Welcome to Unlimited Parenting, where we discuss having children with disabilities or special
healthcare needs.
I'm your host, Allison, and with me today are Sarah and Melissa.
Today we're going to be talking about Parent Leadership Institute.
So let's get into the stuff and the things.
So ladies, how do we feel about PLDI?
Can we call it PLDI?
Maybe we need to Parent Leadership Development Institute.
Can we shorten it for the purposes of this podcast?
Parent Leadership.
You want to call it Parent Leadership?
Let's call it Parent Leadership.
But listeners, it's an institute.
Yep.
It is.
It's a vetted curriculum, right?
Yes.
So we don't want to diminish that.
Yeah, but when we're talking about parent leadership in this conversation, we're shortening
it and we're talking about the Development Institute in its full context.
Thank you for taking into account my inability to say Parent Leadership Development Institute.
It's a long one.
For the rest of this time, I appreciate that.
We live in alphabet soup.
We do.
Right.
You're right.
PLDI.
We need another acronym in this room, right?
Right.
Parent Leadership it is.
Okay.
Perfect.
So can you start us off and tell us why you are qualified to talk about parent leadership?
Oh, I suppose.
So I am the parent...
Program coordinator.
Thank you.
Sometimes...
She lapses every once in a while.
Sometimes my brain has a restart.
That's what happens when you're a parent.
You have to restart.
And so anyway, I'm the program coordinator here at Idaho Parents Unlimited.
And we...
This program, this parent leadership has been around for...
Oh my gosh, this will be our 12th year doing it here.
Not mine, but I get to put this program together every year.
And it's one of our favorite things that we do here.
How many years though have you been doing it?
This will be my fourth year really putting it together and coordinating this.
My first year, I went through it as a parent and an employee.
So it was kind of a double whammy for me.
And it was really...
It really was life changing in the fact of my life and as the program coordinator and
parent education coordinator at that time.
So I learned a lot about why I'm here and why I wanna be working here.
And I've been here for six years.
So I think it stuck.
So you are the resident expert in this room.
As far as parent leadership goes.
Absolutely.
You're the elder at the table.
As it were.
You just like that we're older than you.
That is exactly right.
I think so.
Everybody write that down.
I am the youngest at the table.
Barely.
Melissa, what do you bring to parent leadership?
I do some mean dishes.
So you're the cook.
No, no.
I said I do dishes.
So I'm not the cook.
I just wanna make that abundantly clear.
I do dishes and I do them really well.
So this will be my third year at parent leadership.
My first year, it was the COVID year of parent...
The follow up COVID year.
So it was a little...
It was smaller.
And I think it was a wonderful time for me to get my feet wet with it because it was
a smaller cohort of parents, but it was so intimate.
I will say it was life-changing.
I didn't necessarily go through it.
I went through it as an employee who is also obviously a parent as well.
But it is really life-changing to hear these stories and then to be able to provide information
and resources to some of these.
And we were in Bear Lake at that point, that one.
It's a teeny tiny small rural community and it was so awesome to see the community come
together and just explore resources.
It was just exciting.
So I don't remember what the question was.
Oh, what do I bring to parent leadership?
My dishes.
My dishes and you.
You help facilitate.
Oh yeah.
You present essentially.
I do.
So Sarah helps make the curriculum.
She helps make the curriculum and the baskets and all the goodies that come with it.
Yeah.
And then the two of you have been co-facilitators in the past.
You both do the presenting.
We do.
And then this year is my first year helping present.
Last year, I was the parent.
You were?
I was the parent.
You know, it was.
I was nervous.
Yeah.
I was really nervous to come.
You know, I think we're nervous to go to, you know, we always want to make sure that
we are.
It's respite for parents too.
Right.
So we want to make sure that we're providing a really good, relaxing experience.
And at the same time, providing a curriculum that is giving them education and tools and
resources to use when they walk away from it too.
So it.
Right.
I think we're nervous too.
So that's a common feeling.
I'll add a caveat that I was nervous to go, then I really didn't want to leave.
Yeah.
Guys, that makes sense.
Yeah.
Because as the days went on, you got more connections and you were learning and, you
know, everyone gets more comfortable with one another.
And then you were like, oh my gosh, we have to leave.
I don't want to leave.
Yeah.
These people are awesome.
Yeah.
Because you build, you do, you build those relationships and really lifelong relationships.
I mean, obviously you're an employee now.
Right.
Yeah.
I left leadership like, how do I get back with these ladies again?
I know.
And well, that brings us up a good point because we do stay connected.
