Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!)

This week, I invited my friend and returning guest Carrie M. Holt back to talk about something that every special needs mom wrestles with, the difference between fixing and accepting our children.

We unpacked what those energies feel like, how they show up in motherhood, and how they connect to deeper themes of fear, control, grief, and peace. We also talked about how acceptance doesn’t mean giving up. It means seeing our children (and ourselves) as whole, right where we are.

Carrie shares from her own experience raising her son with complex medical needs and reflects on how her perspective has shifted from striving to affirming, from control to trust.

This conversation will meet you wherever you are in your own evolution as a special needs mom. Whether you’re in survival mode, rediscovering yourself, or finding peace in what is.

Episode Resources

• Book: Practicing Affirmation: God-Centered Praise of Those Who Are Not God by Sam Crabtree
• The Other Side of Special: Navigating the Messy, Emotional, Joy-Filled Life of a Special Needs Mom by Carrie M. Holt, Amy J. Brown, Sara Clime
• Carrie’s previous episodes:
  • Episode 98 – Tending to Your Soul with Carrie Holt
  • Episode 171 – Carrying the Heavy Emotional Load of Special Needs Nursing Care with Carrie Holt & Kacie Craig, Pt. 1
  • Episode 172 – Managing Special Needs Nursing Care Like A Boss with Carrie Holt & Kacie Craig, Pt. 2

Connect with Carrie:

• Website: carriemholt.com
• Substack: @cmholt
• Instagram: @carriemholt
• Facebook: @carriemholtwriter

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!)

This week, I got to sit down with the wise and feisty Cynthia Schulz, author of Shine On: Raising Our Children with Disabilities to Lead Bright, Happy Lives. Cynthia’s daughter is now 40, and hearing from a mom who’s decades down the road was such a gift.

We talked about what it was like when she first received her daughter’s diagnosis, by mail, in the most abrupt and heartbreaking way, and how she decided early on that this would not ruin her life. Cynthia shared her “play to win” philosophy and how that mindset shaped everything from advocacy to joy to building a full, meaningful life for her daughter and family.

We also got into self-care, identity, and the evolution that happens over time. Cynthia reminded me that while this life is a marathon, it’s one fueled by a mother’s love and that we can do hard things.

This one left me encouraged, grounded, and full of hope for what’s possible, both for our kids and for us.

Resources Mentioned:

• Shine On: Raising Our Children with Disabilities to Lead Bright, Happy Lives 

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!)

Today’s episode is a little different. I’m pausing our regular programming to share something close to my heart: The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community.

This podcast connects us week after week, and still, sometimes we need a space to go deeper to actually live out the things we talk about here. That’s what Pathway to Peace is. It’s part coaching, part community. A place for special needs moms to rediscover themselves, reconnect to their own power, and find peace in the middle of chaos.

Inside the membership, you’ll get access to weekly coaching calls, small “Power Pods,” and a private online hub filled with tools and resources. It’s designed for real life, flexible, supportive, and genuinely transformative.

If you’ve ever wondered what the next step after listening might be, maybe this is it.

Click here to JOIN PATHWAY TO PEACE

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!)

Today’s episode is a little different. I’m pausing our regular programming to share something close to my heart: The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community.

This podcast connects us week after week, and still, sometimes we need a space to go deeper to actually live out the things we talk about here. That’s what Pathway to Peace is. It’s part coaching, part community. A place for special needs moms to rediscover themselves, reconnect to their own power, and find peace in the middle of chaos.

Inside the membership, you’ll get access to weekly coaching calls, small “Power Pods,” and a private online hub filled with tools and resources. It’s designed for real life, flexible, supportive, and genuinely transformative.

If you’ve ever wondered what the next step after listening might be, maybe this is it.

Click here to JOIN PATHWAY TO PEACE

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!)

In this episode, I talk with Sarah Davis, a wife, homeschooling mom, and former librarian raising her 7-year-old son on the autism spectrum. We first met through The Courage to Raise, a collaborative book where Sarah shares her story of grief, hope, and faith.

We talk about caregiver burnout, learning to accept help, and how faith and community make a difference. Sarah opens up about her son’s medical complexities, what it’s like to grieve the life you expected, and how she’s finding meaning in her new season of life.

She also shares what church inclusion done well looks like and how being surrounded by people who truly “get it” has helped her family thrive.

If you’ve ever felt tired but hopeful, or unsure how to ask for help, this one’s for you.

Resources Mentioned

• The Courage to Raise: The Heart of Parenting a Child with Special Needs
• We Are Brave Together
• Labeled and Loved

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!)

This week, I’m talking about a pattern I see often in caregiving—the heartbreaking habit of turning on ourselves when life feels too hard.

I share how our minds default to “something must be wrong with me,” and why the truth is simpler: hard things feel hard because they are hard.

Inside the episode:

• The self-blame cycle so many of us fall into.
• Three ways to shift: accepting reality, noticing comparison traps, and redefining strength.
• Practical reframes, like asking “what’s hard here?” instead of “what’s wrong with me?”

I mentioned Episode 268: Nobody Else Has It This Hard. Go take a listen!

Lastly, I also share details about the Pathway to Peace Coaching Community, opening October 14th for five days. It's your safe space to be supported and seen. 

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

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 and another without. Nikki shares how she turned pain into purpose, creating resources and community to give other moms strength, strategies, and hope.

This conversation is full of those “me too” moments—reminders that we’re not as alone as we sometimes feel. Nikki and I also touch on the rollercoaster of emotions that come with parenting in the world of rare disease, from fear and grief to joy and fierce determination. Her story is a powerful example of what it looks like to fight for your child while still choosing to build a meaningful, hope-filled life.

Resources Mentioned

• Rare Mamas: Empowering Strategies for Navigating Your Child’s Rare Disease 
• Rare Mamas community
• Rare Mamas Rising Podcast
• Cure SMA (patient advocacy group)

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

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 really hard. I reflect on how my work as a coach gives me daily reminders that I’m not alone, and neither are you.

I also share a powerful coaching session I had earlier that day that helped ground me in what I needed when everything hit the fan. This episode is your reminder: nothing has gone wrong. You’re still in the driver’s seat, and thriving doesn’t mean everything’s perfect—it just means you’re still showing up, step by step.

And PS: The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community opens again October 14! Even if you're just a little curious, join the waitlist to get the details when they drop.

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

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. I loved how real she was about starting small—sometimes just 10 minutes of movement—and how that shift can completely change the way we feel in our bodies and lives.

We also talked about her book Finding My Stride: A Guide to Finding Power, Raising a Child with Special Needs, which offers guiding principles for parents navigating both caregiving and grief. Catherine reminds us that while there may be no “way out,” there is always a way through.

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

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 operation: from checklists to communication, boundaries to burnout. Kelly shared how to start small—think cleaning caddies and grocery lists—and how simple systems can free up your brain and actually give you back some peace.

I walked away feeling like, “Okay, I’m not that far from this.” And maybe, just maybe, I don’t need to reinvent my whole life to feel more supported. It starts with believing that it can be different—and then taking one step at a time.

• Sign up for The Pathway to Peace Coaching Community Waitlist
• Get The Special Needs Mom Survival Pack free resource
  
  Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/
  Website: https://www.kararyska.com/