Special Needs Supermom podcast

My daily habitat as a special needs mom? My car. Always driving and picking up supergirl to school, doctors’ appointments, friends and more. And it drained me. Another minimal 1.5 hours a day 'lost'. I was exhausted. Me-time? What was that?  Needless to say, there was a serious special needs supermom burnout. I never relaxed. Even in the car I ‘had’ to listen to the news, when I enjoyed...

Part 2 of my interview with dyslexia warrior Hilary Laxson. In this episode we talk specifically about the dyslexia possibilities for US active-duty members and how Hilary helps this community.  We talk Decoding Dyslexia Military, Partners in Promise, EFMP and more. We chat about how the person in authority you come across does NOT always know best and we discuss the challenges you might face when...

Books were my salvation as a kid. Therefore, I found it hard and sad my supergirl struggled so much reading. I can’t imagine how hard it must be. What I do know is what a huge impact it has on her daily school life and results, and how important it is to get the right diagnoses and help. Did you know there could be more going on when your kid is struggling with reading, besides ‘just’ dyslexia? My...

New class, new teacher(s), new school, new try-outs, new team members… the start of a new school year is a lot to process for special needs kids. All those impressions are the perfect ingredients for major meltdowns and parent-kid clashes. Therefore, this episode of the Special Needs Supermom podcast is about how to have the best possible start of the school year for your kid - whether (s)he’s sta...

Summer 2021. Who would have thought we would still live in a world full of traveling restrictions? Some of you might be able to travel around and/or have no problem doing so, others might have to - or prefer to - stick close to home again this summer. Pandemic or not, summer can be a challenge. Whether you have special needs kids or not, whether you’re staying at home or are able to go on a trip....

39. Taking care of yourself - easier said done as Supermom  This episode of the Special Needs Supermom podcast is all about shutting off a supermom brain and why it is important our kids don’t dial or have access to the 24/7 supermom-to-the-rescue-hotline all the time. I’m a firm believer of quality-me time. But to be honest that’s not the easiest thing for me as a special needs Supermom belonging...

Two kids under 6. Homeschooling. Entrepreneur. Jennifer Peyton does it all. I was (and am) in awe! During Covid she pivoted her business from coaching mompreneurs to specifically help homeschooling mompreneurs. Was homeschooling on her wish list? Not at all. But when she got her eldest diagnosed and found out he wasn’t entitled to extra support, she decided homeschooling was the best thing she cou...

How is it to be the sibling of someone with special needs? In this episode of the Special Needs Supermom podcast, I chat with no other than Michelle Rohr!!! A brilliant entrepreneur (like multi 6 figure brilliant) and sister of two brothers on the autistic spectrum.  * Michelle and I met at a biz retreat in Florida February 2020 (a week later the world stopped) where this podcast was born. Her tak...

Yay Summer is almost here!!! With the weather getting warmer and summer approaching, a lot of military families are about to hit the road again. On the way to a new assignment, a new location, new adventures.    Moving can be extremely stressful. Especially for special needs kids. We as parents stress about finding a new house, finding new therapists, whether the current IEP will be accepted at th...

Making (medical) decisions on your own because your partner is deployed - when school doesn’t see a problem or wants to provide the help your kid needs - working full time when having special needs kids - quality me-time - lockdown challenges. In this second episode of the military series my guest (and fellow redhead) Andrea Takash and I talk about daily life, the challenges we face being in the m...

Being in the military can come with a series of unique challenges when it comes to your special needs child. Moving probably being the biggest of them all. In this episode advocate Shelly Agostine is back to talk with me about the challenges you might face when relocating. We discuss transitioning to a new state, as it can be extremely stressful when suddenly faced with different state standards,...

Having ADHD, what’s it like? We know it from the sideline as a supermom, but how is it when you actually have it? Today’s guest Jordan Rawlings got the diagnosis not until she was an adult. She was ‘just’ that energetic kid - ADHD is just for boys, right?  In this episode Jordan and I talk about how it was like to be that energetic kid, what problems she ran into, how it was to get the diagnosis r...

