From Special Needs to Community Needs.

On the Us Special podcast, host interviews Claire DePaulis about motherhood, community-building, and self-care while raising three children under five, including her oldest daughter Valentina, who shows signs of autism (minimal speech, low adaptive skills) and is in a specialized autism preschool classroom while awaiting a formal diagnosis due to system delays. Claire discusses shifting mindset from control to surrender, practicing gratitude, managing safety challenges like elopement, and navigating the IEP process through documentation and advocacy. She explains founding SD Mom Walks during COVID via grassroots Facebook and later Instagram and Peanut, growing to weekly events in San Diego and Orange County. Noting the gap in spaces where special needs moms truly relate, she created “Self-Care for the Selfless,” monthly events like yoga, sound healing, and beach walks to reset and connect.