Hi, I'm Angie Auldridge, and I'm Megan Barrett, Welcome to Embracing Holland. 

When Meg and I received each of our children's diagnoses, we found ourselves in the land of worry, grief, and unknown, but after a while, when we realized that this excursion was not temporary we settled in and began to see life in a new way.

As a special needs rite of passage we were each handed the Welcome to Holland poem with the intent of showing us that this place is not so bad and in fact can be really beautiful.  

Some days are dumpster fires and other days are filled with unexpected joy. 

Regardless of the cause of your detour, the struggle to embrace this new life is universal.

Our hope is to share with you how ordinary people on this journey have unpacked their bags and faced adversity with creativity, passion, and determination.

We'll bring you interviews, field trips, cool stuff we find along the way and glimpses into the reality of raising children with differing needs. 

Join us as we embrace Holland!

Join us as we embark on the Maiden Voyage of Embracing Holland. Before we dive into sharing interviews and topical episodes we thought we would start the journey with an introduction to who we are and how we landed here.

Angie is the mother of three children, a college disability advisor, and wife to her high school sweetheart, Isaac (Ike). Their middle child, Mark (nicknamed Mighty), was diagnosed with autism as well as a rare genetic mutation, SCN2A in 2015. Since this time she has spent the last five years volunteering on multiple community groups and boards with the hope of improving the quality of life and services for people with disabilities. Angie's passionate about creating community, sharing stories and supporting others in the face of fear and uncertainly. 

During the time spent driving her son to his medical and therapy appointments, she began listening to podcasts, shows about autism, genetic research, parenting, true crime and everything in between. She fell in love with listening to others share their stories and wished that someday she could do some storytelling of her own in order to provide encouragement and hope to those who are walking alone in the early dark days of a new diagnosis.

On a trip to a special education law conference, she shared her interest to do a podcast with her friend Meg, and very soon after they purchased sound equipment and began practicing recording in Angie's dining room. The goal was to provide a glimpse into the world of parents turning the corner of grief and loss to possibility and ingenuity. 

So they began searching for a podcast name and settled on Embracing Holland; a play on the name of the "Welcome to Holland" poem often given to parents of a newly diagnosed child. https://www.emilyperlkingsley.com/welcome-to-holland

As part of Angie's travels, she's met a number of advocates, bloggers, small business owners, authors, speakers, and change-makers all determined to create resources that did not previously exist, advocate for change and use their voices to make a difference in the world, specifically for people with disabilities. And so they wanted to share their stories with you. 

You can find Angie on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and on her blog, www.mightyandthebean.com. 

Find Embracing Holland on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. If you have an idea for a show, interview or question, please email us at hello@embracingholland.com 

The TED Talk mentioned,
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lies-our-culture-tells-us-about-what-matters-better/id160904630?i=1000440683496

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