Bringing Up Betty | True Tales of Special Needs Parenting

By Sarah Evans

What's Bringing Up Betty | True Tales of Special Needs Parenting about?

Parents share their unique experiences of raising kids with special needs, disabilities, developmental delays, diseases and other challenges.

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Bringing Up Betty | True Tales of Special Needs Parenting episodes:

05.31.2016
Loving Can Hurt with Kathy Hooven (BUB #21)
We're kicking off summer with a special mini episode! Kathy Hooven's 14 year old son Ryan has autism. Last summer he attended a choral camp and at the final concert Kathy had some surprising realizations. Tune in to hear her...
05.17.2016
Finding Matthew with Donna Kirk (BUB #20)
Donna Kirk's son Matthew was born in 1970. Due to oxygen deprivation during delivery he was born with severe brain damage and doctors advised Donna and her husband Ed to do the unthinkable - put him in an institution, have...
04.26.2016
The New Meaning of Mom Guilt with Mary Evelyn Smith (BUB #19)
Today we're doing something a little different. Betty's been sick and I didn't want to wait yet another week to put a new episode out, so instead I'm sharing a few uncut chunks of my chat with Mary Evelyn Smith that didn't make...
04.05.2016
Buy a T-Shirt, Change a Life with Robert Thornton of Paper Clouds Apparel (BUB #18)
Robert Thornton is the founder and CEO of Paper Clouds Apparel, a business he launched to change lives and serve the special needs and disabled communities. http://www.bringingupbetty.com/18
03.22.2016
When Your Second Child Doesn't Have a Disability with Mary Evelyn Smith (BUB #17)
Mary Evelyn Smith tells the story of becoming a mother to her son Simeon, who has spina bifida, and daughter Franny, who does not have a disability. She explains why constant attention can be exhausting, and how parenting a child...
03.08.2016
Expectations and IEPs (BUB #16)
In "Expectations and IEPs," Sarah tells the story of Betty's transition out of Early Intervention and into the public education system. How they made the first round of tough decisions about Betty's future, plus bidding farewell to the first round...
12.22.2015
The Kindest Thing... (BUB #15)
Parents and individuals living with disabilities and special needs share the kindest things people have done to show love and support.
11.25.2015
Making Mealtimes Easier: From Feeding Disorders to Picky Eaters with Dawn Winkelmann (BUB #14)
Dawn offers tips and information for parents of kids with feeding struggles, swallowing disorders and general pickiness.
11.12.2015
Changing the World, One Cape at a Time with Robyn Rosenberger (BUB #13)
Above and Beyond It's so nice to have supportive people around me who feel like I'm doing something exceptional by being Betty's mom. But I'll let you in on a little secret: I don't feel exceptional. I feel like a regular mom who...
11.05.2015
Talking to Your Kids About Disabilites and Differences with Courtney Westlake (BUB #12)
Episode #12 Courtney is the mom to Connor and Brenna. Brenna has a rare skin disorder called Harlequin Ichthyosis. Courtney shares her story of Brenna's birth, diagnosis, and the ins and outs of Brenna's condition. We chat about balancing special needs...
10.29.2015
Adjusting Expectations: Special Needs on Halloween (BUB #11)
Today Megan Goates is back to share her how special needs have changed Halloween for her family. Megan's oldest and youngest sons are typically developing, and her middle two sons are on the autism spectrum. Tune in to hear how her expectations...
10.20.2015
Checking All The Boxes Part 2: An International Adoption Story with Beth Anne Schwamberger (BUB #10)
Fifteen months after finding Holden on Holt International's website, Beth Anne and Chris finally got to bring him home. Beth Anne thought that by going into this adoption with eyes wide open, well aware of Holden's disability, that she would...
10.13.2015
Checking All the Boxes Part 1: An International Adoption Story with Beth Anne Schwamberger (BUB #9)
When Beth Anne spent a summer abroad at 20 years old, she wasn't sure she ever wanted kids. But after falling in love with the children in an orphanage in India where she worked that summer, she knew she wanted...
10.06.2015
A Chance Meeting with Marica Sottile and Angela V (BUB #8)
Marica and her husband were expecting their first baby when they got a diagnosis that would change their lives forever. Before they even had a chance to process the news, they were on a plane to Florida for a work...
09.29.2015
Finding Purpose in Grief and Uncertainty with Jeannie Ewing (BUB #7)
Jeannie Ewing is a writer, speaker and grief recovery coach. She's also the mother of two girls with special needs. Felicity is four and Sarah is two. Felicity has SPD, ADD and anxiety. Sarah has Apert syndrome. Jeannie talks about...
09.15.2015
His Own Kind of Miracles with Cami Barney (BUB #6)
Cami talks about her son Calvin who was diagnosed prenatally with spina-bifida. At 25 weeks gestation, a fetal surgery was performed to close Calvin's back. Cami discusses her hopes and fears as a mom, some of the awkward and wonderful...
09.01.2015
Reinventing Hope - The Special Reds with Kera Washburn (BUB #5)
Kera has three red-headed children, each with their own set of special needs. Julianna has autism, Tourettes, anxiety, sensory processing disorder, stereotypic movement disorder, and OCD. Blake has mastocytosis. Nathan was born with a cleft palate. Each mile of Kera's...
08.18.2015
The Power of a Prenatal Diagnosis with Angela (BUB #4)
Angela and her husband have had two babies with prenatal diagnoses. Their daughter Grace had hypoplastic left heart syndrome and the diagnosis helped them prepare for all necessary interventions including fetal surgery and open heart surgery at 3 days old....
08.04.2015
The Friends You'd Never Meet Otherwise with Annie Zawada (BUB #3)
Annie and Jonathan were told that they wouldn't be able to have children so they moved half way across the world, bought a two-seater convertible and... found out they were pregnant. Lots of other surprises followed, including some special friendships...
07.21.2015
High or Low Functioning, It's All Hard with Megan Goates (BUB #2)
Megan is raising four boys. Two of them have special needs. She talks about the challenges that parents face regardless of the child's diagnosis. She also talks about the sweet relationships that develop among siblings of special needs kids.
07.14.2015
A Diagnosis Means Everything...Or Does It? - Betty's Story (BUB #1)
Host Sarah Evans tells the story of her daughter Betty and how they arrived at her diagnosis of Potocki-Shaffer Syndrome, an extremely rare genetic disorder.
07.07.2015
An Introduction - Why I Created Bringing Up Betty
Bringing Up Betty is a podcast about the struggles and stories of parenting children with special needs. Every other week host Sarah Evans will interview a parent raising a child with special needs about their unique experiences. For more information...

