EPISODES

Happy, sad, angry, frustrated, excited, it’s not always easy to know how to express these feelings, especially for our kiddos with Down syndrome. Today we’re talking about all those “big feelings” that can be hard to regulate at times. We’re chatting about how we’ve been working on helping our kiddos handle all those “big feelings” and so much more. How we’ve had to become a “detective” of our kiddo's feelings and learned to recognize how some of them can be affected by nutrition, sleep, activity, etc. Navigating emotions isn’t easy for anyone, putting these feelings into words can sometimes be even harder. Learning what tools have been helpful for our kiddos to express and feel understood has been essential, especially entering those teen years! Friends, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!

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Oprah’s favorite things are legendary, just like our gift guide- prepare to unwrap some magic with our 2023 gift ideas! We’ve got some rad ideas for everyone on your list from gifts for kiddos, grandparents, spouses, teachers, and more! Friends, we’ve scoured the corners of creativity and combed through countless options to find the perfect gifts for this years list. From functional, to educational, to downright stylish, and something to wrap it all up with, we’ve got you covered. You know we can’t resist some fun holiday stories with memories of the worst gifts we’ve ever received. Grab a cup of cocoa, sit back, and relax because The Lucky Few Podcast 2023 Holiday Gift Guide has you covered!

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Friends, we’re excited to have Jack’s Basket founder Carissa Carroll back on the show! Today she’s joined by Dr. Erin Plummer to chat with us all about a new curriculum they are launching for medical providers. They’re providing practical online training for providers to review the literature and allow reflection on their own experiences of giving a diagnosis. What could they do better? What went well? What were they feeling? How might their patient have felt? Carissa shares her own experience with receiving her son’s Down syndrome diagnosis and her passion for changing a family’s diagnosis story from the very beginning. We’re so grateful for the work Carissa and Dr. Plummer are doing for our community and can’t wait to share this incredible project they’ve been working on that will make a positive impact for so many families!

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Friends, thank you for celebrating Down Syndrome Awareness Month with us! Today we wrap up our celebration with self-advocates Craig Blackburn & Heather Hancock-Blackburn. This power couple is talking all about love at first sight, marriage equality, long-distance relationships, and so much more! From shifting narratives to building careers, and competing in Special Olympics across the country these incredible self-advocates have so much to be proud of. Heather’s Mom Lisa and Craig’s Mom Pat join us to share what it was like as parents to witness their love story and advice for parents and caregivers. Craig & Heather you had us at hello, we just love your love! You don’t want to miss this epic celebration of love, self-advocacy, and equality.

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Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month, friends!! We’re celebrating BIG this month with some incredible self-advocates chatting about everything from entrepreneurship to marriage! Today, we’re excited to have artist, entrepreneur, and soon-to-be Aunt, Grace from Grace Place Art! Grace and Mom Bonnie join us to share about their journey starting a small business and the projects they’ve been working on. What started as a fun project of creating original artwork for family has become an online business, collaborations, and opportunities to give back. Grace and her Mom are passionate about empowering others and have spoken to classrooms around the world! When Disney’s Pixar commissioned a piece of artwork, Grace and her parents decided on the perfect character that they felt connected to their own journey. From becoming a boss lady to giving back, to preparing to be an Aunt, and so much more, this is an episode you don't want to miss!

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Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month, friends!! We’re celebrating BIG this month with some incredible self-advocates chatting about everything from entrepreneurship to marriage! Today, we’re excited to have poet, author, and “levitator of language,” Sid Ghosh on the show! He describes himself as, “just your autistic boy next door with Down syndrome!” His Mom, Dr. Vaish Sarathy joins us as Sid’s communication partner and also shares their journey of using spelling to communicate with the world. This incredible sixteen-year-old is the author of two chapbooks: Give a Book and Proceedings of the Full Moon Rotary Club. It’s a unique opportunity and honor to feature a non-speaker on a podcast and for the first time in The Lucky Few Podcast history, we’re offering a VIDEO version of this episode! Friends, whatever version you choose, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!

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Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month, friends!! We’re celebrating BIG this month with some incredible self-advocates chatting about everything from entrepreneurship to marriage! We’re excited to have Hip Hop Homies founder and director Carol Tingey along with Homies Merrie Ellsworth, Eric Gardner, and Collin Curtis! Founder and director Carol Tingey started dance classes 5 years ago when she saw the need for activities for our friends with Down syndrome who have aged out of high school. Hip Hop Homies started as a small group of friends getting together to dance and have fun, but has grown into weekly classes and performance outreach! Self-advocates Merrie, Eric, and Collin tell us about their lives and journey to becoming part of The Hip Hop Homie community! Merrie just celebrated another birthday on October 7th, and is “40 and fabulous!” Eric celebrated his birthday on October 8th and turned 53! Collin just graduated from high school and shares his love of participating in rodeos! We’re so excited to introduce you to our new incredible friends!

