Parenting Impossible – The Special Needs Survival Podcast

We're re-releasing a previous podcast episode from June 2021 that features an interview with Él Martinez and their mother, Ivylee Martinez , regarding gender identity issues in celebratration of LGBTQ+ Pride month in June.  Pride Month is a time to recognize the issues, challenges, and discrimination the LGBTQ+ community has faced and to celebrate the triumphs.  Host Annette Hines and Él discuss t...

In this episode, Host Annette Hines honors the legacies of Boston Marathon competitor Rick Hoyt and her daughter, Elizabeth, through a tribute to author and previous Parenting Impossible guest, Jess Ronne , and her use of the word "grit" to mean a will to persevere amidst the challenges of living as a special needs family. Rick Hoyt and his father, Dick Hoyt, showed continual grit as Team Hoyt as...

In this episode, Host Annette Hines welcomes guest Anna Maki, Director of Benefits Navigation at the Bobby Dodd Institute (BDI) in Atlanta, GA. She is a clinical counselor and benefits expert with a wealth of knowledge and experience in helping individuals and families with disabilities navigate the complex world of benefits. With a strong educational background and a track record of success, Anna...

In this episode, Host Annette Hines has a great conversation with Anthony (Tony) Delauney about how to have family financial conversations and teach kids early about how to use money wisely. Anthony is a financial advisor, franchise business owner, and author of several financial education books, including three in the Owning the Dash series. His books include Applying the Mindset of a Fitness Mas...

In this episode, Host Annette Hines speaks with Josh Fields, CEO and Co-Founder of The Next Step Programs (TNS) headquartered in Doylestown, PA.  TNS is a nonprofit organization breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for people with disabilities as they transition out of high school into a world of employment. Josh is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the n...

Host Annette Hines starts the podcast honoring Holy Week and the celebration of Easter and Christ's resurrection. During the interview, she speaks with Wellness and Small Business Coach Sudi Barre who shares her experience of being diagnosed with Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) and suffering a massive heart attack and open heart surgery immediately after delivering her child. Through...

In this episode, Host Annette Hines welcomes back Author Jess Ronne to the show to discuss her newest book, Lovin' with Grit and Grace that was just released in February. Jessica Ronne is an author, speaker, podcast host of Coffee with Caregivers, associate producer of the "UNSEEN" documentary, and caregiver advocate. She is founder and executive director of The Lucas Project, a non-profit dedicat...

It is tax time and we want to revisit a popular episode! Learn from Host Annette Hines and her favorite guest, law partner, and husband, Mark Worthington about answers to four top questions people ask about tax preparation and tax reporting: Can I claim my adult child as a dependent? If I charge my adult child room and board when they are living with me, is that taxable income to me? And how does...

In this episode as we celebrate Women's History Month in March, Host Annette Hines talked with Danielle Sullivan - the founder of  Neurodiverging Coaching , an online, sliding scale coaching practice supporting a worldwide, diverse clientele with issues related to neurodiversity, ADHD, autism, and executive functioning for adults and families. In this episode, Danielle shared parenting techniques...

This episode commemorates International Rare Disease Day which occurs on last day of February annually. This day is dedicated to raising awareness for the approximately 300 million people around the world living with a rare disease. Host Annette Hines recognizes this day in memory of her daughter, Elizabeth who died in 2013 because of mitochondrial disease - a rare or orphan disease.  Moreover, ev...

In this episode, Laura Hernandez and Host Annette Hines discuss the life of a mom and how to reduce the workload and run the home smoothly by applying the organization strategies that Laura developed through her agency, Mama Systems . As a mother of ten, Laura developed these techniques to ensure that her family could have a more peaceful lifestyle. In just five years, she and her husband had six...

In this episode, Host Annette Hines speaks with Lois Letchford. Lois is an educator, writer, and public speaker. When Lois was 39 years old, while she was faced with teaching her son Nicholas how to read, she discovered she had dyslexia. She modified and changed classes as a result of reflecting on her son's reading failures. Now Lois serves as a reading specialist and tutor and helps other strugg...

