Adult Special Needs Caregiving | Find Adult Special Needs Resources, Caregiver Community Support, Disabilities Care, Special Needs Parenting, Life-long Carer, Special Needs Advocates

If your child has apraxia, a speech disorder, or any kind of communication delay, this episode is for you. Host Jenny Olson sits down with Laura Smith, a speech language pathologist who specializes in childhood apraxia of speech and is also a special needs parent herself. Laura's daughter Ashlynn has apraxia and intellectual disabilities, which means she brings both professional knowledge and real caregiver experience to this conversation. This is the kind of expert interview you won't find anywhere else. In this episode, Jenny and Laura talk about what apraxia really is, why so many children go undiagnosed or get the wrong therapy, and how to find an SLP who actually specializes in it. Laura shares the three stages of parent advocacy she has seen in her years of working with special needs families, from the initial diagnosis all the way through to becoming a confident and informed advocate for your child. She also opens up about her own journey of missing the signs in her daughter at first, even as a trained speech pathologist, and how that experience shaped her into the specialist and advocate she is today. Jenny and Laura also get real about the emotional side of caregiving. They talk about the grief that comes in waves as your special needs child grows up, the milestones that hit differently, and what it feels like when your child ages out of school and the support system disappears. They also dig into what the post high school transition looks like, including day programs, Medicaid waivers, SSI, and the waitlists that families need to know about way earlier than they think. Whether your child is young and newly diagnosed or a teenager heading toward adulthood, this conversation is full of honest advice, practical resources, and real talk from two moms who are living this caregiving life every single day. If this episode was helpful, please subscribe so you never miss a new episode and take a moment to leave a review. It helps other special needs caregivers, disability families, and carers find this community when they need it most. You are doing an amazing job. Keep going. Guest Laura Smith: Author, Speaker, SLP, Apraxia Advocate Speech Therapy Practice: A Mile High Speech Therapy (website currently down, but up again soon) IG: https://www.instagram.com/SLPMommyofApraxia/ FB: Laura- SLP Mommy of Apraxia  Mentions: Apraxia Foundation: apraxiafoundation.org childapraxiatreatment.org Follow the podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/adult.special.needs.caregiving/

Our Autism Journey: Diagnosis, Therapy, and Life After High School with Special Needs If you're a parent or carer of an adult with special needs, the transition from childhood to adulthood can feel like stepping off a cliff. The IEPs end, the school support disappears, and suddenly you're on your own trying to figure out disability services, Medicaid waivers, SSI, guardianship, and so much more. You are not alone, and this episode is a great place to start. In this first episode of Adult Special Needs Caregiving, host Jenny Olson shares her personal caregiving journey with her son Benjamin, who was diagnosed with autism and intellectual disabilities at age six. Jenny walks you through the early signs, the long road to an official diagnosis, the years of therapies and IEPs, and what life looks like now as Ben transitions out of high school into adulthood. From ABA therapy to pursuing full guardianship to figuring out post-school programs, Jenny opens up about the real challenges special needs families face and why she felt called to create this caregiver community. This episode is for every parent who has ever felt lost trying to navigate the adult disability care system, cried in their car after a hard day, or wondered if anyone else truly understands what this life is like. Jenny gets it because she is living it right alongside you. If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe so you never miss a new episode, and take a minute to leave a review. It helps other special needs caregivers and disability families find this community when they need it most. You are doing an amazing job. Keep going. Follow us on IG.

If you're a caregiver of an adult with special needs, finding real answers feels impossible. Host Jenny Olson created this podcast because she's living it too. Her son has autism and intellectual disabilities and she's facing the same questions you are. SSI, Medicaid waivers, guardianship, and so much more. This is your weekly resource for real resources and caregiver community. Subscribe and leave a review so other special needs families can find us!