Parenting Impossible – The Special Needs Survival Podcast

Let's talk "The Arts" – specifically movies. Rachael & Laura Doukas, sisters, are the founders and producers of Doukas Pictures. They began their entertainment industry careers acting but soon graduated to writing and producing short films. The Ryan Express, their feature debut screenplay, advanced to the second round of Austin Film Festival's Script Competition, a distinction only achieved by less than 20% of nearly 14,000 submissions. The Ryan Express is based on their short, "Rocket Man," which was nominated for Best Short Film, Best Screenplay and won Best Ensemble.

The Ryan Express tells the story of an autistic 6th grader named Robby who builds a time machine out of cardboard and scraps to go back and fix his biggest mistake – the day he was kicked off the baseball team. This film illustrates the true magic that autistic children bring to this world.

The Doukas sisters have also partnered with the Best Buddies organization on The Ryan Express, and have made a commitment to the disabled community to hire 10% of their cast and crew to be those with developmental disabilities. If you are interested in participating in the film, please reach out to them Get Involved

To hear Rachael, Laura and Annette discuss "The Ryan Express", inclusion, community support and understanding and how "Art" can be used to bring a message forward and to change the way the world views those with developmental disabilities, listen to the full podcast episode here.

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.

Have you been searching for a law firm that understands the unique challenges of your family? We can help you at Special Needs Law Group put legal planning in place to protect you and your loved ones now and in the future. Book a free call today with our team or contact us via our website: specialneeds-law.com/contact.

So many of us moms and caretakers of children with disabilities can find ourselves all too easily slipping into seasons of unhappiness, bitterness, self-doubt, self-hatred, and lack of motivation.

Annette met virtually with Jenny Sanders, founder of iLovekickboxing in Agoura Hills, CA (recently shut down due to COVID-19) to discuss the importance of exercise and endorphins in preventing and fighting off depression.

When Jenny's son was diagnosed with autism in 2014, she found herself in a state of denial that quickly led to full-on depression. With no motivation to eat well, get active, or pursue her own hobbies, Jenny was completely out of shape, lethargic, and unhappy.

In this mini-sode, Jenny shares her story of working through her depression with exercise and finding a new source of motivation to take actionable steps towards happiness. This is her story of transforming from dark skies and no hope, to a happy, proud, and successful mom, wife, friend, and individual.

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.

Joya Van Der Laan is a wife, mother of 3, family nurse practitioner, functional medicine specialist, and business owner. As if that didn't make life complicated enough, two of her three children have special needs including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED).

After receiving her daughter's ASD diagnosis in 2014 when she was 3 years old, Joya's innate curiosity and passion for learning drove her to ask, "am I doing enough to help my children through these diagnoses?"

Feeling woefully unprepared, even with her medical training and clinical background, Joya started researching treatments including both traditional and integrative options. It was overwhelming, eye-opening, hopeful, and exhausting all at the same time. "I very clearly remember feeling like I was in over my head, even as a trained medical professional," Joya says. "Even with experience with integrative medicine, I wondered, 'how in the world must parents who have no medical background feel going through this?'"

This is what prompted Joya and her husband, Dave, to start Your Autism Game Plan, an online resource for parents and caregivers of children with ASD. Her goal is to provide a different perspective, including the integrative treatment options that are not generally discussed in the traditional medical and therapy settings.

"Parents need to know this stuff because our kids need help beyond what is typically offered, and searching online is just too overwhelming and time-consuming," Joya says.

In this episode, Annette and Joya discuss a variety of topics, including:

• How we as parents can help our kids with autism to decrease the bothersome symptoms with functional medicine treatments
• Gut health and how it can be related to so many health issues and symptoms of autism – meltdowns, constipation, diarrhea, stimming, picky eating, mood disorders, etc.
• How to give yourself grace when you feel like a bad mother/parent

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.

In this podcast episode, we cover a topic that's a little "different" from what we usually discuss.

Annette invites award-winning male vocalist and author of the children's book "Made by Raffi," Craig Pomranz, to share his story and explain why it's important to not only accept each others' differences, but to celebrate them.

Craig's book tells the story of a shy little boy named Raffi who is often left out and bullied for being seen as "girly" due to his love of knitting. It's not until Raffi's knitted creation saves the day at his school's pageant that people learn to appreciate his craft and all of the differences that make him, well, him.

This message of celebration is important for all of us, but it holds a significant impact for the disability community. A recent study from Cambridge University examined over 641,000 people and confirmed an overlap between gender diversity and autism. According to the data, individuals with autism are more likely to be gender diverse, and gender diverse people are more likely to have traits of autism than cisgender individuals.

In this day and age, it is more important than ever to celebrate individuality and allow people to be who they are.

This episode also features Craig's song, "Different," which lyrically explores the beauty of being unique from each other. This work is as beautiful in music as it is in message.

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community

This week, we are celebrating the 100th episode of our "Parenting Impossible" podcast!

To kick off this special episode, we listen to a song by Craig Pomranz called "Different," which he wrote to inspire children and adults everywhere to celebrate their differences rather than try to hide them.

After the song, Annette dives into her discussion with 3 incredible guests — Joslynn Jones McLaughlin, Laura Weisgarber, and Megan Fabrizi — as they share their stories of raising children with a rare disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

Annette is familiar with the complex emotions and challenges of raising a child with a rare disease, as her oldest daughter, Elizabeth, passed away from Mitochondrial Disease in 2013.

These moms share their stories of receiving their childrens' diagnoses, grieving their own dreams and expectations, working through mom-guilt, battling mental health issues, celebrating the "small" victories, trying different treatments, and learning how to navigate life during COVID-19.

At the end of the episode, Joslynn, Laura, and Megan each share words of wisdom that they have found to be true along their own journeys, as well as the importance of sharing stories with other members of the disability and rare disease communities.

