"Singing to August" by Gwen Cooper In today's podcast, Jason and I spoke with Chris Gabbard, currently a professor at the University of North Florida. Chris was born and grew up in Palo Alto, California. He graduated with a Bachelor's and a Master's degree from San Francisco State University and earned a PhD at Stanford University in British Enlightenment literature. His scholarly writing has appeared in numerous academic journals, but it was while wrapping up his doctoral wo

I met Amy Silverman in real life when I was asked to "engage in conversation" with her at my local independent bookstore. I knew she was a journalist who had recently published a memoir called My Heart Can't Even Believe It: A Story of Science, Love, and Down Syndrome. Parents of children with disabilities and special needs know one another because of the communities we have created, and I had seen Amy's work online, had friends who knew her and was otherwise familiar with he

Amialya (Mia) Durairaj is a mom of identical twin toddlers, both of whom have special needs. The girls, now aged two, were born three months early and had respiratory and cardiac issues related to prematurity. Both girls have had numerous surgeries and spent many months in and out of the hospital, but Mia reports that "things continue to look up, and they're both doing great now." Mia, her husband and the girls live in San Diego, California. When she isn't wrangling her kids,

It might be hard to believe, given the subject matter, but today we had a rocking good conversation with Traci Nagy, the founder of Feeding Tube Awareness Foundation. We all agreed that never had we dreamed of such a discussion, but neither had we dreamed that we would be caregivers of children with complex medical needs and connected to one another in such interesting and enduring ways. Traci created the non-profit in 2010 to educate the public and change perceptions of tube

Natalie Weaver is a caregiver, mother and healthcare and patient advocate. Her fight was inspired by her daughter Sophia who wouldn't survive without healthcare. Sophia is nine years old, loves music and cuddling and arts and crafts. She was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome, has an immune deficiency and Type 1 Diabetes as well as an unknown cranio-facial deformity. Natalie is the founder of Sophia’s Voice which aims to help people in the disability community in various ways. She