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PODCAST · kids

This DownsideUp Life

by Jenny Tesler and Heidi Hedges

Having kids with complex needs isn't easy but it doesn't always have to be hard.

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Episodes

  1. To raise or awareness or not....

    Heidi and Jenny discuss Rett Syndrome Awareness month, not having a specific plan and how long they have been in the hustle.

  2. Updates galore

    Heidi and Jenny give some recent and not so recent updates to their lives. Some informational, some inspiring, some blah blah blah

  3. Back to School 2026

    Heidi and Jenny discuss Back to School emotions for them and for their complex gals. Jenny is a little more stressed than usual about Maggie and Heidi is thrilled with Ellie's first day back.

  4. Heidi's Scottish adventure

    Heidi and Jenny discuss The Greenall family's Scottish adventure, driving on the wrong side of the road, travel logistics and wrecking a castle gate. As one does....

  5. If I were a genie...

    Heidi and Jenny discuss granting wishes, traveling with family and knowing when to quit a camping excursion.

  6. A dumbed down science update

    Heidi and Jenny discuss the gene therapy webinar from Rett Syndrome Research Trust. If you need to get the best updates on graphic design of the webinar slides, we are your source.

  7. Oh no! Summer is here

    Heidi and Jenny discuss summer plans, summer therapies, and Jenny not being in a good place.

  8. Sorry, not sorry. Ok Kinda sorry.

    Heidi and Jenny discussgetting reviewed. Their feelings about eachother and their friendship.

  9. Complex parents can't always help.

    Heidi and Jenny discuss complex parents appreciating people helping out and creating activities for their kids, but don't be mad if they can't help out.

  10. One way to skin a horse

    Heidi and Jenny interview Kourtney Barnum from Rett University. They chat about all the things. Facials, birthdays, education and speech therapy.

  11. Complex parenting...In a nutshell

    Heidi and Jenny have a special guest who has so much to say about special education, growing up with a sister with a disability and building a camp for those with Rett syndrome. Seriously, so much to say, we are going to have this guest back.

  12. Running, running, running for a cause

    Heidi and Jenny met up in Orlando Fl, to run the Disney Princess half marathon. It wasa weekend full of laughter, sweat and tears. Check out how they did. Did they finish? Or was it just too far

  13. Sibling love

    Heidi and Jenny bring their neurotypical sons on the podcast to discuss living with a rare disorder. An honest discussion about being a sibling, relating with other siblings and just being honest about their life with Rett Syndrome.

  14. The sibling life

    Heidi and Jenny discuss caretaking, sibling resolve and the weight of caretaking on a neurotypical sibling.

  15. Happy New Year! LFG 2026!

    After a 6-7 month hiatus. Thats right. 6....7! Heidi and Jenny talk about their 2025 highlights and what they are looking forward to in 2026

  16. How do you summer?

    Heidi and Jenny discuss summer camps, School ESY and just hanging out all day long for the dog days of summer.

  17. Heads are spinning about medicaid

    Heidi has had a fun time with Sex Ed . Jenny vents about people just not getting it. Disability rights are at risk, disability moms are mad!

  18. Hospital Life and medical mom credentials

    IMO we are Mom MD, but really we are MOM,IMO., OMG., LOL Jenny discusses hospital life and the hot doctors that showed up for Manolia.

  19. Around the world salute

    Jenny and Heidi discuss AI, boobs and being jealous of others.

  20. We are all getting older

    Heidi has a birthday. Jenny and Heidi discuss getting older with complex kids. Also, RIP Hermione the chicken.

  21. The interview one

    Jenny goes to cardio pilates and has a realization about her body. Perimenopause and bigger boobs. Neurogene trial update and questions for each other. Good times.

  22. Heidi's Hawaii experience

    Heidi and Jenny chat about vacations and how great the experience can be. Jenny gets wistful for siblings to play independently. The dichotomy of complex parenting.

  23. Consistently inconsistent

    Hippos are dangerous animals and having nothing to do with hippotherapy. Also, we have some hot gossip about we have heard about Medicaid.

  24. Ask disability parents about Medicaid

    Heidi and Jenny discuss life changing Medicaid services, differences state by state and how this will impact the disability community.

  25. Telepathy, lack of sleep and parenting

    Jenny bans her self from listening to the rest of The Telepathy Tapes podcast. Heidi hasn't slept.

  26. Do you believe in telepathy?

    Heidi and Jenny discuss The Telepathy Tapes podcast, being woo woo and the idea that nonverbal kids have special powers.

  27. Are you prepared for a disaster?

    Heidi and Jenny discuss preparing for emergencies while living in areas that have natural disasters. Sharing tips from good resources and bad advice from experience. Take a listen. How prepared are you?

