Friends! Have you listened to The Telepathy Tapes Podcast? In this show, creator and host Ky Dickens explores the “profound abilities of non-speakers with autism - individuals who have long been misunderstood and underestimated.”

Let’s talk about it:

Have we experienced a shared consciousness with our own children? Is telepathy possible?

Why are people having such a hard time believing the stories from the autistic individuals and their families who claim to communicate with telepathy?

How has the disability community responded to the show?

We don’t know a lot for certain, but we do know this: Our children have shifted our paradigm and opened us up in ways we cannot explain. And we value the stories of non-speaking autistic individuals who communicate with OR without telepathy. Go ahead and listen to The Telepathy Tapes and let us know what you think!

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Join us in celebrating and supporting The Lucky Few Podcast! For just $4.99 a month, you can help us continue shouting worth and shifting narratives for people with Down syndrome. Enjoy bonus episodes where we dive deeper into the most controversial issues, shop discounts, and more! Become an essential part of The Lucky Few movement today! 

Sid Ghosh is 18 (going on 81) years old and he just published his first full length book of poems with a major poetry company. He’s been given extraordinary praise from renowned authors, and us too of course! Here’s what we’re talking about today:

Sid’s poems about his profound experience the world, as an autistic adult who has Down syndrome and uses a communication board (Spellers style!)

Why it’s important to challenge our comfort zones to get a glimpse into a more fully profound way to be human.

What the publishing process was like + where and when you can BUY this book!

There’s a lot of talk about energies, frequencies, and connectivity in this one too. We hope you join us for this incredible interview with Sid Ghosh, and his mother, Dr. Vaish Sarathy!

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JOIN THE LUCKY CREW

Join us in celebrating and supporting The Lucky Few Podcast! For just $4.99 a month, you can help us continue shouting worth and shifting narratives for people with Down syndrome. Enjoy bonus episodes where we dive deeper into the most controversial issues, shop discounts, and more! Become an essential part of The Lucky Few movement today! 

Oxford Dictionary defines ableism as: “discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.” And on today’s episode, we’re defining ableism with our own examples:

A lot of ableism is just actions and systems that we may have never questioned.. until being affected by disability. So what do we do when we experience ableism in our communities? Lets unpack it in this week’s episode.

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After so many years in the Down syndrome community, we’ve had our fair share of surprising and even disappointing experiences with other advocates. The more we put ourselves out there, the more opportunity there is for disagreement. So what happens when there’s division amongst mothers in the Down syndrome community? Join us for a chat about:

Ironically, the DS community doesn’t always feel inclusive. So what can we do to support the bigger picture even if we disagree on smaller things? Lets start by assuming the BEST in each other.

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Summer isolation for our kids with disabilities.. It’s not fun to talk about.. which means we probably should. Lets unpack it:

With our kiddos growing up, we’ve noticed huge changes in the social dynamics that have left our kids with disabilities feeling lonely over summer break, especially when compared to their neurotypical siblings. If you’re a parent to a child with a disability, you may have noticed this as well. We might not have all the answers but we want you to know: we see you and we are cheering you on in this!

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SHOW NOTES

213. The Beauty and Challenges of Adaptive Programs

164. Choosing Your Summer Battles

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JOIN THE LUCKY CREW

Join us in celebrating and supporting The Lucky Few Podcast! For just $4.99 a month, you can help us continue shouting worth and shifting narratives for people with Down syndrome. Enjoy bonus episodes where we dive deeper into the most controversial issues, shop discounts, and more! Become an essential part of The Lucky Few movement today! 

In this current political climate, one of our goals is to keep you all up to date on the legislature that impacts our community. So friends, its time to talk about the “Big, Beautiful Bill” and how it will affect individuals with Down syndrome. We are SO grateful for an incredible guest to help us out. Sean Feely is the new Director of Advocacy and Policy at the National Down Syndrome Society and he’s here today to answer all of our questions..

• The basic questions: What exactly is the “Big, Beautiful Bill”? What exactly is medicaid?
• The complicated questions: Are home and community-funded services in danger? What are the new rules around work requirements and retroactive coverage?
• The scary questions: Will my loved one with DS lose their coverage?