The journey to get a diagnosis can be overwhelming, long and expensive. “I very clearly remember feeling like I was in over my head, even as a trained medical professional”, said Joya Van Der Laan. She is a family nurse practitioner, functional medicine specialist, business owner, wife and mother of 3 children of whom 2 have special needs. Feeling woefully unprepared, Joya started researching trea...

Motivating your teen. If that is not challenging enough, now throw in a chronic illness. This is the phase were you maybe want your teen to step it up when it comes to taking good care of themselves, doing what’s best for their body. While they might be done with it. Ready to throw in the towel because they are done taking meds, being different, having to constantly take their actions in considera...

I don’t know how long your to-do list is, but for me it seemed like a never ending list that just haunted me. Every time I crossed something off, I could add 3 new ones to my list. So, instead of feeling like I accomplished stuff, I felt like being stuck in the twilight zone. Never ever being done. And seriously, is our to-do list as special needs supermoms ever going to be done?  Fortunately, I c...

Busy minds don’t just calm down because it is dark outside or because it supposedly is bedtime. Bedtime? When your mind is still doing overtime? How can you relax if your head is still full of the impressions of the day? 🤯 When you feel wide awake? All the conventional sleep tips like turning off all screens well before bedtime, a warm bath 🛀, reading a bedtime story 📚(seriously I read for at l...

Parent Coach Sharoya Ham is a behavior change specialist and founder of Embrace Behavior Change. With over 25 years of experience working with at-risk students and their families and a (special needs) mom herself she - like no other - understands the struggles we face as moms. I don’t know about you, but as a mom I often felt overwhelmed and not good enough - if you feel too, Sharoya is a blessing...

Mandatory homeschooling during a pandemic. How do you keep sane and not let a total educational year go to waste? In episode 27 of the Special Needs Supermom Podcast I give you 5 tips on how to keep mandatory homeschooling doable. With a bonus tip on how to combine working from home with homeschooling. These tips will help you not only navigate true the minefield of homeschooling, it will keep you...

Beginning of the year you can burst with ideas. And sometimes dare to even dream about a future where things look brighter: with your kids doing well and you finally having time for yourself. And then your kid has a flare up - or another severe epileptic episode and - poof - that was it for dreaming. But especially when times are tough it is essential to keep on dreaming and take even the smallest...

Setting goals. It seems to be the thing to do when a new year starts. And indeed, they can be really helpful on what you want to focus your energy on. Is there a special skill you want to help your kid conquer? Is it something for yourself? It really can be anything: from developing a new skill to saving money for a treatment. But when setting the goal… 1. make sure they are your goals - your drea...

What a year it has been! As if we don’t have enough challenges without lockdown, mandatory homeschooling, a totally new set of social rules etc. But we made it. One way or the other. Covid 19 brought some unexpected blessings for this family with distanced learning available for supergirl and no - much dreaded - social week at the start of college for wonderboy. Great, but with everybody at home,...

Upfront warning: this episode isn’t about following a medical diet because your kid is actually allergic to something or is diabetic. I’m no doctor, so when you go down this road - check with your GP. The amount of people that told me they saw a documentary of a kid ‘cured’ from autism because he stopped eating gluten. Or the people that keep on telling me if my supergirl would not drink any dairy...

Yay, holidays… the thought alone is enough to stress out many. When you have a special needs loved one it can even be more challenging. Therefore, this episode is how to make family holiday gatherings a fun experience for your special needs kid, and the rest of the family, including you. It will help prevent getting ‘the look’ from your sister when your kid stops playing with her kids and grabs hi...

I don’t know about you, but as a Special Needs Supermom I’m always ‘on’. You don’t get to be called a supermom just like that, right? It involves 24/7 action, ready to come to the rescue and take on the world while doing so. Always ‘on’ is one of our biggest supermom strengths but can also be one of our biggest downfalls. Because if you are always wired, how can you unwind and recharge? To be hone...

Those moments that your kid goes completely bezerk. In isle 9 of Walmart. Because of who knows what. Or is about to freak out in his favorite Lego store because you surprised him with a gift. Or because the party is too loud. Or out of sheer frustration because she can’t make herself understand. It is heartbreaking too watch your kid being completely overwhelmed  and not being able to snap out of...