Find more information about the SMA treatments referenced in this podcast here:

• Spinraza
• Evrysdi
• Zolgensma

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.

To kick off the first podcast episode of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, Annette is joined by Elizabeth Wright, the Editor of Disability Review Magazine and the Founder and Editor of the "Conscious Being: For Disabled Women by Disabled Women" blog, to discuss timely topics like ableism, how nondisabled individuals can partner with the disability community, "inspiration porn," and more.

Elizabeth starts the podcast by sharing her personal story of being born limb different. Encouraged and inspired by her parents' passion for disability advocacy, she learned from a young age not to take "no" for an answer when it came to what she could or couldn't do.

She used this go-getter spirit to start training for the Paralympic Games when she was 13, eventually swimming in the 1996 games in Atlanta. By the time she reached her young 20s, Elizabeth was attending university to study fine art. She focused her studies on learning about the visual representation of disabled women and how she and others really saw her body and the ways she interacts with the world.

Elizabeth eventually moved to the UK and started speaking publicly about the Paralympic Games and participating in sports with disabilities. Now, she consults companies and schools on disability activism, as well as the ways nondisabled people can be better disability allies and work to dismantle ableism.

"Nondisabled parents and siblings may not understand the lived experience of what we go through, but they are the next closest people to understanding what life is like for us," Elizabeth says. "I think we have the opportunity to work together to make the world more inclusive and more equitable."

To hear Elizabeth and Annette dive into these hot topics in the disability community, listen to the full podcast episode here.

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.

In the final week of our "Month of Love" series, Annette invited two special guests to discuss the importance of seeking healing for all family members, not just the neurodiverse child.

Matthew and Carol Newell are the Founders of the Family Hope Center in Greater Philadelphia and authors of "Healing Your Child's Brain: A Proven Approach to Helping Your Child Thrive."

Since 1981, the Newell's have worked both separately and together to help thousands of children with developmental disabilities and their parents through a neurological-based therapy program. After years of building their expertise in this field, Matthew and Carol got married and eventually had children of their own, a few of which have developmental and neurological difficulties.

They were able to apply the knowledge they had gained during their clinical work and careers to help their own children overcome their respective challenges. The couple admits that the results didn't happen overnight, though — it took years of learning, dedication, patience, love, and continued faith in the brain's ability to heal.

"If love could 'fix' your kid, they'd be done already — love needs an action plan," Matthew says. "We developed a plan that would help heal your kid without making it their problem and one that we could measure every day; one that brings healing to the entire family."

Matthew and Carol explain the importance of creating an environment that brings healing to both the child and the family as a whole. They discuss practical questions we as parents and caregivers should be asking ourselves to ensure our lives are balanced and we are able to be the best versions of ourselves for our health and our children.

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.

For week 3 of our "Month of Love" series, Annette is joined by Dr. Vivien Brown, MDCM, CCFP, FCFP, NCMP to discuss the importance of self-love when it comes to healthy aging for women.

Annette starts the podcast by admitting that she used to feel pride in putting herself last -- working her fingers to the bone and going to bed absolutely exhausted every night. However, she has realized that this isn't what she wants to model for the people in her life -- for her daughter Caroline, her peers, her community, etc. Instead, she wants to model how to be healthy while also getting things done in a sensitive and balanced way.

Dr. Vivien Brown, family physician and author of "The New Woman's Guide To Healthy Aging: 8 Proven Ways to Keep You Vibrant, Happy & Strong," joins the podcast to discuss some practical ways we can make strides towards a healthier lifestyle.

She walks listeners through the importance of sleep, exercise, diet, heart and brain health, etc. As special needs parents and caregivers, it is more important than ever for us to be mindful of how we take care of ourselves in these ways.

"Data and science are very important, but if you don't know why you're doing something, it's hard to follow through with different programs and regimens," says Dr. Brown. "I want women to feel empowered and for them to understand the issues so it becomes easier to make follow up on healthy choices."

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.

There are ups and downs in every marriage. Whether it's stress from work, not enough time for fun, parenting disagreements, poor communication, moody bickering, grieving a loss, or bigger problems like infidelity, there is no such thing as a "perfect" marriage.

However, parents and caregivers of children with disabilities have a unique set of challenges in many arenas, not excluding their love lives.

In this episode of our Parenting Impossible podcast, Annette Hines is joined by her favorite podcast guest, her husband and law partner Mark Worthington.

Through raising and losing a special needs child together, trying out couples' counseling, starting new businesses, becoming empty nesters, raising a puppy, and everything in between, Annette and Mark have learned quite a lot over the years about their relationship dynamic and how to love each other well in the midst of all of life's craziness.

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.

Annette kicks off the first episode in the "month of love" by inviting speaker, coach, and host of the Very Happy Stories podcast, Liza Blas, to discuss a type of love that so many parents of special needs children push to the side — self love.

Liza opens the episode by telling a story of when she and her daughter, Ava, who has battled anxiety, depression, hallucinations, Lyme disease, and more, went to see a therapist together. During this session, the therapist asked Ava what would make her happy. Much to Liza's surprise, Ava simply responded "I would be happy if my mom was happy." It was only then that Liza realized that her daughter was right — she wasn't actually happy herself.

This incident was a starting point for Liza in realizing that for over a decade, she had told herself and other people the lie that "all I need to be happy is for my kids to be happy."

In that moment, she realized how much pressure she had been putting on her children to be happy. Her daughter and son couldn't help that they were both battling mental illnesses, and yet they knew that their mother's happiness depended on their own.

Liza shares the lessons she has learned over the years about the importance of pursuing self-love and independent happiness outside of the happiness of their spouses and children — a valuable lesson many special needs parents should heed.

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.