The holiday season is here, and with it comes the endless lists, family expectations, traditions, and pressure to make everything magical. But what if we gave ourselves permission to slow down?
This week, Heather sits down with co-host Micha Boyett to celebrate the release of her new book, Advent Unhurried: Daily Devotions for a Season of Wonder and Stillness.
What happens when you take a simple message like “You Are Beautiful” and turn it into a business that's changing lives?
As we wrap up Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Heather sits down with Raquel Caramello, a jewelry designer, entrepreneur, college student, and disability advocate who is doing things her own way.
After experiencing bullying and navigating a childhood cancer diagnosis, Raquel turned her desire to help others feel seen and valued into Raquel Beautiful, a growing jewelry and gift business built around the message that everyone is beautiful and worthy, exactly as they are.
Here we are, halfway through October and Down Syndrome Awareness Month, revisiting a conversation that's just as relevant today as when we first released it in July 2022.
We've all seen those viral “feel-good” videos featuring people with disabilities. But are these stories actually celebrating people with Down syndrome, or are they reinforcing harmful stereotypes?
It's Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and we're heading back into the archives for a conversation that's just as relevant today as when we first recorded it.
What do you wish you knew when you first received your child's Down syndrome diagnosis?
In this throwback episode, Heather, Micha, and Mercedes reflect on the things they wish they could tell their younger selves and why the stories we tell about Down syndrome matter so much.
People with Down syndrome deserve belonging, opportunity, and dignity—without having to prove their worth through achievement.
To kick off Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Heather and Micha ask what happens when advocacy becomes centered on accomplishments. They share honestly about comparison, parenting expectations, and telling a fuller story that makes room for the entire Down syndrome community.
“Presume competence” is a phrase we hear often in the disability community. But what does it mean when someone also needs significant support?
This week, Heather and Micha talk through the tension between believing there may be more happening than we can see and honoring a person exactly as they are. They share stories about school routines, communication, reading, and friendship—and ask what changes when we lead with curiosity instead of assumptions.
“Inclusion says you’re allowed to be here. Belonging says this is your place.”
In this episode, we’re exploring the difference between being included and being genuinely known, wanted, and valued. We share real-life examples from school, church, dance, friendships, and community spaces—and discuss why simply offering access or accommodations isn’t enough.
Disability policy can feel complicated and overwhelming—but these decisions directly affect the healthcare, education, services, and civil rights of people with disabilities.
Today, Heather is joined by attorney, IEP expert, and longtime friend of the podcast Ashley Barlow. Together, they break down current changes and challenges surrounding Section 504, community living, Medicaid, and special education—and explain why families need to pay attention.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
To infantilize someone is to treat them as younger or less capable than they are. For people with disabilities, this often shows up in subtle but harmful ways: baby talk, lowered expectations, behavior plans for age-appropriate teen behavior, speaking about someone as if they aren’t in the room, or limiting choices because we assume immaturity.
In this episode of The Lucky Few Podcast, we continue our What I Wish I’d Known series by talking about inclusion — and being honest about how it actually feels. When we hear the word inclusion, we don’t immediately feel hopeful. We feel heaviness. Process. Fight. Sometimes discouragement.
EPs can feel overwhelming, emotional, and complicated—and that’s because they are. In this episode of The Lucky Few Podcast, we kick off our new season, What I Wish I’d Known About…, by talking about IEPs—what we wish we understood from the very beginning, and what we’ve learned the hard way.
Elana Meyers Taylor is a five-time Olympian and one of the most decorated athletes in winter sports history. She has earned one gold, three silver, and two bronze Olympic medals for Team USA, and is a four-time World Champion, with two gold medals in both the two-woman and mixed team events. She is also the most decorated Black winter Olympian of all time.
Today we’re diving deep into the way our children communicate! We’re asking some difficult but important questions about how we support their speech and language. How do our kids feel when people cannot understand their speech? How do they feel when we, as their parents, cannot understand their speech? How are we supposed to implement all the speech therapy tools? When is it time to just focus on one area of growth for our kids? How do our kids use “self-talk” to share stories and self-soothe?
Today we’re diving deep into the way our children communicate! We’re asking some difficult but important questions about how we support their speech and language. How do our kids feel when people cannot understand their speech? How do they feel when we, as their parents, cannot understand their speech? How are we supposed to implement all the speech therapy tools? When is it time to just focus on one area of growth for our kids? How do our kids use “self-talk” to share stories and self-soothe?
Jennifer Gray is a certified speech language pathologist with over 20 years of experience working with the Down syndrome community. Today we’re asking her all the questions we’ve forgotten to ask our children’s own speech therapists. If you’re a caregiver hoping for guidance or a speech therapist interested in treating individuals with DS, this episode is for you!
Last week we sat down for an interview with trauma expert Dr. Karyn Harvey and today the three of us are unpacking all of our feelings about it. We’re asking ourselves some pretty heavy questions about trauma and intellectual disability. Here’s what we know for certain: our children with intellectual disabilities understand when they are being excluded. And it’s our job to remind them just how incredibly lucky this world is to have them in it.
Dr. Karyn Harvey is a psychologist, author, trainer, speaker, and EXPERT in the field of psychology, intellectual disability, and trauma. Have you ever thought of the trauma that individuals with intellectual disabilities face each day? The examples are endless.. a negative diagnosis experience, being excluded, or even being placed in an institution.
Last week we had an important conversation with Dr. Michael Rafii all about the link between DS and Alzheimer’s disease. If you’re still processing everything you learned from that interview, that’s okay. Sit down with the three of us + our good friend Kandi Pickard (CEO of the National DS Society) and we’ll talk through it together!
As we continue this season on brain health, we need to dive deep into the link between Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. It’s not an easy topic.. and that’s why we are so grateful to have Dr. Michael Rafii with us. He’s a physician-scientist whose research focuses on developing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease including a genetic form that occurs in people with Down syndrome. Dr. Rafii is breaking down this important conversation for us today.
What Families Actually Need to Do—and When
What if planning for your child's future didn't mean having everything figured out right now? And what if the goal wasn't just protecting their future, but creating a life filled with purpose, opportunity, and belonging?
This week, Heather welcomes back Phillip Clark, co-founder of ENABLE Special Needs Planning, for an honest conversation about why future planning feels so overwhelming—and how families can move forward with confidence.