Claim OwnershipThe Special Needs Mom Podcast
Subscribed: 109Played: 2,135
Subscribe
© 2025 The Special Needs Mom Podcast
Description
Think of this podcast as your very own special needs mom support group--except it's helpful and fun! You will leave with the hope that you can have a super happy life even when your life includes parenting a medically complex child or a child with something like autism and ADHD.
You likely didn't ask to be the parent of a disabled child or to live portions of your life in the hospital NICU or PICU. Your story is unique; it’s hard to find a place where you belong or where you don't feel so isolated and alone. Your child might have a rare disease, be undiagnosed or experience something that almost everybody has heard of like Downs syndrome yet the weird thing is that whether your child has an intellectual disability or physical disability, the experience as a mother is so similar. So regardless of your child’s disability, we can all find a home in this community.
You find yourself managing everybody else's needs; your child, their siblings, and all the guilt that you have about that. All this has you feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and dizzy---not knowing who to turn to or what to do next for help. This podcast is your lifeline, you’ll find encouragement and inspiration as we connect to other moms’ journeys. We’ll get practical and look at what it takes to stop feeling so stuck in your life.
You know this podcast is for you if you find yourself googling:
Overwhelmed special needs mom help
How to do self care as a special needs mom?
Dealing with anger as a special needs mom
How to manage special needs mom burnout and stress?
How do I deal with mom's guilt?
Help for myself as a special needs mom
How do I cope with a disabled child?
How do I manage the grief of my medically complex child?
How to keep from drowning as a caregiver
Support group for special needs mom or community for caregivers
I'm tired of taking care of my special needs child
Finding balance between my child’s needs and my own mamas needs
Respite and rest for special needs moms
271 Episodes
Reverse
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) In this episode, I sit down with Nikki McIntosh, founder of Rare Mamas® and host of the Rare Mamas Rising Podcast. Nikki is also the author of Rare Mamas: Empowering Strategies for Navigating Your Child’s Rare Disease, a book born from her family’s journey after her son’s rare diagnosis. We talk about the shock of those early days, the fight for treatment, and what it’s like raising one child with a rare condition a...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This week I’m sharing a really personal story—not all the details, but the emotional experience of finding myself in a very sudden, very public, and really scary moment with Levi. It was one of those times where I could’ve spiraled, but something shifted in me. We’re talking about the sneaky nature of self-pity, how it isolates us, and how powerful it can be to not go down that road—even when things are objectively ...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This week on the podcast I got to talk with Catherine Marston—a mom, health coach, author, and 14-time Ironman triathlete (yes, you read that right…14!). Catherine’s story is one of grief, resilience, and learning how to take small, consistent steps toward healing and strength. She shares about losing her daughter Helen, how she processed that deep grief, and the ways she found power in self-acceptance and exercise....
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This episode was such a treat. I got to catch up with my longtime friend Kelly Dixon—someone who knew me way back in my landscaping days (pre-leadership Kara 😅). Kelly has a fascinating background managing ultra-wealthy households, and while she’s not a special needs mom—or a mom at all—her systems-thinking brain totally applies to ourworld. We talked about what it looks like to run your home like a well-functioning...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) I didn’t plan to end up emotionally fried by the end of summer... but there I was. I hit my limit. So, I did something radical (for a special needs mom, at least): I took myself to the beach. Alone. No kids. No caregiving. Just me, the ocean, and a much-needed van therapy session overlooking the waves. And wouldn’t you know it—while body surfing, I ran into a fellow special needs mom friend, totally by surprise. The...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This replay from the archives is just as relevant now as it was in 2022. If you’ve ever felt the crushing weight of being the one who holds everything together for your child with disabilities, you’re not alone. In this episode, I share listener reflections on what feels heaviest—like being the only one who knows every detail, the fear of forgetting meds, or never fully relaxing. I also offer a powerful visual: drag...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This one’s light, real, and a little bit ridiculous in the best way. I showed up ready to share a few stories from the trenches—some funny, some a little gross (parenting, right?), and all with the hope that you’d feel just a little less alone in this wild life of ours. We talked about: 🧯 Levi’s new hobby with matches (and yes, I’m taking suggestions).🍋 My sad little lemon tree and how it became a metaphor for this ...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This week, I’m joined by my friend and fellow writer, Brooke Turbyfill. We met as co-authors of The Courage to Raise, a book written by moms navigating the special needs parenting journey—and somewhere between that and a road trip in an electric blue rental car, we became fast friends. Brooke shares what it was like entering the special needs world later in parenting, with both of her teens receiving epilepsy diagno...