Waves of Awareness - WOA it's A Podcast

This week's episode features Kaci Fisher with Northwestern Mutual. Kaci works in Financial Planning at Northwestern and has personally been involved with the IDD community through her son. Matt, Eric, and Staci gather together to hear Kaci share her story about her family and personal journey over the years. Eric picks Kaci's brain about how she found herself in the world of Financial Planning. Ka...

Friends of Franklin Park's Development Director, Scout Hardin, joins this week's episode of Waves of Awareness. Staci Davis and co-host Matt Moore get to know Scout, how she came to build a relationship with the IDD community, and what Friends of Franklin Parks has in store for the future. Scout shares her past working at a non-profit supporting adults with disabilities and how it educated her on...

This episode features the State Director of Enabling Technology, Milton Neuenschwander, from the Department of Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities (DIDD). Milton joins Waves of Awareness with Staci David, Matt Moore, and Marci Cohen to discuss what Enabling Technologies is and how it impacts individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD). Matt asks everything from what Mil...

Waves Fairview Day Program joins another episode of Waves of Awareness for National Down Syndrome Day! Staci Davis leads the table with Hannah, Eric, Roger, Stephanie, Adam, and Matt "The Man" Moore into a great conversation. First, the group discusses "Stereotypes" and what they can look like not only in the IDD community but everywhere around us. The group then dives into National Down Syndrome...

Lance Jordan picks Dr. Harris' brain on how parents can first start gaining information on receiving Adult Services and where to even begin. Together the group go over where to gain information, what makes Adult Services so important, and how those services have evolved to become focused on the individual.

Staci takes the discussion into everyone's favorite movies, the movies we love and the movies we hate. The conversation dives deeper into how losing loved ones makes you value the good memories you have across the board. Roger takes the mic and leads us into his favorite topic ever, Elvis Presley. 

Along with Staci Davis, Gina Wilson, Matt Moore, and Eric Wilson, the group begins by hearing Chelsey's story. Chelsey's daughter, Hazel, received a diagnosis of Down Syndrome during pregnancy and began receiving services from Waves Early Learning not long after Hazel was born. Because of Covid, however, Hazel's first sessions were done through a screen (as many families were during this time). By...

What is a Holistic Approach and how does it apply to Adult Services and Early Learning? This week's Waves of Awareness episode welcomes back Gina and Marci from the Waves Early Learning and Adult Services Departments to discuss how a Holistic Approach can positively impact the individuals Waves supports. Waves Development and Community Relations Director, Staci Davis, leads the table alongside Chr...

This episode marks the start of season 7 for Waves of Awareness! To kick start the season, we welcome guests from both Waves Early Learning and Adult Services Departments to speak on goals. Gina Wilson and Marci P. Cohen join the table alongside our host Trent Denson. Additionally, WOA welcomes Matt "the Man" Moore, Eric Wilson, Tripp Abney, and Christy Web! With the table packed, the group dives...

When it comes to treatment for Autism, WOA welcomes Jenny Baggett to share the best, current information for you to learn from. Jenny Baggett works with Vanderbilts Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) as a Behavioral Analyst. Jenny is joined by Waves Early Learning Director Gina Wilson to talk about their many collaborations together over the years, having suppor...

WOA heads to Fairview for this week's episode and it's a packed house! With Trent, Hannah Rose, Jimmy, Jeff, Eric, Adam, Paul and our special guest Debbie Rainey the episode is packed with conversation. Debby Rainey currently works for United Way in Fairview but first connect with Waves through Meals on Wheels, where she worked for 14 years. She regularly saw the Waves Fairview Day Program Adults...

This week's episode features a special event for the entire Waves family. This year marks 50 years of spreading awareness and supporting adults and children with developmental and intellectual disabilities for Waves. To celebrate the amazing community Waves supports, Waves hosted their annual Brews & Grooves Fundraiser featuring performances by Aaron Bucks and Waves Adults. Additionally, the event...

Halloween is around the corner and that means kids of every age will be out repping their best costumes. This week we welcome Waves Early Learning Director Gina Wilson and Waves Early Interventionist Jen Choate to help you prep your child for the experience! With host Trent and co-host Christy Webb, the group started off by sharing their own experience with Halloween. Gina and Jen remember preppin...

WOA has two celebrations to cover in this week's episode, with Waves' very own Matt "The Man" Moore celebrating his 34th birthday and Backlight Productions celebrating 10 years! The Executive Director of Backlight Productions , Melissa Smith, joins us and shares how Backlight has been offering opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to engage with the performing a...

This week WOA is providing you with the most brazen episode yet. Our host Trent welcomes coach Jason Jones to the table along with a few Williamson County Special Olympics Athletes- Norris Peterson, Eric Wilson, and Matthew Drumright. Waves provide various type of services to both Nooris and Eric and have had the pleasure of meeting Matt through their friendship. To add some more fun to the conver...

If you've ever been overwhelmed with the idea of volunteering and figuring out how to get connected, this week WOA sheds some light on the topic! Special guests from the Workman Group, Eric and Katie Workman, share their perspectives on volunteering and why it's so important to the community. Eric and Katie are excellent examples of committing to helping their community, having volunteered with Wa...

For the final episode of the season, WOA switches modes and becomes the movie review source you didn't know you needed. We have folks from the Fairview Day Program, Jimmy Parnell and Hannah Rose, come down to join hosts Matt Moore and Trent Denson. In addition, Waves Early Learning Program Director Regina Wilson and her son Eric Wilson, who is a part of the Waves Employment Program, join the episo...

This week on WOA we have the unique pleasure of bringing together Hippie Radio 94.5 Whit Hubner and Hannah Rose, who is a part of Waves Fairview Day Program. Hannah has a personal goal of being on the radio one day and what better way to facilitate that goal than to connect her with a radio expert? Whit and Hannah are welcomed by your host Trent Denson and co-host Matt Moore to explore what it loo...

You've heard him mentioned, you've seen him on our social media (@waves_serves), and now you can hear his story. This week we welcome Mark Israel (aka Izzy) on Waves of Awareness! Izzy recently joined the Employment and Community First (ECF) program with Waves and has already made a huge impact. In this episode we have our hosts, Trent Denson, Matt Moore, and Marci Cohen join the conversation and...