Hannah Heck is a mother of 4 and a lawyer, who now does advocacy and public policy work in the areas of education and kids with special needs.
Hannah’s oldest child is a 12-year-old boy named Teddy who has Down syndrome. Hannah was so kind to share glimpses into her family’s life and talk about what it’s been like for them to navigate the challenges they’ve faced related to Teddy’s diagnosis.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Hannah, her husband, and other family members processed the diagnosis differently
The importance of allowing others to process in their own way and time
How Hannah managed to attend law school while having a child with special needs and other young children to care for
How Hannah and her husband find balance in their life all of the things they are told they “should” be doing (early intervention, therapies, classes, etc) with the other things their family values (bonding time, family outings, fun activities, etc)
What it’s like for Hannah’s 3 younger children to have a sibling with Down Syndrome
How she helps Teddy’s classmates and other children learn and talk about others with differences
These topics are something I focus on in my book, as parents used to just be on their own to figure it out. But now they can learn from Advanced Parenting a strategy and framework for out to promote their own child's independence. Order the book here!
If you like this episode, you can read more about these topics in Advanced Parenting. Chapters most relevant to this episode include 1, 2, 7, 11.
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Advanced Parenting with Hannah Heck - Episode 5