EPISODES

What does it really look like to honor the autonomy of adults with Down syndrome—not just in theory, but in everyday life?

Today we’re joined by our former producer, occupational therapist, sibling, friend, and advocate Dr. Val Schlieder for a conversation about autonomy, infantilization, and the dignity of risk.

Today, Heather sits down with professional organizer, Enneagram coach, and fellow Down syndrome mom Angela O’Brien to talk about creating organization that supports the life you actually have.

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Back-to-school season brings more than new supplies and schedules—especially when you’re raising a child with Down syndrome. There are IEPs, appointments, transportation plans, medical information, therapies, emails, paperwork, and approximately 47 things nobody else in your house seems to remember.

Today, Heather sits down with professional organizer, Enneagram coach, and fellow Down syndrome mom Angela O’Brien to talk about creating organization that supports the life you actually have.

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Back-to-school season can bring a lot more than new backpacks, school supplies, and first-day photos—especially when you’re raising a child with Down syndrome.

In this episode, Heather, Micha, and Mercedes talk honestly about the complicated feelings that come with starting a new school year. From new teachers and IEP meetings to inclusion, friendships, behaviors, and the pressure to make sure our kids have the opportunities they deserve, sometimes “back-to-school anxiety” is really a mix of fear, grief, frustration, comparison, and the exhaustion of knowing how much advocacy may be ahead.

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Back-to-school season can bring a lot more than new backpacks, school supplies, and first-day photos—especially when you’re raising a child with Down syndrome.

In this episode, Heather, Micha, and Mercedes talk honestly about the complicated feelings that come with starting a new school year. From new teachers and IEP meetings to inclusion, friendships, behaviors, and the pressure to make sure our kids have the opportunities they deserve, sometimes “back-to-school anxiety” is really a mix of fear, grief, frustration, comparison, and the exhaustion of knowing how much advocacy may be ahead.

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We’re back! After a three-month summer break, we’re catching up on some of the biggest conversations, stories, and moments that happened across the Down syndrome community while we were away.

We start with a difficult conversation surrounding YouTuber Jesse Ridgway and his wife Ashley, who publicly shared their prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis and decision to terminate their pregnancy. We talk about the weight of sharing deeply personal moments online, the pressure advocates can feel to respond publicly, and the misinformation and fear that still surround a Down syndrome diagnosis.

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In this final episode of our “What I Wish I Knew” series, we’re taking a step back to reflect on advocacy—what it’s looked like for us over the years, what’s changed, and what we wish we understood earlier.

We talk honestly about the emotional weight of advocating for our kids with Down syndrome, the tension of speaking up in systems that don’t always listen, and the growth that comes from learning to trust your instincts.

From early parenting moments to IEP meetings and navigating social media, this conversation explores the complexity of advocacy—how it evolves, where it gets messy, and why it’s never just one moment, but a lifelong process.

Listen to 330. What We Wish We'd Known About Advocacy

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In this episode of our “What I Wish I Knew” series, we’re talking about functional medicine—what it is, what’s helped us, and what we wish we understood earlier.

We share real experiences navigating diet changes, supplements, specialists, and the cost of it all, while exploring a whole-body approach that looks beyond symptoms.

We also talk about how to integrate functional and traditional medicine without feeling like you have to choose one or the other.

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In this episode of The Lucky Few Podcast, we continue our “What We Wish We’d Known” series with a real and honest conversation about AAC (Augmentative & Alternative Communication) - Supporting Communication Without Limiting It

Micha shares her journey with her son Ace and how her understanding of AAC has evolved over time—from treating it like a therapy tool to recognizing it as a language and a way of life. Along the way, we talk through common misconceptions, frustrations, and the mindset shifts that can make all the difference.

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In this episode, we’re talking about travel and accessibility—what’s actually available, what we’ve learned the hard way (and the helpful way), and the questions that come with it. Fresh off an international trip, Heather shares real-life stories of navigating airports, museums, and public spaces with accessibility services—and realizing oh… this changes everything. Also, turns out you might not need to stand in that two-hour line. Just saying. We also wrestle with the bigger question: Should we use these services if our kids can do it without them?

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In this episode, we continue our What I Wish I’d Known series in honor of World Down Syndrome Day (3/21) and this year’s theme: Together Against Loneliness.

When we first became parents of children with Down syndrome, no one talked to us about loneliness.

Not the loneliness that can come in high school. Not when siblings leave. Not when friends start driving. Not when graduation comes — and the path forward feels unclear. Not when your child is included, but still isolated.

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