Dad to Dad 227 - Joshua Carrigg of Gaithersburg, MD, Master Sergeant U.S. Army & Father of Three All with Special Needs

Our guest this week is Joshua Carrigg, of Gaithersburg, MD, a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army. Joshua and his wife, Austin, have been married for 20 years and are the proud parents of three: Christian (20), Nicholas (17) who has Autism and adopted daughter Melanie (9) who has Down syndrome and other special healthcare needs. Joshua joined the US Army at 20 and has served for 19 years including two deployments to Iraq ’in 03-’04 and ’06-’07. Joshua's wife, Austin, is the founder and CEO of the Exceptional Families of the Military (EFM), a volunteer-led, non-profit organization specializing in helping DoD families enrolled in Exceptional Families of the Military Program (EFMP).The mission of EFM is to connect military families with Disabilities, Special Healthcare Needs, or additional educational needs from all branches of the service in order to navigate within the EFMP and identify areas of improvement that affect the families they represent.EFM families have 18 online support groups with about 7,000 EFMP family members of the DoD-wide. They provide direct support, support groups, and also work on legislative priorities on behalf of their families. They are part of the EFMP coalition, the largest group representing EFMP families.We’ll hear about Joshua his service to our country and his family on this this week’s Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Exceptional Families Of The Military - https://exceptionalmilitaryfam.com/about-usEmail - [email protected] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-carrigg-1a921362/ Special Fathers Network - SFN is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Many of the 500+ SFN Mentor Fathers, who are raising kids with special needs, have said: "I wish there was something like this when we first received our child's diagnosis. I felt so isolated. There was no one within my family, at work, at church or within my friend group who understood or could relate to what I was going through."SFN Mentor Fathers share their experiences with younger dads closer to the beginning of their journey raising a child with the same or similar special needs. The SFN Mentor Fathers do NOT offer legal or medical advice, that is what lawyers and doctors do. They simply share their experiences and how they have made the most of challenging situations. Special Fathers Network: https://21stcenturydads.org/about-the-special-fathers-network/Check out the 21CD YouTube Channel with dozens of videos on topics relevant to dads raising children with special needs - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzDFCvQimWNEb158ll6Q4cA Please support the SFN. Click here to donate: https://21stcenturydads.org/donate/