yourbabyspecialist/building-your-nest-of-support

Complimentary Consultation Families with Newborns: https://calendly.com/yourbabyspecialist/15-30min

For more support and experience-sharing related to the Special Needs parenting journey, including stories, tips, and checklists to help with issues like managing overwhelm in the midst of your life challenges, boosting your relationships, and doing better with caring for yourself, it’s the perfect time to pick up a copy of host Marcia's Amazon bestselling book, Lighting the Path: Leaning into a Hopeful Future as a Special Needs Parent, at any of the outlets listed here: https://books2read.com/lightingthepath. Plus, come find support from podcast host, Marcia, at www.instagram.com/MarciaNathaiBalkissoon to carve out more joy and fulfillment in life, especially if you l feel overextended by your life’s challenges and your tendency to chase perfection.

Sensory overload can make haircutting a stressful time for child and parent alike. Joanna Cetaj used to be a hairdresser who not only attended to haircuts for special needs children, but found it natural to help them feel so safe, they would relax and initiate communication and other interaction with her. She has been recently diagnosed with special needs of her own, and she also is the parent of a special needs child. In her work as a coach and soon-to-be author, she uses her rich experience to guide parents of special needs children to establish the environment at home where they can manage haircuts themselves, so they can shed their anxiety and create freedom and joy for everyone involved.

Tune in to this episode to learn about some of what Joanna has experienced, learn some of her insights to benefit your family, and get her support to make rapid change in this critical area. Follow or DM Joanna on social media at: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jojosfromvegas For more support and experience-sharing related to the Special Needs parenting journey, including more lessons from my daughter, Emma, plus issues like managing overwhelm in the midst of life challenges, boosting our relationships, and doing better with caring for ourselves, it’s the perfect time to pick up a copy of Marcia's Amazon bestselling book, Lighting the Path, at a host of outlets here: https://books2read.com/lightingthepath. Plus, come find support from podcast host, Marcia, at www.instagram.com/MarciaNathaiBalkissoon to carve out more joy and fulfillment in life, especially if you l feel overextended by your life’s challenges and your tendency to chase perfection. Send me a DM to tell me about you and your family, and please recommend the podcast to other parents who need to get some support, feel less alone, and find a safe space where they are more understood.

Did you know, Women, that tuning in to your menstrual cycle can attune you to fluctuations in not only your mood or emotions, but also the way your creativity, work competencies, and even inspiration may fluctuate during the course of your cycle? This is just the start of what Dinara Mukh shares in this interview. Tune in to learn about how we can better support our children who have menstrual cycles, as well as how our boys and men sometimes step in to give us love and support when they are aware of our cycles. Plus, Dinara shares a little about how men’s hormones fluctuate and impact their energy as well. Dinara Mukh is women’s health & hormone coach and TEDx speaker. She helps women balance hormones by re-connecting with their menstrual cycles so they can thrive in their bodies. You can find Dinara’s resources and also reach out to her via these links: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dinara.mukh/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinaramukh/ Dinara’s TEDx Talk: Your menstrual cycle is your superpower - https://youtu.be/BFa2egx-jI8 Plus, you can take Dinara’s hormone quiz here: www.dinaramukh.com/hormonequiz Dinara’s podcast, Feel Better Be Better, teaches more on this episode’s subject. You can tune in here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/ETc3wBJ6Exb For support and experience-sharing related to the Special Needs parenting journey, including issues like managing overwhelm in the midst of life challenges, boosting our relationships, and doing better with caring for ourselves, it’s the perfect time to pick up a copy of Marcia's Amazon bestselling book, Lighting the Path, at a host of outlets here: https://books2read.com/lightingthepath. Plus, come find support from podcast host, Marcia, at www.instagram.com/MarciaNathaiBalkissoon to carve out more joy and fulfillment in life, despite your life’s demands and challenges.

As a mom of 8 now-adult boys, one of whom was adopted and has a Foetal Alcohol Syndrome diagnosis, Tess Scott is well qualified to bring guidance on navigating great challenges with gumption, humour, and hope. Tess also describes herself as a spunky “Grami with a heart above the i” to a whole slew of adorable grandkids. Using both humour and vulnerability, Tess shares her life as a Christian speaker, an award-winning author and an encourager of women. Her first book, “Listen, Sister! Finding Hope in the Freakshow of Life” launched in 2022. It’s is a hilarious collection of short personal stories that turn awkward memories into much needed encouragement. Each tale of real-life shenanigans points out glimpses of God in the everyday and directs women to the source of true joy in their stress-filled lives. You can find Listen, Sister on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, at Walmart, and more. You can connect with Tess in a series of ways including: > Her website at https://tessscott.com/ > Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/listensistertessscott > Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/listensister_encouragement/ > LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tess-scott-a5a091217/ Also, Tess loves sharing her gift, “The top 10 signs your life is a freakshow” with her audience. Get it here: https://tessscott.com/freakshow. For support and experience-sharing related to the Special Needs parenting journey, including issues like managing overwhelm in the midst of life challenges, boosting our relationships, and doing better with caring for ourselves, it’s the perfect time to pick up a copy of Marcia's Amazon bestselling book, Lighting the Path, at a host of outlets here: https://books2read.com/lightingthepath. Plus, come find support from podcast host, Marcia, at www.instagram.com/MarciaNathaiBalkissoon to carve out more joy and fulfillment in life, despite your life’s demands and challenges.