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This episode lit me up. I had the gift of sitting down with Julie Hornok and Dr. Regina Crone—co-founders of Labeled and Loved. Together, they’ve created something powerful for moms like us navigating disability and special needs: connection, purpose, and spaces where you don’t have to explain yourself. Julie brings over 20 years of experience in the special needs world—as a mom, speaker, behavioral program facilita...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This week’s guest is Kim Botto, a longtime children’s and student ministry leader, TBRI® Practitioner, and all-around passionate advocate for kids who don’t always fit the mold. She’s spent decades creating spaces where every child—regardless of background, behavior, or ability—can belong, contribute, and grow. Kim and I talked about what happens when places like school or church aren’t safe or supportive—especially...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This week, I’m sharing something exciting: I co-authored a new book called The Courage to Raise! It's a collaborative project with eight other special needs moms, and I’m proud (and a little surprised) to be a published author again—especially since writing has never come easily to me. In this episode, I talk about how the opportunity came about (perfect timing while I was already traveling), what my chapter is abou...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This episode is a rebroadcast of episode 87 that was originally aired May 2022. This episode I’m talking about what happens when our story gets disrupted. Likely, we all feel this way about diagnosis, a relationship ending or some other trauma in our lives. What narrative do you tell yourself in this special needs mom life when story you thought you were going to have gets disrupted. “I’m...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This episode is pulled from the archives way back in September 2021. It is episode 56 and it aired shortly after finding out my son Levi’s brain tumor had returned. It was a season full of fear and uncertainty—and that’s exactly what I talk about here: worry and anxiety, and how they show up in our lives as special needs moms. I share real examples from that time and explore: Why worry can feel like responsibility (...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) Welcome to summer—ready or not! In this episode, I share a super personal mid-summer check-in that started with a frazzled Voxer chat with my friend Nicole and ended with some surprisingly helpful advice from... ChatGPT. (Yep, really.) I walk you through a real-life day in the life: four kids, a business to run, complex caregiving, and an unfiltered look at what it’s like to try and do all the things during summer b...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This conversation with Erin Trier was equal parts heart, healing, and hard truths. Erin is a mom of four, a health coach, and someone who knows the weight of navigating rare diagnoses and emotional overwhelm. She shares about her son Brendan’s long, winding path to a diagnosis of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex—and what it’s been like to mother through so much uncertainty, grief, and resilience. We talked about how it fe...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) Sometimes the “good” moments still catch us off guard—like when progress or positive change feels surprisingly heavy. In this episode, I share how a kitchen remodel gone wrong helped me notice something deeper: the emotional tension of expecting joy, but feeling stress instead. If you're a parent of a child with special needs, you probably know this feeling well—when even the wins come with grief, fear, or fatigue. ...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) In this episode, I talk with Katelyn—a mom of three kids with different disabilities, including Trisomy 21, Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome & Autism, whose parenting journey started at just 19. Her story includes foster care, childhood trauma, a cancer diagnosis, and learning how to feel her emotions for the first time as an adult. We talk about what survival mode looked like for her, how therapy (and a really good l...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This is a rebroadcast of Episode 130 that was aired back in 2023. "In this episode, I open up about those moments when everyone assumes you're okay, but inside, you're struggling. It's a common experience, especially for us moms navigating the complexities of raising children with special needs. I share personal reflections on the internal work required to acknowledge our true feelings and the courage it takes to ex...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This week, I sat down with Kristin Herzberg Purdy—psychologist, rare disease advocate, and mom of two children with disabilities. KristIn shares her deeply personal story of parenting through autism, epilepsy, and a rare neurodegenerative condition. We talked about the emotional toll of constant caregiving, the push to find answers when the medical system leaves you hanging, and how self-compassion gets complicated ...
Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) In today’s episode, I’m sharing some personal reflections about acceptance and the emotions that come with it, especially with my son’s 16th birthday bringing up past challenges. I also share the excitement of an upcoming getaway, thanks to my friend Laura's help—talk about a surprise upgrade! The highlight of the episode is a powerful Native American story about two wolves fighting inside us—one good, one bad. Whic...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States