In this episode, Host Annette Hines talks with Dr. Bibi Pirayesh an educational therapist and Founder of One of One Kids. She holds a Bachelor's in Neuroscience and Education from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master's in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University, focusing on children's development and cognitive neuroscience. She has over a decade of experience as a learning specialis...

In this episode, we are joined by an author living with a type of autism known as Asperger's Syndrome, Matthew Kenslow . His journey through life, learning about everyone and everything around him through both compliments and teases, has been an adventure. His goal is to demonstrate to others how autistic people perceive the world in a different way from the rest of the world. In this episode, Hos...

Host Annette Hines welcomes guest Eric Jorgensen of True North Disability Planning whose life mission is to change the reality of the fact that: "It is too hard for the average person to find out what they qualify for, and reach out and get those benefits in place."  His roadmaps are downloadable resources for print and online use that are specific to each state to help people build momentum in ga...

In this episode, Host Annette Hines welcomes Erin Prosser and her daughter, Lucy's (Lulu) neurologist, Dr. Christina Bergqvist of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia  to share their story of working together to care for Lulu and treat her neuro-developmental disease, STXBP1 encephalopathy. This is a great example of how a family member and caregiver can work successfully with a medical provide...

In this episode, Host Annette Hines shares more about her goals for 2023. This year she is taking a sabbatical, not from work, but from all her external commitments.  She notes that the term "sabbatical" means taking a break, which most often is associated with a leave from work. However, as Special Needs Companies , which includes her law and trustee practices, requires her to continue working, s...

What do you want to accomplish this year?  Where do you want to be a year from now?  For many of us, as soon as we say: "Happy New Year!" we feel the pressure to set resolutions for this year related to our health, personal or professional life.  But simply saying: "I want to lose weight this year," notes Host Annette Hines , sets us up for failure because we have not created a specific, attainabl...

Our annual podcast episode on Preparing for Your Best Year Yet features the planning duo of Special Needs Law Group of Massachusetts, P.C.: Host Annette Hines and her husband and law partner, Mark Worthington. Do you have an estate plan or do you still need to create one?  How long has it been since you've reviewed it?  Annette and Mark provide an essential guide in this episode for reviewing your...

Ever wondered how to give back to a charity or organization that has truly made a meaningful impact on your family? Host Annette Hines shines a spotlight on one of her beloved organizations, Perkins School for the Blind , where her daughter, Elizabeth attended school, to show how easy it is to make planned gifts. Charitable giving is one of the most frequent discussions Annette has with her client...

Host Annette Hines and her guest, David Goldfarb who is the Director of Policy at the Arc of the United States discuss policy and advocacy issues related to housing and institutional bias in the disability community.  Despite the landmark Olmstead decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999  that found that people with disabilities were being segregated into institutional facilities and should be s...

The third in a series featuring unique and innovative solutions for the disability community, this episode features the Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Sponsors of the Future (SoF), Suzy Im .  The goals of SoF are to design easier ways for parents and caregivers to access information and advocate for their loved ones, as well as connect neurodivergent kids with global organizations to empower the...

Working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, ed tech, and dyslexia, Guest Hugo Richard of Dystech in Australia is driven to solve complex problems in our society. His goal is to create more awareness about how computer intelligence and artificial intelligence could enable the creation of reliable tools that will positively impact children worldwide and drastically improve and change how...

Host Annette Hines opens the podcast reflecting on the many ways that technology can improve the livelihood of people with disabilities through the creation of assistive tools. Her guest, Ange Anderson M.Ed discusses the benefits of technological interventions to support students with learning differences that she has employed in the UK.  She asked the question, how can we use the technology neuro...

Guest Jennifer Fraser, PhD founder of The Bullied Brain shares what she has learned about the resilient nature of humanity as well as damaging impact of abuse and bullying on the brain.  She sees brain science as the key to helping people heal from abuse.  When we are subjected to a repeated cycle of abuse or bulleying, our minds and bodies start to feel anxious about a threat from a preditor, whi...