Tag Archives: Disabilities

AmeriDisability Features SPC!

AmeriDisability’s Top 5 Podcast List Features SPC!

Some good news to announce: AmeriDisability has featured Special Parents Confidential in an article on: 5 Disability Focused Podcasts Amping Up Inclusive Chatter.

AmeriDisability  is an online publication dedicated to individuals with disabilities, caregivers and seniors.

From The AmeriDisability Website:

Who We Are:

AmeriDisability… “serve and collaborate with businesses and nonprofit organizations that provide relevant products and/or services. Our resource aims to inform, inspire and empower the disability and senior communities and beyond!”

“Our Mission:

We believe that by working together we can:
– Improve community awareness and foster inclusion.
– Promote quality services/products to enhance the lifestyle needs/wants of our readers.
– Bring attention to public issues through meaningful dialogue and the promotion of public involvement.
– Influence local, state and national decision makers for positive change.
– Create opportunities for networking and collaboration.”

From The AmeriDisability Article Itself:

Reporter, Lisa Beach, writes:

“If you’re a podcast junkie like me, you probably spend time searching out programs that entertain, inform and inspire. Whether you’re in the car running errands or curled up on the couch with a cup of tea, these five disability-focused podcasts are worth a listen.”

4. Special Parents Confidential with John Pellegrini   

Dubbed “the resource podcast for parents of special needs children,” Special Parents Confidential launched in 2013, on a part-time basis, with John Pellegrini as the show host. The show targets parents of special needs kids—any special needs, as Pellegrini doesn’t focus on just one particular issue. Adopting a “we’re-all-in-this-together” approach, the show also appeals to family members, relatives, caregivers and anyone with any kind of connection to a person with special needs.

“I came about this because of our son, who has some special needs,” explains Pellegrini. “We couldn’t get a diagnosis that explained all his issues for the first few years, so we attended a number of different support group meetings in an effort to learn more. I realized that, for many parents, attending a support group meeting is nearly impossible.” With his 30-year background in radio and audio production, Pellegrini decided to do a podcast that would serve as a virtual support group meeting that parents could access any time they want. “My role is to be the support group’s facilitator,” he says. “I get in touch with experts on different subjects and ask the kinds of questions that I, as a parent, would want to know.”

With 70 episodes recorded already, the podcast aims to fill the airwaves with expert advice on a variety of issues that parents of kids with special needs face. The show covers common parenting concerns such as getting and coping with a diagnosis, assistive technology, medical issues, insurance, education and more. (He cites Episode 15: Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as the single most downloaded episode so far.) In particular, Pellegrini enjoys interviewing adults who have special needs and hearing them tell stories of what their lives were like growing up with their challenges. “The contrast of how we used to deal with special needs and special education in the past compared and how things are done today shows great improvements, but sometimes we’ve also taken some ridiculous steps backward,” he points out.

With the backdrop of his career in the mainstream media, Pellegrini says, “I think podcasting is a major shot of life and inspiration. The ‘mainstream media’ has become too corporatized and homogenized to the point where you hear nothing but the same thing over and over. Podcasting—when done well (and unfortunately some of it isn’t)—offers a greater variety of subjects that people should know about.”

One overarching theme that others should know about lies in the power of kids with special needs. “What I hear more often in different ways from everyone I’ve talked to is, ‘Never underestimate a child with a special need,’” Pellegrini points out. “Always assume competency, because, when given the right kinds of assistance, they are far more capable than you could imagine.”

Thanks For Supporting Special Parents Confidential!

Our thanks to AmeriDisability and Lisa Beach for finding us and giving our podcast a mention! We try to keep SPC on top of the special needs community awareness, but since we are commercial free, we don’t have a budget for promotion. We only exist thanks to word-of-mouth and social media sharing. Please help out and share Special Parents Confidential on all your favorite social media platforms. We have some easy to use sharing buttons available at the bottom of everything we post here.

As always – Thanks For Listening!

Special Parents Confidential 68 The Pushy Lawyer

The Pushy Lawyer.

Meet Kelley Simoneaux, aka, The Pushy Lawyer.

Some people go into disability advocacy and disability law because they feel compelled to help serve in a community that has many areas that need representation.

Then there’s Kelley Simoneaux, who’s known as The Pushy Lawyer. Kelley suffered a spinal injury in a car accident at age 16. The accident left her a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair. But she decided to dedicate her life since then to becoming a lawyer, specializing in product safety law, and spinal injury law. She has also been quite an advocate for disability rights and accessibility laws, due to her own experiences in law school and in her career as a lawyer.

From Injury To Advocacy.

Using her nickname, The Pushy Lawyer (inspired by her use of a wheelchair), Kelley has made a difference, and not just in the areas of law that she specializes in. She’s even made a difference in the way courtrooms are run, and designed. As she says at the very beginning of her career, a judge couldn’t understand why she did not rise when he entered the courtroom as all the other people had done. Just by being in court, she’s been able to raise awareness of those with disabilities and special needs virtually every day.

Where’s The Access?

When Kelley was starting out in her legal career, many courtrooms and government buildings didn’t have adequate access. This caused problems for persons in wheelchairs, or on crutches, or even using walkers.  Through her work, and primarily without having to file legal action, the court system in several states began to rethink and redo their designs to allow for greater accessibility. Not just for lawyers, either, but also for plaintiffs and defendants, and even jurors and the public. Being the Pushy Lawyer has helped her inspire improvements, and, as you’ll learn, more still needs to be done.

