The Special Needs Mom Podcast

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 046: Hello Listeners.  Today I have Robyn Grogitsky with me. She is sharing her story about how she found answers for her daughter’s  end of life diagnosis and used energy work to turn their family around. When her daughter turned 3 months old, they got many diagnosis, and were told their daughter would likely die very s...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 045: Welcome back to the Special Needs Mom Podcast. This week is a really special and different episode. I am sharing an actual coaching call with you guys. We’re just referring to her as Kayla, to keep some privacy. She reached out to me about being on the podcast and I’m so glad I had the opportunity for her to step ou...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 044: Hello and welcome back. This week I am speaking with Leylani Cardoso.  She is a mom of two and her 18 year old has Down Syndrome. Leylani shares her positive outlook on this diagnosis and she’s had years of experience to go off of. She starts by sharing with me how devastated  they were when Sophia was born and diag...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 043: Hey listeners, this week is a solo episode to give you some guts when it comes to making decisions! We all have our own ways and reasons for avoiding it, but I want to uncomplicate making decisions.  When we are avoiding making decisions we are usually avoiding some sort of fear or feeling. We don’t want to make a m...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) Hello! This week I am talking with Anne Fricke. Anne is an author, poet, podcaster and mom. She is all about people sharing their stories and I’m glad she gets to share hers with us!  Anne’s daughter, Frey’s has Prader-Willi Syndrome and she describes how the rare disorder impacted her life and her story.  We discuss the...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 041. This is my 41st Episode and Friday is my 41st birthday! This episode I’ve taken some input from other special needs moms and my own experiences to bring to the conversation about birthdays!  How has being a special needs mom changed your outlook on your child’s birthday? Do you have cake? Is it hard to find friends...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) A special BONUS episode & super exciting announcement! Weekly 4 in 4 Email Sign Connect with Kara, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespecialneedsmompodcast/ Website: https://www.kararyska.com/

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 040: I am so excited to have Casey Waugh on the podcast today. She’s an Occupational Therapist and known in my special needs mom circle for her inspiring reel from a couple months ago.  It has made so many of us feel seen and recognized during these hardships we endure with our children. Casey has been a foster mom to a...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 039: Hi listeners. This week I have Part 3 of my habit series based on the book, Atomic Habits by James Clear.  Today, I want to focus on two things when it comes to making habits- making is easy and making it satisfying. Making it easy: I love this quote from the book, “walk slowly, but never backward”.   Baby steps are...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 038: Hi listeners. This week I am back with Part 2 of my habit series based on the book, Atomic Habits by James Clear. How do we make habits? A lot of the time, self control is not your biggest issue.  I also want to emphasize, habits are not about accomplishing a goal they’re about who you are becoming. Your identify in...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) Welcome to a new episode of the Special Needs Mom Podcast. Today I am speaking with Madeline Cheney. Madeline has two children, one with some pretty severe birth defects. She also has started a podcast geared towards helping special needs mom find a community.   We talk about the difficulty in the beginning of a diagnosi...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) Hello listeners. This week I am starting part 1 in a series based on my takeaways from James Clear’s book called Atomic Habits.  I’d like to put an emphasis in this episode on the idea of habits shaping our identity. You need to first decide the person you want to be. Then, you can decide what small habits/steps you can...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 035: Hello listeners! This week I am back with part two of Laurie Moore’s story. We had such a great conversation and it was packed with so much that I knew I needed to split it into two episodes. Laurie and I get to talking about IEP meetings in this episode. And if you have ever been to an IEP meeting you can share our...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 034:  Welcome back listeners! This week is part one of an episode with Laurie Morris.  Laurie is a mom to three, her son was diagnosed with Autism diagnosis 4 years ago. She is also a special education teacher. Laurie begins by sharing about her love of making things look beautiful and out together. She actually started...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 033: Hello listeners. This week I am speaking Michelle Wenger. She is a special needs mom and a fellow coach! We had no problem ping-ponging this conversation and even got a little off track at times because we both feel so passionate about the same ideals.  If there’s a big takeaway Michelle wants special needs mom to g...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 032: Hello and welcome back. This week I’m giving you a very real-life look into our Spring Break family trip.  I’ll be the first to admit we probably didn’t plan the best vacation based on our special needs son. We always seem to work it out but this trip definitely had its struggles too.  I hope this brings you some hu...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 031 Welcome back to the podcast! This week I have Robyn Cortese sharing her amazing perspective. She’s an Air Force veteran, Navy wife, Clinical Pharmacist and mom to two boys. Her youngest son has a very rare genetic disorder that they’re still learning about every day. Robyn is different from a lot of our guests becaus...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) Welcome back listeners. This week it's me talking about the unwritten rule of reciprocity. Wikipedia says this rule of reciprocity requires that we repay in kind what another has done for us. However, we shouldn’t find ourselves trapped in this obligation to repay the gift or service another bestowed upon us. I’m ha...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 029: This week was such a packed conversation with Joya Van Der Laan. Two of her three children have special needs including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Intermittent Explosive Disoder (IED).  We quickly got into a deep conversation centered around guilt/grief, fait...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 028: Hello, this week I am here to talk to you about a very relevant topic in my life - feeling overwhelmed! It is really easy in today’s current reality to feel overwhelmed.  I have started actively trying to get to the root of my overwhelming emotions and I hope you do the same. These feeling won’t just go away and lif...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 027 Hello listeners. This week I am talking to Ginger McGee. She’s an author and mom to two boys, one who lives daily with Tourette’s and OCD.  I’m in the middle of reading her autobiography about her life and struggles surrounding her older son. It has been such a resonating story and we had a lot to discuss in this epi...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 026: Hello listeners! It’s me this week talking about that uncomfortable moment when people don’t believe (or rather understand) what is happening in the homes and lives of special needs families!  I’ve had this happen to me recently and it’s just one of those things I will always encounter.  The human brain is made to m...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) This week, I am speaking with Jessica Patay. I have actually had the privilege to meet Jessica in person and I am so excited to share our conversation with you this week.  Jessica is a mom to three, one having the rare Prader-Willi syndrome. She is very passionate about helping other special needs moms feel connected, su...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) Click here to schedule a Pathway to Peace Consultation Hello listeners! This week, I’m talking about a topic that I feel very passionate about, self love. Often people (especially in the Christian faith) look down on self love because it’s considered conceited and we’re putting God below ourselves.  I’m taking this idea...

Send us a text (Note: we are not able to respond but LOVE to hear from you!!) 023: Welcome back to the podcast! This week, I am happy to have Christina Leitner on the show with me. She’s a mom to two, hosts a YouTube channel and major advocate for mental health!  Christina is a few years into her journey as a special needs mom. She does have an actual diagnosis for her daughter, although it is rar...