Sometimes we find ourselves up against big life challenges without any tangible support. Sometimes we feel truly abandoned and unloved. Sometimes, we reach a point where we’ve been hurt so badly that we say, “No more!” and we hunker down and decide to stay away in order to keep ourselves - and especially our hearts - safe. No matter why we’re experiencing isolation, the fact is that being alone is not our default state. It hurts to be all alone and not have connections with someone else, not be able to smile with or share our experiences and insights with someone else. Tune in to this episode to explore some of the experiences overwhelmed people may have related to feeling all alone, and to pick up a few approaches that have worked for others in similar circumstances, and that could help you. Don’t forget to leave a voice message if you want to chime in on this conversation, and please subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes. If you’re ready to shift away from some of your pain and overwhelm and start loving your life more, come join my free Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/joyandfulfillment today. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message

As a special needs parent, you may find it challenging to get all the ideal equipment and materials to repeat therapy at home, whether because of financial, time, or other constraints. Undoubtedly, you also want to help your child feel more supported or comfortable or make therapy feel like more fun and less work, while staying effective. That's why, in this episode, experienced physiotherapist and product designer, Ilana Danneman outlines several ideas to make use of at-home materials to create and adapt therapy interventions that have been enjoyable and beneficial to many a child. These are approaches that she has used for the special needs children she has helped in her practice for over 40 years. She says parents will find it easy to do these at home as well. Plus, she has seen that once parents start innovating with materials and items available at home, even more ideas continue to flow so children can feel more supported, be more engaged, and have more fun during therapy at home. Tap into more of Ilana's experience, ideas, and network of experience by checking her out here: 1) The Special Needs In Motion podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/special-needs-in-motion/id1493789906 2) The Special Needs in Motion YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjN25C_7gSCvtbqSjVXTiKQ 3) The pdf document guiding how to make parallel bars can be requested from Ilana at [email protected] During this episode, Ilana mentions the guidance to create a neck collar to enhance a child’s neck strength, and other fascia therapy work being done by We Flow Therapy. Find them here: https://www.weflowtherapy.com/ Longing for someone to hold your hand and hold space for you as you navigate the path as a special needs parent yourself? Get your copy of my book, Lighting the Path: Leaning into a Hopeful Future as a Special Needs Parent at https://books2read.com/lightingthepath at any of several online and traditional bookstores. In it, you'll find supportive stories, tools and checklists to claim better balance and joy for yourself and your family, and also get insights into how our daughter, Emma, has progressed from severe brain-injury and a vegetative state to develop better sensory abilities and capabilities once declared to be beyond her.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message

Sometimes big challenges appear before us and can really shut us down. If we feel like we don’t have others to lean on, or if our own negative emotions and thoughts swamp us, it may be near impossible to motivate ourselves or find any positivity. In those situations, life can feel quite dark and hopeless. Tune in to explore this, and pick up 3 tips that will make a difference. There's more support in the catalogue of podcast episodes, so dive in to learn about topics such as grief, fear, coping with overwhelm, the power of asking for help, and self-care. If you are interested in working with Marcia, reach out on social media or by email at [email protected] --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message

Tune in to let life coach, Jenn T. Peterson walk you through her 5-Step Fear Release Formula. This approach has helped many of her clients let go of the limiting fears that held them back. Jenn takes us in detail through her own first fear-transforming journey, and this will help you start your own work to make the transition too! Reach out to Jenn at email [email protected] to learn more about her experience with taking her daughter for horse therapy or to explore how you could be supported through her life coaching and business coaching with horses. There's more support in our other podcast episodes, so dive in to learn from other special needs parents and experts about topics mentioned during this episode: coping with overwhelm, the power of asking for help, and dealing with anxiety are all addressed in our catalogue. Want to take a look at other ways to create more support for yourself and every other aspect of your Special Needs Family? You’ll find relatable experiences, tips, tools, and checklists in my book, Lighting the Path: Leaning into a Hopeful Future as a Special Needs Parent. Check out https://books2read.com/lightingthepath to find the most convenient place to pick up your paperback, hardcover, or e-book copy for yourself or a Special Needs Parent you want to support. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message

