Dad to Dad Podcast

He’s an amazing guy. After living through the loss of his son, Eliot, after only 99 days, due to Trisomy 18, or Edwards Syndrome, Matt and his wife Ginny went on to form the charitable group 99 Balloons.org. Then despite all they'd been through, they adopted Lena, a young girls with special needs from an orphanage in Ukraine. Matt is David Hirsch’s guest in this Dad to Dad podcast, presented by th...

David Hirsch talks with Dave Elsinger of Lakeville, MN, a father of two children including a a son with Autism. Dave is a leader and missionary with Reach Global of the Evangelical Free Church of America and he’s our guest on this Dad to Dad Podcast, presented by the Special Fathers Network. Special Fathers Network - SFN is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special n...

Special Father Peter Bell tells David Hirsch about life raising an autistic son. Peter also shares his experiences helping other families deal with autism in his role as president of Ascendigo Autism Services. https://wwwascendigo.org Special Fathers Network - SFN is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Many of the 500+ SFN Mentor Fathers, who are raising...

Meet Steve Bundy, author and Vice President of Joni and Friends, providing assistance to families with special needs around the world. Steve is father of two children, Jaron and Caleb who is autistic and has a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy. Joni & Friends - https://www.joniandfriends.org His Book - Another Kind Of Courage - God's Design For Fathers Of Families Affected By Disability - https://ww...

Welcome to the Dad-To-Dad Highlights Podcast presented by the Special Fathers Network. Here’s a brief overview of host David Hirsch’s decades long commitment to fathers as well as snippets from some of the couple of dozen Dad to Dad Podcast interviews. Special Fathers Network - SFN is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Many of the 500+ SFN Mentor Father...

Lee Jorwic, a manufacturers sales rep tells about his life with an autistic son and how facilitative communication has allowed Chris to share his thoughts with the world around him. We’ll also hear about Lee’s work as Chairman of the Board of the Ray Graham Association, creating opportunities that empower people with disabilities. That’s all in this Special Fathers Network Podcast. Special Fathers...

Special Father Bob Bjerkaas is David Hirsch’s guest in this Special Fathers Network Podcast. Bob and his wife Kerrie are parents of four children, Christopher, Maggie, Timmie and Nate. Christopher had previously been diagnosed with with Tourettes Syndrome at age four and Rolandic Epilepsy at age eight. Bob is a pastor at Church of the Canyon in Calabasas, California, he also has Retinitis Pigmento...

Our guest this week is Kris Kazian, Fire Chief of Sedona, AZ. Kris is the father of four girls including Lexi who had severe special needs who sadly passed away at age two. Kris and his wife Christine formed Helping from Heaven - Lexi Kazian Foundation, a not for profit organization that improves the quality of life for families with special needs kids. It’s a compelling interview and a great list...

In This Special Fathers Network podcast, David Hirsch talks to special father Paul Miller, an author of many books including, "A Praying Life" and “Love Walked Among Us.” He’s also founder and Executive Director of seeJesus, a global discipling mission that supports spiritual growth in more than 30 countries. Paul and his wife Jill are parents of six children; Courtney, Ashley, John, Andrew, Emily...

In this Special Fathers Network podcast, David Hirsch talks to special father and just retired U.S. Marine, Kim “Rooster” Rossiter. Rooster and his wife Laurie are parents of three children, Briley, Kamden and Ainsley who had Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophia and passed away at age 12. Rooster is also president and co-founder of Ainsley’s Angels a not for profit that builds awareness for the specia...

In This Special Fathers Network podcast, David Hirsch talks to special father and ordained minister, Joe Butler. Joe and his wife Jen are parents of three children, Clara, Hanna and Micah, who has multiple special needs. We’ll hear the story of Joe and Jen, how they found a new life in Arkansas with their family and how having a child with special needs has improved and enriched their lives. Joe a...

In this Special Fathers Network podcast David Hirsch talks to special father, Brian Rubin, founder of Rubin Law, a firm whose practice is 100% dedicated to serving families with special healthcare needs. Brian is also past president of the Special Needs Alliance, an association of lawyers who have each committed at least 50% of their practices to serving families with special needs.  Brian and his...

In This Special Fathers Network podcast David Hirsch talks to special father, David Friedman. David and his wife Diane are the parents of 4 children, Stacy, Jenna, Helene and Mathew who is autistic. We’ll hear the Friedman story of and how they’ve stuck together as a family unit. And David Friedman who has had a successful business career formed a company called Autonomy Works, where employees wit...

