Best Buddies, Memories in the Making, Positive Parenting, First Time Homeschooling, Domestic Violence Victims, Free Climbing

Best Buddies (0:00:00) When you were in grade school, were you ever paired with someone to go about your school day with? This “buddy system” is sometimes implemented in schools to help kids build friendships and do better in their coursework. For those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), having something as simple as a good friend can be life changing. Because many kids with IDD lack these relationships, an international nonprofit called Best Buddies has dedicated their time and effort to connecting these kids to others for friendship, employment, and leadership opportunities. Joining us today is Ryan Worth, the Deputy Director of Expansion for Best Buddies. Memories in the Making (0:18:39) A picture tells a thousand words. But for someone who no longer speaks or who doesn’t remember the words that tell the story of their life, pictures can tell hundreds of thousands of words.  Memories in the Making, the signature art program of Alzheimer’s Orange County (ALZOC®), was created to help people with dementia communicate. It provides a meaningful activity for them, while focusing on creative expression as a form of communication. Here to tell us more about the program, its objectives, and how to get involved is representative Ben Allen. Positive Parenting (0:32:25) Parenting is challenging, rewarding, but most of the time it’s just plain confusing. Fortunately, there exist parenting strategies and advice to help de-mystify parenting for the poor moms and dad. However, it can be hard to know which parenting strategy is right for you and your child and many of these parenting strategies have both upsides and downsides to them. One such prominent strategy is that of “Positive Parenting”. Here to discuss both the positives and negatives of positive parenting is psychologist and author of the blog “The Art and Science of Mom”, Dr. Emily Edlynn. First-Time Homeschooling (0:52:46) I know a lot of schools are looking to reopen soon. And while we all want things to return to normal, it’s totally understandable to feel a little antsy about sending kids back so soon. Which is why lot of parents might be considering homeschool this year--no matter what their school districts decide. So for parents think about doing this for the first time, we want to know, what do you need to know? Here to share their advice with us are expert homeschoolers Erik and Emily Orton. Supporting Domestic Violence Victims (1:11:22) Every week, we like to highlight service opportunities around the country. This week, we wanted to talk about one that revolves around the issue of domestic violence –something that has only increased with the pandemic and people being quarantined. Haven Hills is an organization that helps survivors and victims of domestic violence. Iliana Tavera, the Executive Director of Haven Hills, said, “Our doors can never close. Our staff is working tirelessly to keep our services moving forward while ensuring the safety of our community. It is essential that domestic violence survivors and their children have our support especially through this pandemic.” We’re excited to have her on the show today to talk about how we can help victims of this violence. Free Climbing (1:26:59) What is the most daring thing you have ever done? And what was going through your mind as you did it? Well today, we are speaking with dare devil Iain Miller who scales cliffs and sea stacks 100 meters tall, including Cnoc na Mara off the coast of Ireland. But what’s even more amazing is that he does it without any equipment. This is called free climbing. We thought this sounded terrifying and also really cool, so we invited him onto the show to tell us more about how he conquers these daunting heights.