We do our very best to, well, that's part of the curriculum is that we stay connected
with, we have help our, the participants craft their own goals and action plans to move forward
in their communities and in their lives and reach out with each other and follow up on
these goals.
And we're starting something new this year where we are going to be doing every monthly
calls every other month with the same group of people who participate and check in with
each other and see how we can support each other and the goals that they've created and
what their communities need and potentially bringing in parent leadership graduates from
previous years.
So we will continue to stay connected throughout the year and the following years to our biggest
capacity that we can.
So Sarah and Melissa, I was hoping that you guys could really outline detail what it is.
What is this curriculum that we keep talking about?
Right.
So this is not something that Idaho Parents Unlimited has made up.
It's a vetted curriculum really started from it's, excuse me, funded through the Office
of Special Education and through the, I'm going to have to look down at my notes really
quick sorry because I've got all these thoughts running through my head.
The North, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for the child development and really
building leaders for early childhood intervention services and the leading that parent voice
and family engagement and how do we build leaders in our communities to follow our kiddos
through their development and their education and craft that importance of early intervention
and then as we grow with our kiddos, those with disabilities or special healthcare needs.
And so that's really what drove this curriculum and this intensive institute forward is that
all these different professional groups came together to create this curriculum to talk
about how to develop advocates and how to advocate effectively and share your story
about what it's like to raise a child with a disability and share those experiences with
each other and build up the community of like minded individuals and then take that information
and those experiences and expand on them to make things, I wouldn't necessarily say easier
but in some ways easier or enhance them or make the path a little bit less scary for
those coming behind us I guess.
That's my personal feeling on it that raising a child with significant healthcare needs
and disabilities was very scary.
Yeah, for sure.
From birth all the way into his early intervention we went from the hospital to those birth to
three interventions and then developmental preschool and I was thrust into a world I
had nothing, I knew nothing about and I was terrified.
So there were things that I would have liked different, there were things that worked well
and so being able to share that information in a way that makes things better for our
community and for those around us using the resources that are in our own individual communities
because Idaho is a very different state from one corner to the next and each part of that
area each region which Melissa can talk about how we, yearly what we do, how we offer parent
leadership but each region and each community within those regions have different resources
available and needs, right?
And needs, absolutely.
Because Idaho is predominantly rural but there are pockets of...
Considered a frontier state so yeah.
Boise has different needs than say Bonners Ferry.
Absolutely, absolutely.
I would even say that the Treasure Valley is very large and that is, you know, we have
different needs from city to city.
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
Parent leadership, it does come from this wonderful vetted curriculum but at Idaho Parents
Unlimited we have adapted that over the years to really fit our state and our parents because
we do have those rural pockets of families that care is a little bit difficult to find
so that's part of the curriculum.
One day we really spend deep diving into special education and IEPs and breaking those apart
with 504s, what does that look like?
So that really education side and then we kind of switch gears on another day and talk
about some of accessing health systems in the state.
Intermingled into these are really fun activities and I use fun kind of loosely because some
of them are really, really emotional.
No.
They shouldn't use fun.
They're traumatic.
I don't want to say traumatic.
We don't want to scare anybody.
No.
They're triggering.
It does trigger some emotional.
Yes, you're right.
I don't want to put anyone off.
You're right.
Trauma is a scary word.
When we're talking about life maps.
Okay, sure.
And where we started and what brought us here and who our kids are and what links us together,
everyone in that room and people really, I guess maybe trauma releasing.
I think people find it really cathartic to tell a group of people who understand where
you're coming from, where they're coming from, and you finally get someone who goes, yes,
I hear you.
I see you.
I validate you instead of, well, you should try this or have you done this or I don't
see what you're talking about in your child.
Right.
Yeah.
Somebody that's either been there and can really offer up some lived experience or someone
that maybe potentially hasn't been exactly where you are, but absolutely has the compassion
of a parent of a child with special healthcare needs or a disability that can offer that
shoulder to cry on, which is what we are here at iPoel, right?
Absolutely.
Oftentimes, but it does.
It's an emotional experience, but it's really scattered in with educational experiences
too.
I guess I would say.
Do you think, I don't know, you've been a participant.
Yeah.
I think that the first little bit of the training is kind of an introduction.
What is Idaho Parents Unlimited?
What do we do?
Who do we serve?
What do we offer?
And then really, who are you?
And the who are you piece is where people really find the emotions.
And then once, I feel like once you guys really found out who we were as parents and then
also as individuals, which I thought was really, really cool, just who we were outside of our
children, you were able to slightly adapt kind of what you were teaching to be more
individualized.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, we do preliminary interviews, but you just don't know until you really get into
the nitty gritty of a person's story what the training actually will kind of spin into.
