Aired August 17, 2023

Jill Rabin talks to Steve, dad of Jamie, who has a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism. With Steve’s podcast, he is trying to reach Dads of children with disabilities and to give them a safe place to share their experiences. He contacted Jill as a result of two different dads that were on his podcast that used Jill as their speech pathologist for their sons with Down syndrome.

In this podcast, Jill discusses the differences she has seen in parental involvement on the part of the Dad in caring for their child with Down syndrome. She feels there has been a massive shift over the 37 years that she has been working with young children and sees fathers having a much more active role.  She attributes some of the change to covid as many dads were then present during therapy sessions due to working from home. Jill and Steve discuss the vital role of early intervention for little ones with Down syndrome and the importance of Moms and Dads with children with disabilities finding a space where they can communicate and support other parents in a similar situation.