Jenn T. Peterson's daughter started adaptive horseback riding at age 4, because she had seen it support so many other children while she volunteered at a centre. Her daughter faced challenges with understanding as well as expressing words, sometimes even words Jenn had heard her say before.  Tune in to learn about what made horseback riding just what her daughter needed: how it supported her physically, mentally, and emotionally, and how Jenn found unexpected support for herself while her daughter did the therapy, too. Check in again for two more upcoming episodes with Jenn: 1) the exploration of Jenn's Fear Transformation Formula, which could help you move out of some aspects of your own fear on the spot, and  2) the story of how intuition led Jenn to build her own vision of a new career that felt much more aligned with who she was, one in which horses were central to life coaching and business coaching for adults Reach out to Jenn at email [email protected] to learn more about her experience with taking her daughter for horse therapy or to explore how you could be supported through her life coaching and business coaching with horses. There's more support in our other podcast episodes, so dive in to learn from other special needs parents and experts about topics mentioned during this episode: breathing and self care, grief, and life visioning are all addressed in our catalogue. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message

Anniversaries can immerse us in a mix of tough and joyful emotions and memories, many of them steeped in our experiences with our special needs children. In this episode, I open up about some challenges I experienced this week, that were sparked when I celebrated my birthday. I talk a bit about my inner struggle to juggle the pressure to present a pretense to the world and the need to be honest about what I was actually feeling. It is my hope that this episode will provide some acknowledgement and hold space for a special needs parent who might feel the same way right now. Need a bit of support through self-care? I’ve got you. Check out some of our past episodes which are focused on different self care approaches that may be just what you need! Have I left some critical tip or tool out? Do you have a burning question or comment to add to this conversation? Add your perspective by leaving a voice message to this episode by clicking here: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message. I'd love to share about your perspective in an upcoming episode along with some further insights or responses. Enjoying the podcast? You can access lots more resources when you sign up at MarciaNB.com - I can't wait to welcome you to our growing community of special needs parents and allies.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message

Two episodes ago, we learned about the ways in which Special Needs Parents can experience grief, not only due to an event but repeatedly as a part of everyday life. In this episode, Natasha Carlow returns to take us through 5 important ways we can manage that grief more effectively, so we can open up ourselves to move beyond its effects. Have we left some critical tip or tool out? Do you have a burning question or comment to add to this conversation? Add your perspective by leaving a voice message to this episode by clicking here: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message. I'll be sure to share about your message in an upcoming episode along with some further insights or responses. Enjoying the podcast? You can access lots more resources when you sign up at MarciaNB.com - I can't wait to welcome you to our growing community of special needs parents and allies.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message

Mandy Hughes has dyslexia and has experienced challenges with learning, reading, writing, and the judgements of others since childhood.  She is the parent of 3 children, including her daughter who has complex care needs. She opens up about her own self-judgements and challenges, as well as her evolving relationship and ability to cope with dyslexia as an individual, a parent, and an advocate of and caregiver to her children. She talks about some of the ways she is constrained in helping her children with their schoolwork, as well as how her struggles due to dyslexia led to her work supporting caregivers, and even made her better able to connect and serve them and her own children with authenticity, empathy, and a renewed sense of empowerment and joy. Tune in to learn about the power of adaptation, to get a better understanding of some of the hidden challenges faced by others, and advance your ideas about how you can support others, including our special needs children and others in our sphere at home or in the wider world. There are also some ideas for adjusting our communication, teaching, and assessment with children who have special needs. In this episode, Mandy speaks about her article that was published without editing out the evidence of her dyslexia. Please check out that article here: https://www.carers.cymru/post/what-s-your-superpower and leave us a voice message to tell us what you thought. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message

Many special needs parents carry a weight that they feel challenged to let go of - grief. Join our guest expert, grief counsellor and special needs parent, Natasha Carlow as she: 1) helps us to understand some of the unique characteristics of grief as experienced by our community, and  2) explains why it’s okay, and indeed natural, that we allow ourselves to acknowledge, accept, and process our grief.  Natasha will not just leave us there; she will follow up with tips to guide us through coping better with our grief, whatever the cause we may have recognised. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message

In Part 2 of this 2-part interview, we work our way past acknowledging the challenges Special Needs Parents face and into the space of starting to create a progressive way forward. In this episode, Michelle Boshard encourages us to start creating our roadmap to take us to the financial destination we envision for ourselves and our family. Her tips are straightforward and concise enough to allow you start crafting your roadmap as soon as you listen to the episode! In her work, she teaches about various vehicles that Special Needs Parents (including her) have used to embed flexible, consistent and life-changing earning approaches into their lives. She invites us to reach out to her at www.parentdashboard.ca to learn more from her and her team in this regard. Want to take a look at other ways to create more support for yourself and every other aspect of your Special Needs Family? Don't forget to check out my book, Lighting the Path: Leaning into a Hopeful Future as a Special Needs Parent. Check out https://books2read.com/lightingthepath to find the most convenient place to pick up your paperback, hardcover, or e-book copy for yourself or a Special Needs Parent you want to support. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcia-nathai-balkissoon4/message