Bringing Up Betty | True Tales of Special Needs Parenting

22 episodes listed below

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In their own words

Parents share their unique experiences of raising kids with special needs, disabilities, developmental delays, diseases and other challenges.

Why you'd press play

When a grocery cart needs an accessibility plan, you'll want Sarah Evans in your headphones.

Press play if you want

  • to hear another parent admit that being watched in public can wear you out
  • to think through family outings when one child's needs change the plan
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Best episodes of Bringing Up Betty | True Tales of Special Needs Parenting

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

Finding Matthew with Donna Kirk (BUB #20)May 17, 2016

A grocery cart problem leads into disability, public cruelty, and the work of helping strangers see Matthew's abilities.

Donna Kirk's account of disability and parenting starts with a grocery cart that cannot keep Betty upright, then opens into a broader reflection on where access helps and where it falls short.

The New Meaning of Mom Guilt with Mary Evelyn Smith (BUB #19)Apr 26, 2016

A candid, thoughtful conversation about disability, kindness, and the tiring complexity of being seen.

Mary Evelyn Smith brings the episode to its most useful point: kind attention can still wear on a family living with disability. In conversation with Sarah, she moves through the difficulty of choosing language around disability and the everyday reality of how adults and…

When Your Second Child Doesn't Have a Disability with Mary Evelyn Smith (BUB #17)Mar 22, 2016

Mary Evelyn Smith's story shows how Franny's arrival reshaped her understanding of Simeon's disability and family life.

The episode centers on a family shift that unsettles what Mary Evelyn Smith thought she had learned. After preparing intensely for her son Simeon's spina bifida, she found that the birth of her daughter Franny changed her sense of what difficulty could mean.

The Kindest Thing... (BUB #15)Dec 22, 2015

A season finale where practical help, playdates, and an accessible home define kindness.

Kindness lands here as something concrete. Friends turn child care into a playdate for Henry, a pediatrician treats Cooper as a child before anything else, and a husband's office helps send the family toward a specialty-clinic trip with an envelope of cash.

Making Mealtimes Easier: From Feeding Disorders to Picky Eaters with Dawn Winkelmann (BUB #14)Nov 25, 2015

A practical episode on feeding difficulties, picky eating, and easing mealtime stress for families.

Mealtimes sit at the center of this episode, where feeding difficulties, swallowing concerns, and everyday picky eating are treated as overlapping pressures rather than separate problems.

Changing the World, One Cape at a Time with Robyn Rosenberger (BUB #13)Nov 12, 2015

A warm look at a cape company turning purchases and sponsorships into support for children facing illness or disability.

Sarah Evans's conversation with Robin Rosenberger follows Tiny Superheroes, a cape company shaped around a simple act of encouragement. Rosenberger describes a model in which each purchased superhero cape funds a donated one, while families can nominate children facing illness…

Talking to Your Kids About Disabilites and Differences with Courtney Westlake (BUB #12)Nov 5, 2015

A candid, practical look at keeping family adventures possible when disability reshapes everyday fun.

Families trying to keep ordinary pleasures ordinary will recognize the tension here: a hike in the Wasatch Range can mean carrying Betty, managing bright sunlight, and balancing one child's limits against everyone else's wish to stay together.

Podcasts like Bringing Up Betty | True Tales of Special Needs Parenting

Episodes

  1. 1

    Loving Can Hurt with Kathy Hooven (BUB #21)

    May 31, 2016·10m
  2. 2

    Finding Matthew with Donna Kirk (BUB #20)

    Hidden gem

    Sarah Evans introduces Bringing Up Betty as a show about special needs parenting and frames Donna Kirk's story around her son Matthew, born in 1970 with severe brain damage after an oxygen loss at birth.

    May 17, 2016·26m·1 clip
  3. 3

    The New Meaning of Mom Guilt with Mary Evelyn Smith (BUB #19)

    Hidden gem

    Sarah Evans opens Bringing Up Betty episode 19 with uncut audio from her earlier conversation with Mary Evelyn Smith, who returns after episode 17 and talks about parenting a child with a disability.