I think you're exactly right.
I think it starts as one thing kind of morphs as that cohort really starts opening up and
being vulnerable.
You are vulnerable at parent leadership.
I wasn't, I will tell you, I was not prepared for that.
I'm not a crier.
I'm not a crier, but at my first parent leadership, I was overcome with these tears that were
flowing and I had no clue where they came from.
But it's an emotional experience.
You're unpacking, I guess, some trauma of diagnosis.
I guess, honestly, that's what I did.
So it's super cathartic.
It is.
In the second day, we spend really diving into your, our own whys and your why before
we get into the processes of how Idaho and how special education works.
We take the first day or the first morning of those life maps and then we really talk
about why we're here and the why is our kids and then we start to craft those goals so
that when we do talk about the education, the special education pieces and the health
care pieces and how Idaho operates in that and how special education works, we can take
those goals and those personal pieces and help craft what it is that your goal, your
personal goal is into making that action plan moving forward and using those resources in
that action plan.
I just want to ask real quick, we keep saying day one, day two.
How long is this?
It's a week long.
We say it's a week long.
However, we check in Monday night at what, six o'clock is check in.
So it is four nights, five days, but Friday is, we have to be checked out of the venue
by 10.
So it's really three and three intense curriculum packed days of learning and exploring and
then the evenings are spent really bonding and we may have had a dance party or two.
And it wasn't me and you know, charades, of course, networking.
Yeah, absolutely.
Pair and share like, what am I trying to say?
Organic parents share.
Some of our parents just go and go, go relax in their room and enjoy the peace and quiet
because I know that at home we don't get that.
We don't get that alone time and that is absolutely fine.
Yeah, the nights are super fun.
That's one of my favorite parts.
I love giving all of the resources.
I love the goals and life mapping and don't get me wrong, that stuff's great, but there
is something to be said for networking.
Have you with these other parents and hearing all the different ways that people make horse
sounds when you're doing charades?
There's that too.
I mean, things you find out about people.
I know our own employees who knew?
And this year we get karaoke.
That's what you have told me.
I keep reminding you so that you're prepared.
Yeah, Allison has very much scoped out this VRBO and its content.
Listen, give me a microphone and just wait to be clearly impressed.
So I'm gonna have to work on my songs.
I'm not working on dance moves.
It's just FYI, guys.
You guys, I have big main character energy.
You guys are backup dancers.
That's fine by me.
Okay.
Who is this for?
Who is the best candidate for parent leadership?
It's a parent that wants to be elevated, I guess I would say.
I don't even have elevate.
Yeah.
It's that parent.
It's you, Allison.
It was you.
You're the parent that was you had your children who had varying diagnoses and you were trying
to do more.
How do I get my feet in this door?
How do I get my foot in this door?
I saw her silently correcting my grammar.
I was like, I jumped in.
She did.
You actually did go feet first.
You dove in head first.
You did.
It's that parent that is just looking for how do I get more involved?
How do I get involved?
Like Sarah said, in my community, how do I help other parents?
It's that parent that's wanting to advocate on the next level or just advocate for their
own student and then learn the tools to advocate at another level.
There's not a right or wrong candidate.
The program was developed for parents whose children were age zero to nine.
Each year in Idaho, we've tried to stick to that as much as possible.
When we went through the pandemic, we struggled to get that age group.
We did our very best to keep it at the early years, the early childhood developmental years.
But we struggled to find people that were able and we wanted to keep it small.
So we've kind of developed, we've expanded our age group qualifications slightly because
we know that there are times when we've lately at iPoll, we've been taking a lot of calls
for our kiddos who are growing up and moving into that transition to adulthood age, moving
on from high school.
So we have a few parents who want to make that process a little easier for their kids
and for those kids coming up behind them.
So we have a great mixture of what that looks like.
And I think it creates a great blend of those parents and families that have gone through
the early childhood and what it can look like as they're growing up.
So it provides that insight of here's what it looks like after our kids have made it
through this part of the journey.
And this is potentially what we would like to see as they're moving up through the next
part of the journey.
So as you families who are here with the youngers are thinking about your kids as they grow
up, maybe some of these things can be implemented into your goals.
Does that make sense what I'm trying to say?
It does make sense and it reminds me of how when your kids are little, you get stuck in
survival mode.
And in my case, I'm talking about behaviors and just how do I survive the day.
And part of parent leadership that was really eye opening for me was I had never thought
not even once about what happens when there was at my year of parent leadership, so 2022.
I just had a, I know, I see it happens.
