aVERY BRIGHT LIFE

"What's the deal with the cat?" In this episode I attempt to explain the origin of the aVERY bright life cat logo and discuss what our website is about. This should've been easy, but my insomniac brain had other ideas. Also, Avery fell off her bike on recording day. She broke her fall with her face, so she wasn't able to talk, hence her absence from this episode. She's fine though. She'll be back...

Just because somebody has a medical degree or has been practicing medicine for decades, it doesn’t mean they know everything. It also doesn’t mean they understand your child. You know your child best. You instinctively know if there’s some thing off. Don’t ever dismiss that. In this episode I share a few examples of when medical professionals either didn't take our concerns about Avery seriously,...

I hope this episode doesn’t put you to sleep. Actually, I hope it does. Because this one's all about sleep. Or in my case, the disgusting lack of it. These are the reasons we don’t sleep, the reasons we need to sleep (sleep well and sleep enough) and strategies for making that happen. We've been sleeping since we were babies and have had lots of practise so... why is this so hard??? When I don't s...

This episode is about friends. Not the 1990s TV show, but actual real life friends—making them and keeping them. It can be so difficult for kids with disabilities or who are different to fit in. Especially when they're faced with the "Bad Behaviour Bubble."  Lisa shares a few examples of when Avery was ignored or teased in the playground and tells the story of a friendship that changed dramat...

This is our 14th episode! That's right, for 14 weeks in a row we've been talking into a microphone and hoping you're listening. And it turns out, you are! And we couldn't be more thrilled. To celebrate Avery's "Champagne Episode" (the 14th broadcast in her 14th year) we decided to make this one ALL ABOUT AVERY—a sweet subject indeed. We put a call out on Instagram, asking for listeners to send in...

Anxiety, worry, stress... we're all feeling it. Especially now because... pandemic. Even the most Even Stevens and Chill Bills I know are feeling it. My husband, the chillest most zen dude I know, is feeling it. So, when he's stressed, I get all "Chicken Little" and start to catastrophize and fret until I wear myself right out. This episode is about the anxiety we're feeling as adult humans, as pa...

Making judgments about our environment and the people around us is normal. But, I feel like our level of judgment in this cancel culture, internet troll world, has crossed a line. Every day seems to be judgment day in the world as a whole, in the parenting world, and in the disability parenting community. That’s the topic of this episode—this escalating judgey free-for-all. I offer my take on it,...

My Twitter bio used to say, "I have two kids—one has special needs, but both are special." I wrote that before I knew to replace special needs with disabled and my bio has since been appropriately updated. However, there are a lot of special and endearing things about both of my children. In this episode, Sebastian joined his sister and I on the show to share a bit about his experience with having...

Why "Pandemic Potpourri?" Well because it made me laugh. And alliteration, obviously. Plus, this episode is a bit of a mishmash.  I talk to my daughter Avery about her experience with her first Covid Vaccine. And then I talk (to myself and the dog) about what it was like giving birth during a pandemic... my son was born in 2003, during the SARS pandemic. I also share a bit about Avery's birth...

In this episode I’m tackling the uncomfortable subject of perverts, stranger danger and sexual predators, with a specific focus on a very vulnerable population—the disabled community. (Avery doesn't participate in this episode, but she'll be back next week.) Protective Behaviours Program (Circles) Factsheet: Women with Disabilities and Violence Violent victimization of women with disabilities, 201...

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day and we're talking about...global accessibility in terms of our digital world. Why does it matter? And how we can make it happen? Rethinking The Term Hearing Impaired: https://bit.ly/3hFusPy Website Accessibility Checker: https://bit.ly/3hMqS5Y Audio Transcription: https://otter.ai This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her lim...

Virtual School has been amazing and awful and amazing. Avery tells us what she loves about learning online and what she misses about being at "real school." Plus we talk tech and attending school from home. Webcams have been a gift. How could we possibly do online learning without them? But, webcams are also a hazard and I'll TMI you all about that.  Content Warning: There's a tiny bit of nud...

Not to sound cheesy, but motherhood is a gift. And not one that everyone receives. Sometimes by choice. Other times, not. In this episode, our first "special" (we decided to level up for Mother's Day) I share some thoughts about my mom and what I learned from her, how I feel about being a mom myself, and what I hope (and fear) as Avery heads toward "mothering age." Apologies for the airplane flyin...

I wanted to call this episode, "Bad Moms Club" since it's about some of my less than stellar parenting moments. However, my pod partner Avery objected to the word "bad" so we settled on the abbreviation, BMC. Better than "The BM club" I guess. Haha! Who's the mature one in this podcast duo? Not me, obviously.  We're all doing our best. Some days we're crushing the parenting game. Other days,...

Come meet Avery's dad and find out what she loves most about him. Then Adrian and I participate in some awkward banter about waiting to find out who "caused" Avery's genetic mutation. Content Warning: We use the R-slur near the end of the episode. NOT flippantly or disrespectfully, but as part of an earnest discussion about language, and words getting lost in translation. Stay tuned to the end for...

Episode 3 is all about the D word. No, not disabilities. We're talkin' d iagnosis. The day Avery was officially diagnosed with a complex and rare chromosome deletion/duplication was a very hard day.  In this episode I'll be talking about what our daughter's diagnosis felt like in the early days and how we feel about it today. I also touch on the somewhat sensitive subject of grieving the loss...

Why does the term "Special Needs" still exist? It's outdated. It's also offensive to the majority of the disability community.  This episode is about why the term Special Needs is out dated and what we should use instead.  You can read my blog post on this topic and watch the "Human Needs" campaign video (mentioned in this episode) HERE .  Thanks so much for tuning in!  See you...

Here it is, finally, our very first full aVERY Bright Life (ABL) podcast episode! Apologies in advance for the 356 "uhs, ums, and so's." It's shocking how often we repeat certain words and sounds without even realizing it.  Avery and I had a blast recording this together (the editing wasn't as fun... but I'll get the hang of it eventually. And hopefully figure out how to get the volume right)...

Welcome to aVERY BRIGHT LIFE! We're excited you're here! My daughter Avery and I recorded this trailer so you can find out a bit about us before subscribing to our podcast. You're going to subscribe, right? ;)  Avery has an intellectual disability and profound speech disorder. Recording audio with a person who struggles with sentences longer than three words is, uh, challenging. But we're fig...