Raising Kellan

Today we are joined by Rob Wrubel, CFP® AIF® AEP® . He is a best-selling, award-winning author of Financial Freedom for Special Needs Families , 30 Days to Your Special Needs Trust and Protect Your Family . He has been a contributing source for local and national media and is a sought-after speaker who regularly gives highly-rated, entertaining, and informative workshops on special-needs planning....

Today Jay Camperlino presents information on a new program being rolled out by the Tennessee, Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, called MAPs Timeline: 01:56 Jay Camperlino's background and how he came to join the MAPs initiative. 08:11. What is MAPs? 17: 46 Selection Criteria to enroll in the program: 1) Transitional-aged student that has a diagnosis of intellectual and...

In today's episode, I chat with Debra Run a global disability inclusion strategist. She is the CEO of Ruh Global Impact, as well as Chairperson of a nonprofit, which is called Billion Strong. Timeline: 02:30 What is the benefit of visual description in a podcast? 03:31 What put you on the trajectory to become a disability and inclusion strategist? 07:25 The Human Potential At Work Podcast 07:5...

Today I chat with Alex Sargent Capps, Allie Schmidt and Stella Barron about Adaptive Fashion. Alex has served on the Vanderbilt University Theatre faculty since 2001. She is currently the director of the Fiber Arts Build (FAB) Lab at Vanderbilt’s Wond’ry Center for Innovation , serving the Vanderbilt and Nashville community by providing sewing and clothing design instruction to support people of a...

Eric Jorgensen is the Founder of True North Disability Planning , the go-to resource for families who have children with intellectual/developmental disabilities and the professionals who serve them. He is the host of the “ABCs of Disability Planning” podcast which introduces listeners to organizations and resources they may have never heard of or weren’t sure how to use. And he is the author of Wa...

In today's episode, I chat with Kirst Nordstrom who is a Developmental Therapist in Nashville TN. Kirsti talks about the Family Guided Routines Based Intervention framework which she uses to coach families to help their children with developmental delays or disabilities maximize function with strategies to promote feeding, reading, play, movement, speech, and other milestones of development. T...

In this conversation Erin Riehle talks about Project Search as an intensive transitional program from high school to competitive integrated workplaces as part of a 9-month program Timeline 03:00 What lead to the formation of Project Search? 08:30 How does the program work? 21:30 How does it work as far as employer buy-in? 26:30 Project Search Conference in Milwaukee week of July 10, 2023 30:00 Con...

In today's episode, we chat with Sophie Poost, Director of Programs at Disability EmpowHer Network , an organization that empowers girls and young women with disabilities through skills building, community, and mentorship. Their flagship program is a Camp held in June in the Adirondack mountains of Northeastern New York, followed by a project completed by the participants and guided by their m...

I spoke with Colleen Starkloff of the Starkloff Disability Institute last year on Episode #66 when we discussed workplace diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, disability as part of the diversity, and the Disability Rights Movement. Today we talk: Universal Design and Accessibility. Timeline: 3:29 What is universal design? 4:46 Colleen's Kitchen Redo by Compass Design 7:57 Retrofitting...

Is toe-walking something we outgrow? These are some of the questions answered in today's podcast with Liesa Ritchie PT, DPT, PCS from Know To Change for both parents and health providers alike. 1:35 Liesa's Background. 4:57 What sparked Liesa's interest in toe-walking? 7:08 "KnowToChange" as a resource guide for both parents and healthcare providers. 9:13 Is toe-walking somet...

In today's episode, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel tells us more about the work he and his family are doing at Home Life Community and their goal of establishing a forever home for persons with disabilities to address the increasing housing crisis. Look what they have planned right here in NortWest Tennessee. TimeLine: 03:00 Dr. Jerry's backstory 06:30 What is Home Life Community? 15:00 Work/Employme...

April is Autism Awareness Month. Today we chat with Rachel Jenkins and Colin Peterson. Rachel is an educational consultant, and part of TRIAD, which is an acronym for the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Vanderbilt Kennedy Center which is part of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. As part of this work, Rachel is also a member of the All Access I...

Mark is the Founder & CEO of Camp Conquest, an overnight camp for children and adults with special needs and disabilities in Millington, TN. He and his wife, Amanda, are blessed with 5 great kids, ages 15 to 27, and 2 grandchildren. Mark and his family live in Arlington, TN. He grew up in Dallas, TX, where his parents took in 28 foster children when he was growing up, and several had a special...

