In this episode of our “Parenting Impossible” podcast, Annette is joined by “crazy and loving” mom, wife, and author of the book “DEAR LOVED ONES: An Honest Guide to Helping the Special Needs Family You Love,” Julie Falcone. In her hilarious and heartfelt book, Julie shares her unfiltered experience of raising four children diagnosed with autism, ADHD, anxiety, sensory processing disorder, depression, developmental delay, and oppositional defiant disorder, giving readers a behind-the-scenes look...
Jan 27, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 94
Earlier this year, our founder Annette Hines introduced the sister company of Special Needs Law Group of Massachusetts, Special Needs Family Services . As part of this launch, we brought on new staff members to help us hit the ground running in 2021. One of these additions to the team is Kerri Whalen , our new Practice Administrator and the guest for this episode of Parenting Impossible. The subject of this episode is one that we get asked about a lot: What happens when you move your family from...
Jan 20, 2021•45 min•Ep. 93
When it comes to estate planning, it’s important to know that it is a process, not a one-and-done event. The same is true for creating a special needs plan. As she does every January, host Annette Hines kicks off the new year with a discussion on the importance of special needs planning. In this episode, she is joined by her favorite podcast guest, her husband and law partner, Mark Worthington, as they discuss the things parents, guardians, and caregivers should update in their special needs pla...
Jan 13, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 92
After the many ups and downs of 2020, it’s easy to fall into negative ways of thinking. “Did I accomplish anything I set out to do? Was last year just a waste? Look how many mistakes I made and times I failed…” Instead of dwelling on the past, the New Year presents the perfect time to examine the goals you weren’t able to accomplish in 2020 and use them to fuel your fire and make a game plan for 2021. In this episode of our Parenting Impossible podcast, host Annette Hines walks listeners through...
Jan 05, 2021•37 min•Ep. 91
2020 has been a year of great challenges and loss. However, with the hope of 2021, we can make this new year the best year yet. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves over the past year, and if we use the knowledge we’ve gained moving forward, we can prioritize wellness in a way that allows us to create safe places at work and at home, even when we are struggling. In this episode of “Parenting Impossible,” Annette is joined by the Executive Director of Gracepoint Foundation, Ian Adair. Ian is also ...
Dec 30, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 90
It’s that time of year when we all prepare for the future, and this year, there is even more uncertainty than usual. If you are preparing your estate and special needs plans for the new year, this episode will answer frequently asked questions and clarify details about the taxation of these special trusts. The taxation of trusts can be confusing, especially in the case of special needs trusts. One of the first issues that Annette addresses is the need for a beneficiary to file an individual tax ...
Dec 23, 2020•39 min•Ep. 89
In this episode of “Parenting Impossible,” host Annette Hines answers all of your frequently asked questions. As a speaker, podcast host, author, lawyer, business owner and mother, managing all of her roles can be a challenge, but her goal is to help other people in the disability community find the resources they need in one place. That’s what this podcast is all about! Annette says, “The information system is so fractured in our community.” In light of this, we need to have one place to go for...
Dec 15, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 88
Rosalind “Roz” Marshall-Jones joined “Parenting Impossible” to share her experience as a caregiver and her advice for other caregivers to avoid burnout and plan for the future. In Roz and Annette’s professional and personal experiences, they have seen the lack of future planning through their work with a number of clients. They both recommend having conversations with siblings early on, even small conversations, before moving on to include parents and other family members in the conversation abo...
Dec 08, 2020•53 min•Ep. 87
The holiday season can be stressful enough without a global pandemic adding to an already tense situation. In this episode of Parenting Impossible, Dr. Rebecca Branstetter shares her tips to help parents and school psychologists manage stress in healthy ways in front of kids. Whether your children are stressed about school, the loss of traditions or the holidays, their negative emotions towards those times can take a toll on their mental health. But more than providing information to parents and...
Dec 03, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 86
Siblings’ experiences in the special needs community are often not addressed, especially in the professional realm. Parenting Impossible guest, Jessica Leving Siegel, shares her story of growing up with a brother with autism to shed light on the challenges that she faced and that many special needs siblings face every day. For Jessica, the biggest issue was her hesitancy to express her emotions about her brother to her parents out of fear that she would add to their stress. In her mind, she was ...
