If there are couples who consider the possibility that they might raise children with developmental disabilities, Chelsea and Pete were not one of them. In fact, Chelsea admits they had all sorts of ideas about how they would parent both before they were pregnant and after their first child was in their arms. There was an expectation that they’d spend some married time together before they had children, and spend many more years together after they’d raised their children. Those “how” details are so elusive!

Chelsea’s husband of 30 years, Pete, joins the conversation in this episode, not to provide any “how to” template for raising neurospicy children while staying married, but to offer a birds-eye view of their partnership journey in the hope families might find some encouragement as they’re going through it.

In case you want to read the articles Chelsea refers to (in order of reference):

• Epstein, Sarah. (2019). “If My Parents Are Divorced, Is My Marriage Doomed to Fail?”. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-the-generations/201902/if-my-parents-are-divorced-is-my-marriage-doomed-fail#
• Gaille, Brandon. (2017). “21 High School Sweethearts Marriage Statistics”. https://brandongaille.com/20-high-school-sweethearts-marriage-statistics/ 
• Hartley, S. L., Barker, E. T., Seltzer, M. M., Floyd, F., Greenberg, J., Orsmond, G., & Bolt, D. (2010). “The Relative Risk and Timing of Divorce in Families of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder”. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(4), 449–457. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019847 
• Sarris, Marina. (2017). “Under a Looking Glass: What's The Truth About Autism and Marriage?". Interactive Autism Network. https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/whats-truth-about-autism-and-marriage# 

In case you want to make an episode-related playlist:

• “You’re Still the One” by Shania Twain https://youtu.be/KNZH-emehxA?si=8D8PYBjPOOwWK7Qr 
• “Never Would Have Made It” by Marvin Sapp https://youtu.be/TWrGjzBheno?si=SvgoTMn0IoQM6A7_ (Consider changing the “I” to “we” as you listen.)
• “I Will Be Here” by Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/vU2hPIwqbTk?si=O4Q83cpw0-HU_-Op (Originally released in 1989, this was a wedding song for us.)
• “Dancing in the Minefields” by Andrew Peterson https://youtu.be/_Gs3fg_WsEg?si=FBMQbiv_WxZO8l8G

Podcast includes an introduction for episodes 6 and following at the beginning. Transition music, "Taking a Vocation", by Noey Budde.

Closing narration for episodes 6 and following.