In this episode of the podcast with catch up with our friends Dana Kramer and Levi Ervin (mom and son) from Georgia and Drake Box from the podcast, The Box Factor. We chat about what Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day means from the perspective of lived experience and what has been going on since we last talked two years ago on Episode 12 of the Raising Kellan Podcast. An edited transcript is available...

Mike Poole of Walk This Way Oxford is well known as The Coach for children with Cerebral Palsy. In today's episode topics covered and timeframes are: 02:00 Expectations 04:00 Mindset 07:00 Massage and Manual Therapy 09:00 Training, Therapy, and Emotional Responses. 12:00 Teaching kids how to fail 13:00 Mike's Background 20:00 St Louis Children's Hospital 25:00 Time Spent in Therapy 28:00 Accountab...

In today's episode, we chat with Katrina VanBuren Ed. S and Annette Graves, MEd, MACR from Arc Tennessee, Family Engagement Project .  Timeline:  Introduction to Annette Graves and Katrina VanBuren 03:40   What is an IEP and 504 plan and how are they similar/different? 10:14   Abbreviations commonly used in Special Education: FAPE, LRE, PLEP, accommodation vs modifica...

John Shouse and his wife Janet are parents to 3 adult children, Emma Shouse Garton, and twin boys Evan and Brendan who are now 27.    Evan is on the autism spectrum.   John has been involved at the local, state, and national levels in the disability advocacy community, including stints as presidents of both Autism TN , and The Arc TN .  He was on the national board of...

In today's episode, I chat with Jeff Strand who is the Coordinator of Government and External Affairs at the Tennessee Disability Coalition . The Tennessee Disability Coalition is an alliance of organizations and individuals joined to promote the full and equal participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of life. This year TDC will be hosting an in-person event Disability Day on the H...

Pete Hixon of Woodstock GA has been married to his wife Hollie for 25 years. They have 2 girls - Addie, a freshman at Samford University, and Hope, in her second year at Shepherds College . By occupation, Pete is a speaker and business coach. By passion and as a parent, he is an advocate for the special needs community. Pete and his wife lead an organization to build residential communities for yo...

In this episode, we chat with Lia Stoll of DisabilityWriter.com . Lia is a mom, wife, writer, co-founder of Lara Guide Dog in Greece and founder of Disability Writer, a boutique writing studio voicing accessibility and inclusion for disabled people. Timeline:  00:14  Introduction 04:16  What is the origin story of DisabilityWriter.com 06:57 Lia's connection with Lara Guide Dog Schoo...

Ange Anderson M.Ed opened and led an innovative specialist school in North Wales for 10 years, introducing over 25 different therapeutic/technological interventions to support pupils with learning differences. She’s written a number of books focused on SEN (Special Educational Needs) on therapeutic and technological interventions including VR, AR & AI in SEN; Trampolining for Children & Yo...

The Spirit of Volunteerism is an indelible part of being part of community and belonging. In todays episode 2 friends with similars hearts but different missions meet up on the podcast to tell about the organizations and events were they volunteer. Rachel Talks about Paws to Care and the Dyersburg Dyer County Humane Society Ms Sara talks about Addi's Haunted Trail which happens next Saturday, Octo...

In today's episode, I chat with David Hirsh of the Special Fathers Network, a dad-to-dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs as well as host of the Dad To Dad Podcast.  David was raised by his mother, a Chicago Public School Teacher after his parents divorced. He is grateful to both his mother and maternal grandfather Sam Solomon for positively impacting his and...

In this episode, we chat with Waverly Ann Harris who has worked with individuals with developmental disabilities and their families for over 15 years. She has been the CEO of Friends Life Community since 2016 where she has developed programs that provide opportunities to adults with IDD to grow personally, develop socially, and be actively involved in the community.  She is a sociologist with...

In today's episode, I chat with Chrissy Beasley Hood. Chrissy is a Governor-appointed member of the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, Co-chapter Lead for Changing Spaces TN, and founder of Connecting the Journey: Special Needs Support Group. She and her husband Kevin live in Pulaski TN.  They are parents to three daughters including Alaina, the youngest who has complex medical...