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Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month, friends!! We’re celebrating BIG this month with some incredible self-advocates chatting about everything from entrepreneurship to marriage! We’re excited to have entrepreneur, model, and french fry expert, Ronnie Brown aka “The Fry Guy” on the show to celebrate with us! He’s a wrestling enthusiast that you’ll find at the Crossfit gym in his spare time. After having a feeding tube for six years, it was love at first bite when he tried his first fry! Along with his sister LaTasha, Ronnie started selling fries in 2020 at a local festival and today they share everything they’ve learned from starting a small business. They even share a fun story about meeting Vice President Kamala Harris this year! This is an episode you’re not going to want to miss.

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Have you heard about the Netflix series “Down For Love”?! We’ve been hearing about it from friends, family, and even one of our kid's healthcare providers, all with rave reviews. So we set aside some of the reality shows that we feel a bit guilty about admitting we’ve watched and enjoyed a wholesome reality dating show of people with Down syndrome on a quest for love. This show highlighted so many things for us to think about as parents. The conversations that we’ll need to have about boundaries and consent, what we’d want to see for our kids, and so much more. It of course brought up so many questions that we dive into like: Did the show represent all types of people with Down syndrome? Does the show honor people with Down syndrome? Is the title “Down For Love” problematic or just a fun pun? We’re diving deep into not only the show, but our thoughts (and some fears!) on our kiddos dating. This is an episode you don’t want to miss!

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Friends, we’re catching you up on the fun and exciting weekend we had at The NYC Buddy Walk! Even on a humid September Saturday, we walked, danced, and celebrated Down syndrome with over 2,000 people in Central Park. Our girl Macy was invited to be a Grand Marshal and we share some highlights of her duties and time on stage! We give our tips for attending not only the NYC Buddy Walk, but some tips from our experience participating in our local walks. Whether you’re part of the flagship walk in NYC or one of the many across the country, there’s nothing like the support and community these walks give all those who attend. We’re so grateful to have met so many of you in NYC and look forward to the next walk! 

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Friends, we have Kayla Craig joining us back on the show to share the incredible message of her new book Every Season Sacred available for pre-order today (out Sept. 19th)! As a former journalist, author, and podcaster Kayla shares how she wanted to write a book speaking to the deep pains, joys, and injustices that come with being human. She hopes this book will speak to the honest lived experience and meet every parent where they are in life. Through the seasons of parenting her daughter Eliza, she’s come to see the world in a whole different way and learned to appreciate embracing all the seasons of life. Kayla invites us to embrace the moments we so often pass by. This is an episode you don’t want to miss!

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When we first learned about a school that was dedicated to inclusive education practices in a New York Times article this June called A Brooklyn School Pioneers New Ways to Teach Children With Disabilities we knew we had to have them on! Today we’re joined by PS 15, The Patrick F Daly Magnet School of the Arts, Principal Julie Cavanagh, along with teachers Rachel Marks and Megan Macfie. It’s through educational pioneers like these educators at PS 15 who are breaking barriers and proving inclusion can work. They have worked hard to create a culture of trust and transparency breaking the barriers of the fear of the unknown and taking the risks needed to make inclusion work. We’re so excited to continue these important conversations about inclusion in our schools.

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Friends, can you believe we’re already heading into Fall?! We’ve had a busy summer full of adventures! Today, we’re catching everyone up on all the things we’ve been up to the last few months, from vacations to camps to the NDSC Convention. We’re chatting about all our summer fun! We share some favorite moments from seeing and meeting so many friends at the NDSC Convention. We celebrate being recognized with the Media Award at the 51st National Down Syndrome Congress Awards. All of our kids went to camps this summer, we chat about how we chose each camp and our experiences with each. Join us as we reflect on some amazing adventures and cherished memories made this summer!

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Friends, today we’re talking about school and friendship in a different way, this episode is to the parents of our kid's peers. We’re sharing our thoughts on having conversations every kid deserves to have about disability and why it’s important. We think about our own childhoods and our first interactions with people with disabilities. How we as parents can make intentional choices about the way we talk about disability with our kids. We share some encouraging moments we’ve seen other parents approach including our kids with Down syndrome. Let’s keep shifting those narratives parents, whether you have a child with Down syndrome or not!

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