So my year of parent leadership, there was even a conversation about puberty.
What happens when our kids and I was like, I had never, we just had conversations that
I had never even entertained, because I am so used to going, just how do I survive this
day and meeting other parents who could be mentors because they've been there done that
and other, just my kids are autistic.
So there were other parents there who were parents of children who are autistic.
And they were like, well, this was a struggle and we tried this.
And I was like, I just had, it was like mind blown.
I'd never even thought.
Yeah, I loved looking over, honestly.
I mean, Alison very much wears her emotions on her face.
Don't know what you're talking about.
And I can't tell you the amount of times that we would be presenting it.
I look over and she's just blank stare, just staring the headlights, soaking it all in.
I don't know what you're talking about.
No, I'm sorry.
I did.
And I, and I was trying so hard to take notes and okay.
So when you go to parent leadership, you're provided with a packet and a flash drive and
all the curriculum is available to you.
If you're, you know, a little weird, you look at it the day before, I'm not going to judge
you because that's what I did.
So and you can, and there was lots of room to take notes, but I kept finding myself like
finding margins and like scribbling.
And I'm like, it's just so many things I just had not, I just hadn't even thought about.
And I think that when I, so when I found parent leadership, it was a flyer from my kid's school.
That's where I found it.
And I applied, I interviewed, I was obviously accepted.
And I went into it thinking that this was going to be strictly school-based.
Yeah I think a lot of parents have that kind of misunderstood.
Misconception because of that.
Yeah.
Cause a lot of people think that as I pull in general.
Right.
Yeah.
And this year, a lot of the parents that we have interviewed for 2023 is parent leadership
have found these flyers from their school.
Right.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And I was like, oh, it's Medicaid too and I went into it not with an open mind.
I'll just be honest.
I was like, none of this is going to apply to me.
None of it.
Right.
Cause my children are autistic.
They don't have special healthcare needs.
I, my children are verbal.
This isn't going to apply to me.
And I start, I'm like, what?
All of these services do in fact apply to me.
Very much so.
Right.
Now, and, and I think that was the deer in the headlights for you.
Right.
Because you're, you went with one expectation and came out with a whole plethora of others.
I would hope.
I, and I, and I'm like, I don't, and I can't wrap my mind around how to retain some of
this information.
And then, you know, I just was encouraged and reassured that people were going to follow
up if you had any questions.
Yeah.
We'll help you fill out the forms.
Absolutely.
We'll walk you through the whole process.
And I was like, where was this three years ago?
Right.
Yep.
It was there.
Well, quasi cause the pandemic, but you found it at the right time.
I truly believe that you found it at the right time when you had, you know, you, you, you
have to get to that where it less than let the dust settle.
You know, you were picking your battles.
You were just trying to make it, like you said, make it through the day and you found
it when you needed to find it.
And I think that's kind of how a lot of this parents, you know, it, it just really organically
fits in when these parents need it most.
So the age, yes, there's an age restriction or an age range that we like to stick to,
but, but I think over the years, I mean, in, in my mind and my research and, and my evidence
based knowledge or whatnot, if that's what you want to call it, it's important to include
that lifespan because that's what we're talking about.
And we're really talking about systems change and developing systems that work for kids
throughout their lifetime.
And we have to remember to include and put these two age groups together so that we remember
when we're talking about, when we're talking about these older kids, what it was like having
these younger kids and what our younger families are facing and vice versa so that we can create
and craft our goals and language around these changes to, to work in tandem moving forward
throughout that lifespan.
So it's important in, in my, on my own soapbox to have the, the different age groups and
moving forward to do, to do so.
And we talk about, you know, all these personal things that we have for our kiddos, but the
curriculum also creates that knowledge of information so that we can move forward and
create systems change as well as that personal, personal gain and agenda to create change
for not only for our kids, but for our communities.
Because that's part of it, right?
That is exactly the reason.
Yeah.
You develop goals and then you, you have like a rough draft and then you go back and you
recreate and you brainstorm with other people.
And then, well, you've heard, oh, sorry.
No, I was just going to say, then you're essentially for lack of a better way to describe it, assign
someone to see who follows up with you.
Like, Hey, how are you?
How's, how's that goal going?
Yeah.
When you hear Sarah's talking about, you know, we craft our story, we craft our story, we
have a segment of this workshop called power of a personal story.
And it is just that like we are going to sit down and help each individual participant
craft their story.
And what are they going to use that story for?
You might ask that story is going to be utilized for their goals, for their advocacy efforts,
you know, for really propelling them forward.
