EPISODES

Today on the show we have two talented self-advocates and the stars of the movie Champions! Madison Tevlin and Matthew Von Der Ahe join us to chat about the audition process, working with Woody Harrelson, some behind the scenes secrets, and so much more! They tell us about their characters' sassy and hilarious attitudes and warning an explicit word or two may be used…ear muffs!! From voiceover acting, modeling, speaking at conferences, working at a restaurant, dancing and crafting these dynamic friends are keeping busy! We hear all about their plans for the future and can’t wait to see what’s next for these two. Friends, you don’t want to miss this fun and delightful episode!

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Let's give ourselves all a round of applause, high fives, and cheers. We've made it through another school year! We know each year comes with its challenges and triumphs, today we’re reflecting on the good, bad, and in between of the 2022-2023 school year. We catch you up on what grades our kiddos are finishing up and what next year has in store. We’re chatting about homeschooling, charter schools, our frustrations with IEP’s, placement testing, and more. Looking ahead to next year we give advice on what we could do differently and what we wouldn’t change. Join us as we talk through what has us feeling tired, frustrated, but hopeful. Remember friends, we’re cheering you on!

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Friends, we recognize and appreciate that so many of you come to us for our open, honest, and candid conversations week after week. After seeing the response Heather was receiving over on @theluckyfewoffical under a post that she wouldn’t be celebrating an abled person asking a disabled person to prom, we knew this topic deserved another conversation. We also knew the conversation deserved to include a person with disabilities. Our producer and self-advocate Ashley Fraccalossi joins us for this candid conversation on honoring people with disabilities and when that line can get blurred or crossed. She helps break down with us what inspiration p*rn means in the disabled community, unconscious bias, and how her own experiences with disability have shaped her views on this topic. We’re grateful to not only hear from her today, but to continue this important conversation with all of you. May we all continue to learn, listen, and grow from conversations like this together.

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Friends, we’re SO excited to have the star of the newest Disney reimagining of Peter Pan on the show today! Noah Matthews Matofsky joins us all the way from London to chat about his leading role as Slightly, one of the Lost Boys, in ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ now streaming on Disney+. Before being scouted for the film by American casting agent Debra Zane, Noah had only ever been in school plays! We chat about what it’s like to be recognized, learning stunts, and he even gives us a performance of a favorite Disney song! He’s not only a trailblazer for actors with Down syndrome, but an ambassador for Down Syndrome UK, member of The Phoenix Theater Group, and hopes to go on to drama college. This is an episode you’re not going to want to miss!

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Happy Mother’s Day, friends!! On this week’s episode we’re celebrating with a candid conversation about connecting with your child with Down syndrome! We know how important making meaningful connections with our kids is, today we’re talking all about nurturing those connections. What we’re doing to develop the relationships with our kiddos, learning new ways to give and receive love, and so much more!  And we might even have a surprise performance by none other than our very own Micha Boyett performing her original score of a still untitled Mother’s Day song. We hope all you lucky mama’s out there know we love you, and as always, we’re cheering you on!

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Friends, we’re so excited to have the brilliant Dr. Brian Skotko and Dr. Noemi Spinazzi back on the show today! They’re here to tell us about a big research project they worked on involving patients with Down syndrome who identify as Black as well as parents of patients who primarily speak Spanish. This work included conducting surveys of parents and primary care physicians from across the country over the last two years. Its primary goal was to identify the barriers for families looking to access adequate care that shouldn’t only be found at specialty Down syndrome clinics in large cities. We chat about structural racism in medical care, striving for cultural humility, some of the surprises they found in their research, and so much more. They share some valuable resources for those without access to a Down syndrome clinic and how we can all strive to be champions for the Down syndrome community. Thank you to Dr. Skotko and Dr. Spinazzi for their continued work in making sure everyone in the Down syndrome community has access to quality health care.

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Today we’re catching up with three self-advocates from previous episodes! Advocating for the Down syndrome community from the steps of Capitol Hill we catch up with self-advocates Kayla McKeon, Matthew Schwab, and Charlotte Woodward! We were so excited to chat with them during the National Down Syndrome Society’s Down Syndrome Advocacy Conference in Washington DC! From advocating equal rights in employment, healthcare, and education for people with Down syndrome these self-advocates are putting faces and names lobbying for these legislative priorities! They share the bills they’re passionate about and we catch up on the fun and interesting things they’ve been up to. From bocce ball, to ballroom dancing, to graduating college these incredible self-advocates have been busy since we last talked to them! Friends, you’re going to love this episode!

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Friends, some harmful statements were made recently by an online commentator about a recent SKIMS campaign and it got us thinking about all things inclusivity in the media. She who will not be named asked, “how far are we going to take this inclusivity thing? Girl, we’re taking this inclusivity thing ALL the way! Today we ask all the questions that harmful narratives like this leave us with. What’s worthy of being seen as beautiful? Are companies being genuine or just checking an inclusion box? How we define ableism and so much more! So, listeners, we might be left with more questions than answers on this one, let’s keep this conversation going! 

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Sofia Sanchez helped us celebrate World Down Syndrome Day on March 21st and today her Mom Jennifer Varanini Sanchez is here to chat with us! This mother of four opens up about the Down syndrome diagnosis of her youngest son Joaquin at 3-months-old that led her on a pursuit to learning more. Listen to how a charitable donation in honor of a family member's memory led this mama on a path to completing her family through international adoption. We chat about celebrating each child’s individual gifts, fostering independence, inclusion and diversity on a blockbuster film set, and so much more! Friends, you’re not going to want to miss this episode!

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Hey, Friends! Before next week’s new episode we want to (re) share another one of our favorite self-advocate episodes! Matthew Schwab is a 25 year old man with Down syndrome who is absolutely slaying it at life. There’s no better way to describe him! Since we last chatted with him in 2020, Matthew has moved into an apartment with his brother and started his own podcast! He’s officially entered the world of “adulting” where there’s no one around to remind you to do your chores! Today we’re chatting about the highs and lows of living away from home, the future of Matthew’s relationship (and why the law makes it SO difficult for couples with DS to get married), and what we think of the phrase “nothing about us without us.”

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Today we have a very special guest here to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day, the one and only Sofia Sanchez!! We just happen to be the first podcast interview (many more to come!) for this actress, model, author, and self-advocate. She has some fun projects going on: a new book, cartoon series, a feature film, and advocating on Capitol Hill, just to name a few! Sofia gives us a tease of her experiences filming ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ coming to theaters this November! We’d say the odds are in this middle schoolers (almost high schoolers!) favor! We’re cheering you on Sofia! An episode you won’t want to miss, friends!

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Take it from us, parenting is hard and those first years can feel like the hardest, especially if it’s your first kiddo. Today we’re passing on all the wisdom from our first years of parenting.  We’re going to give you all the things we wish we knew, had, and what we’d tell ourselves to get through those first years!

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