Smiles Included: Navigating through life with our rare disease superheroes Emily Beauclair

In today's podcast, I have the pleasure of interviewing my twin sister, Allison Pyer, whom I'm very close to. Both of us have two children each, and her youngest son and my SKDEAS son were born within two weeks of each other. As you can imagine, we had hoped that they would grow up together, reach their developmental milestones at the same time, and become the best of friends.
However, life didn't unfold exactly as we had envisioned it, and we've never had an opportunity to discuss how our children feel about each other, until now. In this podcast, Ali and I will have an honest and open conversation about our kids and their relationship, and we hope to share some insights and experiences that might resonate with other parents who are navigating similar situations.
Thank you for tuning in, and I hope you enjoy the podcast!


Please visit SKDEAS.org for more information about Skraban-Deardorff and how you can support our superheroes.

In this episode, I speak with Kristen Worrell.  Kristen is the amazing mom of two young children, one of which has Skraban-Deardorff Syndrome.   Kristen talks to us about what the diagnosis means for Lynnie, who truly is a little superhero.  We talk a lot about the struggle we have with the unknown of the SKDEAS diagnosis due to the large spectrum of impact to our kids.   We discussed all of the therapies that our children endure each week and how we are constantly questioning if we are doing too much or not enough.   I think a lot of parents will relate to our conversation.   
Please visit SKDEAS.org for more information about Skraban-Deardorff and how you can support our superheroes.

This episode is being published on February 28th, otherwise known as Rare Disease Day.  This is the day we speak a little louder than normal on behalf of those impacted by Skraban-Deardorff.  There are over 300MM people impacted by rare diseases worldwide, with 72% of them being rare genetic diseases like SKDEAS.  Sometimes we feel small and alone and this day pulls all rare families together to drive awareness of the importance of fighting for treatments and better lives.  
So I’m doing something a bit different on the podcast today and featuring two guests that have recorded themselves answering the question “What Does Rare Disease Mean to You.”  First, we will start with Andrew, who is a SKDEAS patient and we are proud to have him giving a voice to this genetic difference.  

Next, we have Kristen Worrell, who has a young daughter impacted by SKDEAS and she beautifully tells us what rare means to her and how grateful she is for her daughter.  I’ve never had her on this podcast before, but she must join me in the future to tell more of her story.  

I also took this assignment and i flipped into writing a letter to our first neurologist.  There is a proverb that is still widely taught in medical school that goes something like “when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.”  That hurts our rare community and often delays diagnoses and dismisses parents that know there is something going wrong with their child.  I wear a zebra brooch to remind myself to never let someone dismiss me again and to find the doctors that think zebras. 



Please visit SKDEAS.org for more information about Skraban-Deardorff and how you can support our superheroes.

I'm so excited for this episode - we are hearing directly from one of our SKDEAS superheroes!  Andrew Houser was diagnosed with Skraban-Deardorff two years ago at the age of 17 and he tells us what having a diagnosis means to him and the importance of the support of the SKDEAS community.   Andrew was very open about his life and where he sees himself after he completes school.  

For many in our community, this is the first time hearing from someone that has been diagnosed with SKDEAS.   A huge thank you to Andrew for giving a voice to our superheroes with this conversation!
Please visit SKDEAS.org for more information about Skraban-Deardorff and how you can support our superheroes.

Hi everyone!  Please enjoy my conversation with Yelena House as she talks about her son, Andrew.  Andrew went most of his life without a diagnosis and is now a thriving 19-year-old that is proud to be part of the Skraban-Deardorff community.  Yelena shared lots of stories from Andrew's life and reminds us that we should never underestimate our rare kids since they are constantly surprising us with what they can achieve.  I said many times throughout this conversation that Yelena and Andrew fill me with hope for our SKDEAS kids.  
Please visit SKDEAS.org for more information about Skraban-Deardorff and how you can support our superheroes.

Help!!!  I've been struggling with potty training and fearing what happens if I don't have success.  It's a scary world out there for anyone with special needs and having access to a bathroom that will allow for the dignity of our family members is not easy to find.  I hope this podcast will help some of our community.

Sherri presented how she successfully potty trained her SKDEAS daughter at the 2022 Family Conference and was nice enough to walk us through it again for the podcast.  It's definitely intense and requires a lot from the caregivers, but it was successful for her daughter and I hope it can be successful for others.  Good luck and let me know how it goes!!

Reference:
Toilet Training in Less Than a Day
by Nathan Azrin and Richard Foxx


Please visit SKDEAS.org for more information about Skraban-Deardorff and how you can support our superheroes.