In This Special Fathers Network podcast, David Hirsch talks to Special Father Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson, Dean & Professor of Philosophy at the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies at American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Rabbi Artson and his wife Elana are parents of 25 year old twins, Shira and Jacob, who’s severely autistic. Rabbi Artson has found that allowing his non-verbal son...

In this Special Fathers Network podcast, host David Hirsch talks to Special Father Peter Morici, a father of two who has been visually disabled for the past several years. Peter and his wife Elena have been married for 13 years and have two kids, Alex, 11, who is autistic and Jenny, 8, who has a form of ADHD. Peter has spent a lot of time over the years trying to find alternative forms of treatmen...

Host David Hirsch talks to Special Father, Joe Ciriano. Joe and his late wife, Joy were married for 21 years and had four children. Ashley, 28, Emily, 25, Charles,18 and 14-year-old Grace who has Down Syndrome. Joe has had his challenges and his life became even more challenging when he became an only parent after his wife Joy passed away in 2009, due to breast cancer. Joe and six other fathers wh...

Host David Hirsch talks to special father Adam Levy. Adam is a personal trainer who lives in the Chicago area. He and his wife Lauren are parents of four year old Nora, who has complex medical needs due to a premature birth. It’s a story of tough times for Adam and his family, but like many special parents, they persevered. And as a direct result the Nora Project was formed. It’s a program that te...

In this Special Fathers Network Podcast, Host David Hirsch talks to Chicago Sports radio legend, Dan McNeil. Dan has been broadcasting all across the radio dial throughout his 30 plus year career in Chicago. Currently he’s broadcasting at his old home, Sports Radio 670, The Score. Dan tells us about being a Dad - a special father to three boys - Van, Patrick and Jack. It’s his second son, Patrick...

Meet Gene Andrasco. Gene and his wife Kelley are the proud parents of 2 children, 18 year-old Ryan and 17 year-old Kiley who has been diagnosed with Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, or AHC. In this Special Fathers’ Network Podcast, we’ll hear the Andrasco family story, how they have addressed Kiley’s rare neurological disorder and how they’ve tried to help other people who have the same disord...

In this Special Fathers’ Network Podcast, David Hirsch talks to SFN Mentor Father Brain Page of Homewood, IL and vice president at Shepherd's College in Union Grove, WI. Brian and his wife Natalie are parents of three young adults including 21-year-old Benjamin who was born with a brain bleed. Brian talks about challenges of raising a child with special needs. But through hard work and lots of enc...

In this Special Fathers Network Podcast we’re saying Howdy to Tom Landis of Howdy's Homemade Ice Cream, in Dallas Texas. In addition to serving great ice cream, Howdy’s is staffed almost exclusively by people with special needs. We’ll meet some members of the Howdy's Homemade team and maybe have a taste of some Howdy Homemade. That’s all in this Special Fathers Network Podcast. Special Fathers Net...

Meet John Cronin. John and his Dad, Mark, own the successful Online business John’s Crazy Socks. John has Down Syndrome and it was his idea to start a business selling colorful crazy socks with his Dad. Today David Hirsch talks to John’s Dad, Mark Cronin about the journey that led to this crazy successful business idea. That’s on this Special Fathers Network Podcast. www.johnscrazysocks.com Specia...

This Special Fathers Network Podcast features a series of conversations David Hirsch had over the last few months with The Autism Dad, Rob Gorski. Rob and his wife Liz are parents to three special needs boys. Rob shares his stories and writes of his parenting experiences both positive and negative on his website “The Autism Dad.com.” These interviews took place over several days and we’re featurin...

In this Special Fathers’ Network Podcast, David Hirsch talks with Dan Marquardt, from Marquardt of Barrington, Buick GMC. Dan and with his wife Jennifer are parents to 10 children, including six adopted children (one from Korea and five from China) who all have special needs. It’s an amazing story of a couple who are trying to make the world a better place - and succeeding. Email - djm@marquardton...

David Hirsch talks to special father Jim Mueller. Jim and his wife Margot are parents of three children, Jessica, Lili and Luke, who was born as a spastic quaraplegic with cerebral palsy. Jim tells David of his journey raising a special needs son and how it helped enrich his and his family’s life. Sadly, Luke passed away in December of 2016 but the Mueller family moves forward and Jim shares with...