LinksK

Kelley Simoneaux Email

 Twitter feed For The Pushy Lawyer

Kelley Simomneaux on Instagram

News Report on Kelley’s Uber situation

Reminder

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Access Now – Worldwide Accessibility Map

Access Now – Worldwide Accessibility Map.

Some times you come across an idea that’s so clever, you wonder why no one thought of it before. Access Now is just such an idea. Maayan Ziv, a young woman who has Muscular Dystrophy, created this app to help people with disabilities pin-point accessibility in public buildings around the world. Such a simple idea that can help a lot of people.

Crowdsourcing Accessibility Information.

Anyone can download Access Now for free and help contribute to the map. Using MapMe technology, you can pin any location around the world as either accessible, partially accessible, patio access only, or not accessible. Also, if a building is not accessible, the App helps you tweet this information to start the process to make a change to the accessibility of that location. Check out the currently pinned locations on the Access Now Map.

If You Can’t Enter…

People sometimes forget that getting into a building or business or even a home can be a real challenge for a person with a disability.  Wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, even people who use canes can have difficulties with accessibility, and sometimes building management or owners, are completely oblivious to the issues. This new App allows anyone a chance to do something about the issue, for free.

34 Countries And Growing

As of this posting, Access Now has pin-pointed over 22,000 locations in 34 Countries – and they’re just getting started. Being able to know ahead of time how easy or hard it will be for someone to gain access to a public building is extremely important. Access Now is the app that can help make the kind of change in accessibility that’s been needed for a long time. If you or someone you know needs this information, we encourage you to check it out and share it with everyone you know on social media.

Access Now Link 

Special Parents Confidential 52 Ponseti Method of Clubfoot Treatment

Ponseti Method of Clubfoot Treatment

Clubfoot, or talipes equinovarus, is a treatable birth defect that affects approximately 150,000-200,000 children each year. When clubfoot occurs the foot is twisted inward and down. For decades the standard treatment for clubfoot consisted of performing radical surgery on the tendons and bones of an infant’s feet.

In the mid 1940s, Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Iowa, began reviewing the results of the surgical treatments of clubfoot that were commonly used at the time. His findings were not encouraging. He discovered that, in adulthood, former surgical patients often experienced foot stiffness, pain, arthritis, and limited mobility, and in many cases required additional surgery.

The Ponseti Method.

By studying the anatomy and functions of a baby’s foot, Dr. Ponseti developed a non-surgical method to correct clubfoot in infants through gentle manipulation of the feet followed by the application of plaster casts. In 1948, Dr. Ponseti began using what has now become known as the Ponseti Method of clubfoot treatment. 

Our guest for this episode has a great deal of experience with the Ponseti Method of clubfoot treatment. Dr. Jose Morcuende is a professor of orthopedic surgeries at the Ponseti Clubfoot Clinic at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospitals. 

Dr. Morcuende trained directly with Dr. Ponseti and has helped to promote the Ponseti Method around the world through the Ponseti International Association, of which he is the President at CEO. He talks about working with Dr. Ponseti, how clubfoot affects children born with it, and the success rate of the Ponseti Method. Dr. Morcuende also talks about the mission of the Ponseti International Association, and the importance of finding a doctor who has been fully trained in the Ponseti Method.

Links Mentioned In This Podcast.

Clubfoot – University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital 

Ponseti International Association 

To Parents of Children Born With Clubfeet – Article written for parents by the late Dr. Ponseti explaining his method of treatment.

Glossary of Terms From Ponseti International Association – Glossary of some of the common medical terms used by doctors when treating clubfoot.

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Special Parents Confidential Episode 26 Parent Problems

Parent Problems

Parents of special needs children face problems that few others can understand. Extraordinary  joy and crushing despair, sometimes in the same day, the same hour, the same moment. One thing is true, people who relate the best to these moments are other parents of special needs children. We have a bond that, while often unspoken, is a shared knowledge that ‘this is our life’ and we all know exactly what it’s like.

For those who are just starting out on their journey with a special needs child, the fear and uncertainty can be very daunting. How do you cope? Where do you look for help? Who can you trust? And possibly the most important question of all, who understands what this means?

To help answer those questions, Donna Kirk has returned for another interview episode. Donna was my guest in Special Parents Confidential Episode 23, in which she talked about her book, Finding Matthew, the story of her son who was born with severe brain damage. She and her husband, Ed, experienced everything a parent of a special needs child could face. A terrible life-altering diagnosis, years and years of therapies, trying to find help for their son, watching him struggle into adulthood, and finally facing the hardest loss of all, the death of their special needs child.

After we finished the interview for that episode, Donna contacted me again and asked if she could talk about the lessons she learned and how they might help parents who are currently struggling and trying to cope with the emotional rollercoaster that raising a special needs child can cause. Top of the list for any parent, honesty and communication.

For more resources on specific issues, check out our Helpful Links page.

As always a reminder that if you like this episode of Special Parents Confidential or any episode we’ve done, please share our site with your friends, family, and all your connections on social media. You can do this easily with the social media buttons located on this page. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, add us on Google Plus, Tumbler, Linked In, Pintrest, Stumble Upon, Reddit, or other social media sites that you use. You can also sign up for our email service and have new posts and podcast episodes delivered right to your inbox the moment they’re available online. You’ll find the form to do that to the right of this posting. We’re also on iTunes, Stitcher, and Poddirectory as a free subscription and if you have a moment, feel free to write a review about our podcast there. Anything you can do to help spread the word about Special Parents Confidential will help us be able to continue these podcasts.

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