Episode list

What should we do at this time? Are IEP's happening? What should we expect? How does this impact next school year? We feel fortunate that Liam's Elementary School Team is doing their best to support us in helping Liam access his schoolwork. We know that this is not always the case and that parents are having a lot of questions.

Dealing with IEP's and Assessments that seem to happen around our children's birthdays are very difficult. Today we talk through the process of these events in our lives and how they effect all IEP families. Not just those associated with Down Syndrome.

This week we are joined by Pediatric Physical Therapist Natalie Spiteri to discuss Early Intervention Physical Therapy. What is Early Intervention Physical Therapy? How do we get it? What to expect and how can parents of children with Down Syndrome use it to its fullest.

We revisit with Pediatric Physical Therapist Natalie Spiteri to discuss In-School Physical Therapy. Very often it is difficult to receive the appropriate amount of this therapy in the school environment. Natalie talks about the importance of PT, qualifying factors and the pros and cons of pulling a student out of the classroom for therapy sessions.

This week we discuss preparations and expectations of IEP (Individualized Education Program) meetings, what we wish we would have known years ago and the advantages of having an advocate or attorney by your side. Having an IEP means a student has a legally mandated plan in place to address their unique learning needs, providing specialized instruction and support to help them succeed in school.

This week we focus on a sometimes challenging aspect of parenting a child with Down Syndrome. The emotional part of dealing with IEPs, assessments and evaluations that seem to happen right around our children's birthday celebrations. We discuss how we managed these stresses and how we maybe would have done some things differently.

Interview with Julie Picot discussing her birth story, some of the misinformation she encountered and how she dealt with the post diagnosis fears. Julia is a wife and mother of two. She is a wonderful advocate for her youngest daughter, Elyse, who has Down syndrome.

Interview with Child Development Specialist, Caroline Bencze-Fernandez. She explains the importance of Early Intervention, how therapies have changed throughout her 30 year career and what parents of children with Down syndrome should know.

This week we have an enlightening interview with our daughter Sophia to discuss her experiences of having a brother with Down Syndrome. It is amazing to time vault this perspective of a 12 year old sibling who really only knows the experience of Down syndrome in her life.

An interview with Melissa Kynoch, from Birmingham, England known by many for being on the BBC documentary LIFE AND BIRTH along with her sons Dei and Bertie. Melissa is very open about her pregnancy, diagnosis and delivery and we are happy to share her story.

Our Interview with Rachel Mewes to discuss her interactions with Twitter and their reluctance to combat hate speech toward people with Down Syndrome. In common language, "hate speech" refers to offensive discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion, disability or gender) and that may threaten social peace.

An interview with Melissa Kynoch, from Birmingham, England known by many for being on the BBC documentary LIFE AND BIRTH along with her sons Dei and Bertie. Melissa is very open about her pregnancy, diagnosis and delivery and we are happy to share her story.

Interview with Child Development Specialist, Caroline Bencze-Fernandez. In this second appearance on the podcast, Caroline dives a little deeper into the aspects of Early Intervention, what tools parents can use at home and how therapies for children with Down Syndrome have changed over the years.

Our second interview with Julie Picot, a mother of a child with Down Syndrome, and we discuss some of the challenges she has faced regarding stereotypes and preconceived notions of her child's disability. This podcast aims to dissolve the stereotypes and false notions that surround Down syndrome because each individual is unique and their own person.

Interview with Ed Casagrande and Matt MacNeil from the Canadian Down Syndrome Society concerning their collaboration with Google AI to create a database that can help train Google's speech recognition technology to better understand people with Down syndrome.