We’re also asking the productive questions.. What can we do now? What sources can we trust? Grab a pen and get ready to take some notes!

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JOIN THE LUCKY CREW

Join us in celebrating and supporting The Lucky Few Podcast! For just $4.99 a month, you can help us continue shouting worth and shifting narratives for people with Down syndrome. Enjoy bonus episodes where we dive deeper into the most controversial issues, shop discounts, and more! Become an essential part of The Lucky Few movement today! 

We’re talking about a not-so-fun part of summer today.. summer school! Specifically, extended school year (ESY) for our children with Down syndrome.

• What is extended school year? Is it necessary?
• Are our kids in ESY this summer?
• Will our kids regress if they don’t go to summer school? Or is traveling/playing throughout the summer also a beneficial learning opportunity?

This is an interesting conversation about what it means to be a student with a disability, why inclusion during the school year is an important set-up for summer success, and how privilege plays a role in all of this. We think you’ll learn a lot from this episode, friends. Enjoy!

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JOIN THE LUCKY CREW

Join us in celebrating and supporting The Lucky Few Podcast! For just $4.99 a month, you can help us continue shouting worth and shifting narratives for people with Down syndrome. Enjoy bonus episodes where we dive deeper into the most controversial issues, shop discounts, and more! Become an essential part of The Lucky Few movement today! 

Welcome to a new season of The Lucky Few Podcast! We’re starting off strong with an episode all about… diversity, equity, and inclusion. Because these are more than just buzz words, friends. Let’s talk about it:

• What is DEI? What is it NOT?
• Recent changes to DEI standards.. have we seen these changes in our own lives?
• The intersection of race and disability

We’re also introducing our guest host for the season.. Brandy Coleman! She’s an advocate, educator, wife, and mother of seven - including her daughter with Down syndrome! Brandy works with the Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network to make sure all families feel seen, heard, and supported. She’s a fierce advocate for BIPOC families and we’re SO grateful for her perspective this season.

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What happens when you mix a fierce sibling bond, a deep love for storytelling, writing, advocacy and a chicken named Rosemary? You get today’s episode of The Lucky Few Podcast! We’re joined by the incredible Melissa Hart, author, educator, journalist and big sister to Mark, her brother who has Down syndrome.

This episode is full of heart, humor, and hope—plus a reminder that inclusion starts at home and ripples out into the stories we tell.

Melissa shares her powerful journey growing up alongside her brother, the outdated and harmful messages her family faced, and how her mom’s bold choice to raise her brother with full inclusion shaped all their lives. From early childhood therapies to joyful adulthood, Melissa’s story is one of advocacy, love, and laughter.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• The outdated advice families were once given—and Melissa’s mom’s courageous response

• How Melissa’s relationship with her brother shaped her writing

• Representation of people with Down syndrome in literature

• Her latest book, Down Syndrome Out Loud

• And yes… an appearance from Rosemary the chicken 🐔

About Our Guest: Melissa Hart is a journalist and essayist from Oregon, and the award-winning author of Avenging the Owl, Daisy Woodworm Changes the World, Better With Books, and her latest release, Down Syndrome Out Loud. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Real Simple, and more. Melissa is also a master naturalist, an avid kayaker, and a proud chicken mom. She teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing program at Southern New Hampshire University and holds a BA in Literature from UC Santa Barbara and an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College.

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• Connect with Melissa at https://www.melissahart.com/

• Learn more about Melissa's newest book at ⁠Down Syndrome Out Loud⁠

•  ⁠Follow Melissa on Instagram⁠

JOIN THE LUCKY CREW

Join us in celebrating and supporting The Lucky Few Podcast! For just $4.99 a month, you can help us continue shouting worth and shifting narratives for people with Down syndrome. Enjoy bonus episodes where we dive deeper into the most controversial issues, shop discounts, and more! Become an essential part of The Lucky Few movement today!

It’s 2025 and there are a few things we know are true… The world is chaotic. And we NEED more compliments. That’s why our very own Heather Avis wrote her new children’s book, “I Like You So Much: Celebrating What Makes You, You!” We’re chatting all about the inspiration for this book and more today!

The reviews are in (literally!) and this book is a MUST-read. We hope you’ll share it with a kiddo in your life who needs to hear just how very likeable they are.

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