Dad to Dad 258 - Ben Mattlin of Los Angeles, CA, Author & Disability Advocate Reflects On Life Over 60 Years With Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Our guest this week is Ben Mattlin of Los Angeles, CA a disability advocate, an author, educator and writer. Ben was born in New York City in 1962 with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a congenital muscle weakness. He attended the Walden School, Rudolf Steiner High School, and Harvard University, graduating cum laude.Ben and his wife, Mary, have been married for 34 years and are the proud parents of two adult daughters. Ben is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Financial Advisor magazine. His writings have appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, and The Washington Post, to name a few.He is also the author of: three books Miracle Boy Grows Up (2012), In Sickness & In Health (2018), and Disability Pride: Dispatches From A post-ADA World. (2022) Ben reflects on being mainstreamed educationally, his objections to being labeled and misrepresented by the National MDA as a youth and how he has gone on to live a full and rewarding life as a husband, father and being gainfully employed, despite being confined to a wheelchair. It's a fascinating and uplifting interview, which we’ll hear on this week's episode of the Special Fathers Network Dad To Dad Podcast.Show Links -Email – [email protected] – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-mattlin-3b8b452/Website - https://www.benmattlin.com/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.Check out the 21CD YouTube Channel with dozens of videos on topics relevant to dads raising children with special needs - https://www.youtube.com/channe... Please support the SFN. Click here to donate: https://21stcenturydads.org/do...Find out about Horizon Therapeutics – Science and Compassion Working Together To Transform Lives. https://www.horizontherapeutics.com/Special Fathers Network: https://21stcenturydads.org/Discover more about the Dads Honor Ride 2023 - https://21stcenturydads.org/2023-dads-honor-ride/