Episodes

2 days ago
2 days ago
On today's episode, Mary talks with Carissa Carroll, founder of Jack's Basket. When her son Jack was born with Down syndrome, no one congratulated them and the delivery of his diagnosis by the health care provider left much to be desired. Carissa felt this had to change. What first started as leaving two baskets at the hospital, has led to Jack's Basket, a non profit organization that has delivered 8,000 baskets to 41 countries across the world! Carissa wants all our children with Down syndrome to be celebrated and the parents congratulated.
To order or receive a basket go to JacksBasket.org

Sunday Nov 12, 2023
Sunday Nov 12, 2023
On today's episode, Mary talks about a successful Halloween and an interesting trick or treat experiment involving a potato! Mary also shares how she was pleasantly surprised with Ainsley''s memory of her music therapy teacher. Mary also met Madison Tevlin-one of the stars from the movie "Champions" at the 321 Summit-a wonderful afternoon event. And she was very surprised to learn that Ainsley's new EA is in a book!

Thursday Nov 02, 2023
T21Mom - Episode 112 : DSDN Rockin’ Moms Retreat in San Antonio
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Mary heads to San Antonio, Texas for this year's Rockin Moms Retreat. Listen in as Mary chats with other moms, hears their stories, and learns what the Retreat means to them. There's another Haunted Rockin Moms pub crawl that may have been more sinister than ghostly, plus lots of wine, love and good times.
Plus a former co-host visits to hear the stories.

Thursday Oct 26, 2023
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
In today's episode Mary shares this year's IEP experience, which went pretty well! She also talks about Ainsley's new EA, how keen he is, and how he wants to make things more inclusive for Ainsley. Plus she has an update about Ainsley's palette expander (it's not good news), what she is doing for Rocktober, plans for Halloween, and a little story about how her advocating has really resonated with another mom.
#T21Mom #T21Mompodcast #Rocktober #IEP

Saturday Oct 21, 2023
T21Mom - Episode 110 : Down Syndrome and the Post Secondary Transition
Saturday Oct 21, 2023
Saturday Oct 21, 2023
On today’s episode Mary talks with Patrick Cadigan and Megan Smallwood of the Post Secondary Transition podcast. They discuss the role of a Transition Coordinator, how to involve your child in these decisions, and the complexities of the post secondary transition.
Check out their websites at Postsecondarytransition.com and p2transition.com.

Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Mary shares her thoughts on the coming school year and how she is hopefull and optimistic despite all the changes. She also talks about how pleasantly surprised she was, when they all went out for the afternoon and Ainsley walked for hours with no complaint!

Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Mary chats with Dorothy Gazzola about how to prepare for your child to transition out of high school-it can be overwhelming! Dorothy is a wealth of information and talks about the different steps to take so that parents and your child are prepared. It’s never to early to start! As Dorothy was going through the whole transition with her daughter, Faith, what she wasn’t prepared for was the emotional side of it. Check out the notes below to learn what you need to do at different ages for you and your child to have a successful transition from high school onto their next journey.

Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
T21Mom - Episode 107 : Back To School
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Mary chats about how back to school this year is different.

Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
T21Mom - Episode 106 : Summer Update: Palette Expansion and a Haircut!
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
Mary talks about Ainsley's palette expansion and the challenges they are facing. Also, Ainsley had her first "official" salon visit and how that all went down!

Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
T21Mom - Episode 105 : Vacation Success and Creating a Down Syndrome Community
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
On today's episode, Mary talks about her recent vacation and how it was so successful. Hint - it involves a large water slide. She shares some of the other fun and adapted activities that they did. She also talks about how she is creating her own Down syndrome community by hosting a BBQ for her parent support group that included a water fight, a cookie buffet and fun in the pool!