  28. New Year, new us, not really.

    Its a New Year. Heidi and Jenny discuss a couple of highlights from 2024. The fires in Los Angeles, Jenny's home for 25 years. Then a look forward to 2025

  29. Lets talk presents!

    Holiday gifts ideas, Ellie gets new orthotics and we are gearing up for the end of the year.

  30. Stress takes a toll

    Jenny has a bad week, lashes out via text, apologizes, gets hives. Stress takes a toll and seizures really do cause PTSD and CTSD. Heidi commiserates and also brings levity to Jenny's circumsstances.

  31. Extreme highs and extreme lows of complex parenting. Watch Out of my Mind Its a must

    As Heidi and Jenny discuss the extremem highs and lows of complex parenting. Jenny gives her review of Out of my Mind. At least she tries to. Its a must see

  32. Gene therapy rollercoaster

    Its been a very dramatic week of extreme highs and devastating lows for the Rett Syndrome community. Listen as Heidi and Jenny process the information. Heidi is Nancy Drew and Jenny is just hanging on..

  33. Gene therapy update from Neurogene!

    OMG! Neurogene released an update on the gene therapy trials for Rett Syndrome and we are thrilled, excited and cautious. Exciting newsthat we can't fully be excited about but also can't stop ourselves from being excited, GAH!

  34. A neurogene update! Gene therapy please!

    Neurogen tells us what is happeing in the clinical trial...al l we can say is...Let's go!

  35. OMG a gene therapy upate

  36. God bless America

    Just some thoughts on the election and how we feel. Which programs in the crosshairs that worry us.

  37. Everything is fine....Rett Sucks

    We wrap up the last day of Rett Awareness month by announcing that Rett Sucks. Its fine, we are fine, we will all be fine.

  38. Birthday parties and Apple updates

    Ellie is turning 16! Jenny wants to make driving accessible for Magnolia, probably a bad idea. Apple updates their software and we are here for it!

  39. What would you do?

    Sometimes scary things happen that make your kids have to think "what if"? For parents with kids of complex kids with complex needs we have to plan and think of things we don't want to. But we have to.

  40. All that matters is that they are ok

    Heidi and Jenny hypothesize about gene therapy. Heidi has an addendum, hopefully its the right information. We should be celebrating the little steps forward in gene therapy for Rett Syndrome. Listen for all your complex parenting laughs.

  41. Inclusion

    What does inclusion mean to you? We all want for our complex kids. For all our kids. We want people to do the simple things like say hello and talk to them like they would anyone else.

  42. Neuromomacist part 2

    All the thoughts we couldn't finish from lat week. Plus alotm of hypothesizing about gene therapy. Please don't quote us. We are not a news source.

  43. Back to school disasters

    Lesson learned, don't go out of town the weekend before kids go back to school. Setting yourself up for failure, by going out of town the weekend before, makes for bad planning. Things will go wrong. Not the best way to start the school year.

  44. Back to school nerves, shopping and teaching the team

    Heidi and Jenny gab about all things back to school.

  45. Colin Farrell, complex parenting and Back to School

    Colin Farrell starts a foundation for complex kids, like his son, and we are here for it! Heidi and Jenny discuss "Back to School" and the complexities of working as a team. Jenny rambles, Heidi patiently listens.

  46. Marriage...I do or I don't

    We weren't planning on it, but we spilled the beans on the complexities of staying married when you are complex parents.

  47. Okay, we love Billy shoes!

    Its almost embarrassing how much we both adore Billy and Billy Footwear. Check out how Billy Footwear got started and why inclusion is important for this company. Truly inspiring! Which is why we fangirl so much!

  48. WooHoo! We're back!

    After 4 days at the Rett Syndrome Conference in CO, we're back. We learned alot, met new friends and stayed up too late with our peeps. Jenny choked on a tater tot at midnight. Heidi ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. Just two normal moms living that Downsideup Life.

  49. Aloha, travels, and caretaking

    Trying to navigate aging parents, traveling and the ability to deal with the our own emotions.

  50. Updates, addendums and wishes

    Complex lives means we sometimes have to come to terms with Make a Wish and other fun stuff for complex disorders

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

Having kids with complex needs isn't easy but it doesn't always have to be hard.

HOSTED BY

Jenny Tesler and Heidi Hedges

CATEGORIES

kids family parenting

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does This DownsideUp Life have?

This DownsideUp Life currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is This DownsideUp Life about?

Having kids with complex needs isn't easy but it doesn't always have to be hard.

How often does This DownsideUp Life release new episodes?

This DownsideUp Life has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to This DownsideUp Life?

You can listen to This DownsideUp Life on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts This DownsideUp Life?

This DownsideUp Life is created and hosted by Jenny Tesler and Heidi Hedges.
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