What's Bringing Up Betty | True Tales of Special Needs Parenting about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Bringing Up Betty | True Tales of Special Needs Parenting episodes:

Loving Can Hurt with Kathy Hooven (BUB #21)

Finding Matthew with Donna Kirk (BUB #20)

The New Meaning of Mom Guilt with Mary Evelyn Smith (BUB #19)

Buy a T-Shirt, Change a Life with Robert Thornton of Paper Clouds Apparel (BUB #18)

When Your Second Child Doesn't Have a Disability with Mary Evelyn Smith (BUB #17)

Expectations and IEPs (BUB #16)

The Kindest Thing... (BUB #15)

Making Mealtimes Easier: From Feeding Disorders to Picky Eaters with Dawn Winkelmann (BUB #14)

Changing the World, One Cape at a Time with Robyn Rosenberger (BUB #13)

Talking to Your Kids About Disabilites and Differences with Courtney Westlake (BUB #12)

Adjusting Expectations: Special Needs on Halloween (BUB #11)

Checking All The Boxes Part 2: An International Adoption Story with Beth Anne Schwamberger (BUB #10)

Checking All the Boxes Part 1: An International Adoption Story with Beth Anne Schwamberger (BUB #9)

A Chance Meeting with Marica Sottile and Angela V (BUB #8)

Finding Purpose in Grief and Uncertainty with Jeannie Ewing (BUB #7)

His Own Kind of Miracles with Cami Barney (BUB #6)

Reinventing Hope - The Special Reds with Kera Washburn (BUB #5)

The Power of a Prenatal Diagnosis with Angela (BUB #4)

The Friends You'd Never Meet Otherwise with Annie Zawada (BUB #3)

High or Low Functioning, It's All Hard with Megan Goates (BUB #2)

A Diagnosis Means Everything...Or Does It? - Betty's Story (BUB #1)

An Introduction - Why I Created Bringing Up Betty