Dec 01, 2020•52 min•Ep. 85
While the holiday season is usually the happiest time of the year, it can be a time of incredible sorrow for many families and friends who have lost a loved one or are grieving the loss of family traditions as a result of the pandemic. No matter what you are grieving, the holidays and dark winter can make this time particularly lonely and challenging. Here are five tips that have helped Annette grieve in healthy ways during the holiday season ever since her oldest daughter, Elizabeth, passed awa...
Nov 24, 2020•33 min•Ep. 84
Suicide is a dark topic that is full of sorrow and grief, but it is something that needs to be discussed, especially during a pandemic that has caused many people around the world to feel isolated. Gary Roe currently serves as a hospice chaplain and grief counselor for Hospice Brazos Valley in central Texas, and his experience with grief and loss as a child has allowed him to reach out to people during their times of intense sorrow with a heightened understanding of their situation. Gary describ...
Nov 17, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 83
COVID-19 has made these last few months challenging, and in Gary Roe’s words, “a grieving disaster.” Without the traditional rituals around goodbyes, this pandemic has made it harder for people, including teens, not to bottle up their sorrow. In this second episode with Gary, he shares his experience with teens and grief and ways that family members and friends can help them. Grief can be especially difficult for teens, as the adolescent years are formative in shaping the rest of their lives, an...
Nov 12, 2020•54 min•Ep. 82
When most people hear about what Gary Roe does for a living, he says, “They just shake their heads and say, how did you wind up there?” The answer to this question is that Gary had a troubled childhood riddled with grief that he transformed into a career path for good, thanks to help from many people who supported him during those trying years. After studying psychology and going to seminary, Gary currently serves as a hospice chaplain and grief counselor for Hospice Brazos Valley in central Tex...
Nov 10, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 81
Mark Worthington joins Parenting Impossible to share his insight about Trust Protectors and their role with Special Needs Trusts. A Trust Protector acts as a supervisor or watchdog to ensure the security of a trust, in part by observing the Trustee’s actions within the financial account. Often, families do not want to burden a single person with the role of Trustee, but they also know that having a Co-trustee can make the situation tense or complicated. Selecting a Trust Protector is the most ef...
Nov 05, 2020•31 min•Ep. 80
Mom, podcast host and self-proclaimed loudmouth, Tamara Taggart, joined Parenting Impossible with host Annette Hines to talk about society’s perceptions of people with disabilities, specifically those of people with Down Syndrome. Tamara’s son, Beckett, was born with Down Syndrome, but the doctors did not diagnose him immediately. When they did, his disability was presented to her as bad news. After receiving her son’s diagnosis, instead of accepting the doctors’ negative mindset about it, Tamar...
Nov 03, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 79
Mary Beth McMahon, President and CEO of Special Olympics Massachusetts, joined Parenting Impossible with Host Annette Hines to discuss the transition to virtual activities and society’s perspective on people with disabilities. When COVID-19 forced Mary Beth to move the organization’s events and summer games online, she knew she would need to keep the events engaging and inclusive. One of the biggest ways that she has pivoted during this time is by continuing to promote the Special Olympics progr...
Oct 29, 2020•41 min•Ep. 78
Derek “Tank” Schottle, a Special Olympian with Autism from Sugar Land, Texas, joined Parenting Impossible to share his experience with sports and inspiring other people with disabilities through social media. Tank joined the Special Olympics in 2001, and plays seven sports: softball, basketball, volleyball, track, bocce, golf, and soccer. Annette has been following Tank on Twitter and was inspired by his positive messages—he is known best for his inspiring message about the Special Olympics and ...
Oct 27, 2020•48 min•Ep. 77
Conversations about inclusion often talk about race and diversity, but one topic that people often leave off the table is ability. In honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Michelle Sie Whitten, the President and CEO of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation , and her daughter, Sophia Whitten, who has Down Syndrome, joined Parenting Impossible to discuss the meaning of true inclusion for people with Down Syndrome and other disabilities in society, research, education, and more. As the topic of div...
Oct 22, 2020•56 min•Ep. 76
In a time of confusion and fear, Parenting Impossible guest Laura Whitaker says that she is leading her business with courageous and thoughtful decision making rather than being reactive to the constant changes that are occurring. Laura is the Executive Director of Extra Special People (ESP) in Athens, Georgia, an organization that provides summer camp, resources, support, and services for families of kids with disabilities. She started in this role when she was 19 years old, and she says that w...