This episode focuses on the many answers our guest, Colleen Keefe Faul, has found about the whys and hows of special needs parenting. Her answers have been constructed through intensive exploration and reflection. Parts have been produced from her prayer and deep dive into her faith. Other parts have been surprising realizations that she has had about how some of her unique qualities have outfitted her for the special needs parenting role she fulfills. Colleen is a stay-at-home mom whose second child, Grace, was unexpectedly diagnosed with Infantile Spasms and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex at age 6 months. Grace’s diagnosis pulled Colleen deeper into her faith, where she sought understanding and consolation and also was inspired to lean into creativity. Colleen discovered how to lift her own spirits and boost hope and resilience for herself and take care of her family. 

Colleen went on to author “God's Precious Gift: A Special Needs Child”, a faith-based children's book, that uses the experience of her daughter’s diagnosis to bring light and consolation to other special needs families. The book is available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1736504142, and you can connect with Colleen here: Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/colleenkeefefaulauthor.  As mentioned in the episode, Colleen has an Etsy shop (at https://www.etsy.com/shop/CokisCrafts) where she sells special needs crafts. She’s excited to hear from you about the handmade special needs crafts and other items you would like her to make available. Please leave a message with your product ideas or other comments regarding this podcast here: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message. We love hearing from listeners!  

For support and experience-sharing related to the Special Needs Parenting Journey, including issues like managing overwhelm in the midst of life challenges, and boosting our relationships, it’s the perfect time to pick up a copy of Marcia's book, Lighting the Path, at https://books2read.com/lightingthepath. Plus, come join her free community at www.facebook.com/groups/thriveability today. 

Many a special needs parent has worried over how to support their child's development of social skills. How to get them to fit in at school. How to help them to interact with others, even family members, in ways that show connection, consideration, and even love appropriately. Longing for their child's touch or the chance for their child to look them in the eye. And the list can go on forever, with every child having different abilities and different needs. Miriam Campbell has worked with special needs children and their parents for 14 years, and she understands exactly how challenging the development of social and emotional skills can be for children, as well as for adults to navigate the many challenges. She's also taken the problem and reframed it as an opportunity to help her students and her own children go beyond learning these skills by regurgitating lists of behaviours and truly help them understand the whys of common practices in our society. What resulted was a book, Bubble Double, which is chock full of images that children relate to and short explanations that support understanding.  In this episode of the podcast, Miriam explains her thinking and why it is valuable for parents to model her approach as a way to support social and emotional skills development in their children. She also walks us through an approach to begin making the shifts we need. Reach out to her at miriam@skillsforconnection.com or book a consult call at https://calendly.com/skillsforconnection/getsupport?back=1&month=2022-11 to access more support. For support related to the Special Needs Parenting Journey, including checklists to address issues like managing your overwhelm in the midst of life challenges, boost your parenting/love/social relationships, and otherwise improve your vision and experience of life, pick up a copy of my book, Lighting the Path, at https://books2read.com/lightingthepath. Plus, come join my Level Up and Thrive community at www.facebook.com/groups/thriveability today.  Want to share a comment of submit a question or request? Leave a message about the episode or your other comments or feedback here: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message or DM me on Facebook.

It is a demanding thing, to navigate the ups and downs of special needs parenting. Many a parent speaks of how difficult it can be to manage a life where they are constantly on the watch and on the go, trying to predict and control variables in their lives that cannot be predicted or controlled. The effects can be considerable on your mental, emotional, and physical well-being, for sure. In this episode, Melissa Whiting speaks of what she has found to be the grounding pin in her life - her ability to trust God to take control, and to take care of her and her child. Tune in to learn about her views and her 3 tips to find spiritual comfort on the special needs parenting journey. 

Find Melissa under the name Melissa Kate on Facebook and Instagram for a dose or reality and positivity. https://www.facebook.com/melissa.whiting.54 

For support and insights related to the Special Needs Parenting Journey, including issues like managing overwhelm in the midst of life challenges, and boosting our relationships check out Marcia's book, Lighting the Path, at https://books2read.com/lightingthepath and come join our Level Up and Thrive community at www.facebook.com/groups/thriveability today. 

Leave a message about the episode or your other comments or feedback here: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message and we’ll share or comment in future episodes.