    Apr 26, 2016·26m·1 clip
  4. 4

    Buy a T-Shirt, Change a Life with Robert Thornton of Paper Clouds Apparel (BUB #18)

    Apr 5, 2016·13m
  5. 5

    When Your Second Child Doesn't Have a Disability with Mary Evelyn Smith (BUB #17)

    Hidden gem

    Mary Evelyn Smith describes learning at a 20-week ultrasound that her son Simeon had spina bifida, then being sent straight to a high-risk OB and a genetic counselor.

    Mar 22, 2016·38m·2 clips
  6. 6

    Expectations and IEPs (BUB #16)

    Mar 8, 2016·22m
  7. 7

    The Kindest Thing... (BUB #15)

    Hidden gem

    Sarah Evans opens "The Kindest Thing...

    Dec 22, 2015·22m·1 clip
  8. 8

    Making Mealtimes Easier: From Feeding Disorders to Picky Eaters with Dawn Winkelmann (BUB #14)

    Hidden gem

    Sarah Evans hosts Bringing Up Betty episode 14 as a rebroadcast of her Blab conversation with Don Winkleman, a speech-language pathologist and feeding therapist with 20 years of experience.

    Nov 25, 2015·1h 25m·5 clips
  9. 9

    Changing the World, One Cape at a Time with Robyn Rosenberger (BUB #13)

    Hidden gem

    Sarah Evans interviews Robin Rosenberger on Bringing Up Betty #13, where a sewing project for Brenna and her mom's blog "Blessed by Brenna" led to Tiny Superheroes.

    Nov 12, 2015·18m·1 clip
  10. 10

    Talking to Your Kids About Disabilites and Differences with Courtney Westlake (BUB #12)

    Hidden gem

    Bringing Up Betty #12 features Sarah Evans talking with Courtney Westlake about parenting Brenna, who was diagnosed with harlequin ichthyosis, a condition estimated at around 100 people.

    Nov 5, 2015·28m·1 clip
  11. 11

    Adjusting Expectations: Special Needs on Halloween (BUB #11)

    Oct 29, 2015·15m
  12. 12

    Checking All The Boxes Part 2: An International Adoption Story with Beth Anne Schwamberger (BUB #10)

    Oct 20, 2015·31m
  13. 13

    Checking All the Boxes Part 1: An International Adoption Story with Beth Anne Schwamberger (BUB #9)

    A mother reflects on the unexpected journey of raising a child with special needs and introduces a story about a parent who chose to adopt a child with disabilities.

    Oct 13, 2015·31m
  14. 14

    A Chance Meeting with Marica Sottile and Angela V (BUB #8)

    Oct 6, 2015·12m
  15. 15

    Finding Purpose in Grief and Uncertainty with Jeannie Ewing (BUB #7)

    Sep 29, 2015·22m
  16. 16

    His Own Kind of Miracles with Cami Barney (BUB #6)

    A parent reflects on how much information to share when explaining her child's disabilities to others.

    Sep 15, 2015·35m
  17. 17

    Reinventing Hope - The Special Reds with Kera Washburn (BUB #5)

    Sep 1, 2015·31m
  18. 18

    The Power of a Prenatal Diagnosis with Angela (BUB #4)

    A mother shares how her daughter with special needs has positively impacted her community and peers.

    Aug 18, 2015·32m
  19. 19

    The Friends You'd Never Meet Otherwise with Annie Zawada (BUB #3)

    A mother shares how she found support through Facebook groups after her daughter's rare syndrome diagnosis.

    Aug 4, 2015·32m
  20. 20

    High or Low Functioning, It's All Hard with Megan Goates (BUB #2)

    A mother discusses an article about the positive effects of having a sibling with special needs and interviews the author about sibling relationships and parenting challenges.

    Jul 21, 2015·34m
  21. 21

    A Diagnosis Means Everything...Or Does It? - Betty's Story (BUB #1)

    Jul 14, 2015·14m
  22. 22

    An Introduction - Why I Created Bringing Up Betty

    Jul 7, 2015·5m