Oct 20, 2020•57 min•Ep. 75
After six years of proposals, feedback and edits, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) finalized the Achieving A Better Life Experience (ABLE) Accounts regulations on Oct. 1, 2020. While some of the regulations were expected or familiar, others were a bit of a surprise. In this episode of Parenting Impossible , Host Annette Hines talks with her favorite podcast guest, her husband Mark Worthington, about this finalized document and the implications it could have for people with disabilities and the...
Oct 16, 2020•35 min•Ep. 74
In this episode of our Parenting Impossible podcast, Annette interviews “warrior woman,” Nina Bakoyiannis, to discuss the interwoven framework of disability discrimination in our society that exists both interpersonally and institutionally. Under her pen name “Despina Bakos,” Nina created a blog where she talks more generally about her experiences growing up with a physical disability and the issue of ableism in our society. She also works with a grassroots disability rights organization in New ...
Oct 13, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 73
The death of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has brought a new push for disability rights. In this episode of Parenting Impossible , Host Annette Hines talks to Alison Barkoff, Director of Advocacy at the Center for Public Representation in Washington D.C. They discuss the impact of Justice Ginsburg's death on the disability community's fight for civil rights and why litigation to combat institutional bias is essential for the wellbeing of people with disabilities. A...
Oct 06, 2020•50 min•Ep. 72
In this episode of Parenting Impossible , Host Annette Hines talks about bringing behavioral analysis training home with her guest, Jessica Guzman. Jessica previously worked as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, or BCBA, in Austin, Texas, to help families navigate challenging behavior for their young children with special needs. She also has a master’s in education. Recently, she created her own company, “ Little Wildlings Ltd. Co. ” where she is a behavior consultant who helps kids from 18 mon...
Sep 29, 2020•54 min•Ep. 71
In this special episode of Parenting Impossible , Host Annette Hines welcomes back some of her early podcast guests, Hillary Dunn Stanisz, Cheryl Ryan Chan, and Dave Greenwood, to celebrate the podcast’s first anniversary and open the door to the future of conversations about special needs. This episode is also significant because Annette lights a candle for her daughter, Elizabeth , in honor of Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week. Annette launched Parenting Impossible - The Special Needs Survi...
Sep 22, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 70
In this episode of Parenting Impossible, host Annette Hines talks to sleep consultant Melissa Doman. For more than ten years, Melissa has worked with special needs families who are fed up with sleepless nights and are ready to find solutions despite being told there’s nothing that can be done about their child’s sleep problems. Annette and Melissa begin their discussion with an explanation of "sleep training" and how it can benefit special needs children in particular. Melissa breaks down the im...
Sep 15, 2020•50 min
In episode 68 of Parenting Impossible, host Annette Hines speaks with special needs mother Leah Moore. Leah is not only a mother of three but also a writer and high school English teacher. As a writer, she has been featured in several publications including Today’s Kids in Motion Magazine, and has her own blog, Loving You Big. Leah is currently working on her first book as well. Leah’s life changed after her daughter Jordan was diagnosed with Cri du Chat syndrome, a rare chromosomal disability. ...
Sep 08, 2020•54 min•Ep. 68
In the words of Parenting Impossible host Annette Hines, "give yourself a break." In this mini-podcast, Annette shares four tips special needs parents and caretakers should consider as they continue to navigate distance learning and new social distancing guidelines associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Find or Recreate Your Team: Think about one or two people in your life that can step in and allow you to take a physical break. Whether it’s a member of your church, a neighbor, friend, or family...
Sep 03, 2020•26 min
In this episode of Parenting Impossible, host Annette Hines and guest Matthew Cox discuss what it’s like to grow up with a learning disability and how it applies to distance learning in today’s climate. Matthew Cox spent his elementary and middle school years thinking there was something wrong with his brain. For him, school work was a daunting and often embarrassing challenge. He was the kid who never seemed to catch up with his classmates, no matter how hard he tried. "Growing up with a disabi...
Sep 01, 2020•53 min
In this episode of Parenting Impossible, host Annette Hines discusses meaningful communication with guest Randi Sargent. Randi created the website SayitwithSymbols.com, the only source dedicated to taking the guesswork out of caring for adults with cognitive/communication challenges by using easy-to-use, picture-based communication aids designed specifically for adult caregiving. Randi was inspired to start SayitwithSymbols.com after the birth of her son who was born with severe communication an...
Aug 25, 2020•52 min•Ep. 66