So I didn't, when I first did my story, I didn't really know what I was getting myself
into and it, I have, I have reverted back to that story that I wrote at that first parent
leadership so many times, like I am nailing those things in that story.
So it's powerful.
It's a power.
I don't, I don't know how to put it into words what the experience is for people.
Yeah.
But it's also kind of, I mean, there's no expectation.
It's what your level of comfort is, right?
So there are some people that, and again, I can only speak for my cohort of 2022, but
there were some people who were like, I want to go to the legislature.
And there were some people who are like, what, who are your other partners?
So I can get in connect connection with them and where can my voice be used?
And there were other people who were like, can you just help me help my child?
Yeah.
And that's how do I advocate for them in an IEP meeting?
So all, all parts of the spectrum, the levels are all welcome, right?
Oh yeah.
And I will say knowing your cohort, those parents that started with just help me help
my kid are now parents within their community, helping others.
And that's the goal of parent leadership, right?
Is to really help within these communities because we are a rural state.
So our parent leadership last year was in McCall and McCall community is stronger because
of it.
Right.
I think.
And we had a few different like another language in there.
And yes.
And now that parent is helping other parents that struggle with that diversity.
So it really does build confidence in ourselves and in our ability to advocate for not only
our kids, but those around us.
So when parents leave, we ask that they, you know, part of this is to amplify Idaho parents
unlimited and the services we provide to our families, but you know, really just building
us up in your, in their communities as well.
So I mean, if there's issues, contact, I pull if families are looking for resources, definitely
have them contact, I pull and those types of things.
So we're really just building up our, our presence and assistance across the state.
So you said last year was in McCall.
So where, how do we determine, are they all across our parent leadership?
It just takes turns being in different places every year or how does that work?
Yep.
So last year we served regions three and four, which are down here in the Treasure Valley,
Boise, Nampa.
I'll just say region three and four reaches from McCall to Mountain Home.
And then regions one and two, which is where we're holding parent leadership this year
is from Bonners, which is Borders, Canada, all the way to New Meadows, which is next
door to McCall.
Excuse me.
And so that's region one and two.
So Moscow, Lewiston, all those areas.
And then five, six and seven are Twin Falls area.
So Mountain Home over onto the east side of the state.
So we will be back over in, I think we're, we try to do region five on its own just because
it's fairly spread out.
And then that will be next year and then we'll go back to six and seven.
And then how many regions does Idaho have?
Depends on what map are you going to use?
That's a trick question.
Oh yeah, that's a good point.
Correct me if I'm wrong, in some cases, the Boise area is its own region on some maps,
right?
It's like seven or something.
There's generally seven when we're talking about education and healthcare, but there's
different health regions and then there's different education regions.
And then when you go, when we're talking about division of vocational rehabilitation, there's
eight plus center office.
So there's a few different ones, but generally there's seven.
And generally we use the health and welfare map that separates the state and region.
And so does the department.
So when is this?
Is it the same time every year?
Do you mix it up or?
We like to shoot for April, one of the middle to the end weeks of April.
It seems to be the least busy for families as far as school activities go.
Summer is busy with kids at home.
And so, I mean, the weather's nicer, but who knows?
Who knows, right?
Last year in McCall, we had three feet of snow.
I know.
We were snowed in.
I know.
And I was like, we get to stay.
I know.
We had all kinds of fun things planned, but that's okay.
It was fun.
It was cozy.
It was a good, intimate experience.
It was a good experience.
But that's another positive about the curriculum is that it is so flexible and highly adaptable.
And you can do it anywhere and do things inside or move it outside.
I was going to ask, has it ever not been in April, to the best of your memory?
Not since I've been here.
Not since I've been here either.
But it did used to not be held annually.
Yeah.
I pull used to do it every other year because we had a big conference, I believe.
So we would, yeah, we would do a parent leadership every other year.
And the opposite year, we would do a conference, like a big conference in the Boise area.
But attendance started to dwindle when we would do it that way.
And then I think that we just really realized the value of PLDI and having the representation
across the state as well.
You know, having getting into these small communities and being able to provide resources
and provide parents that can then, you know, spread the word of I-Pool.
Right.
Because I-Pool proper is in Ada County.
It's in Boise.
But we serve.
Yeah, we do.
We got to get everywhere.
We're statewide.
Yeah, we do that, though.
We travel.
Right.
Like I'm virtual, physical, in-person training.
We're traveling to Idaho Falls next weekend.
And then the following week we'll be up in Coeur d'Alene and then back again traveling
in March a couple of times.
And then, yeah, I think we're busy.
We are.
And so and what people perhaps don't know is that I-Pool is an office of seven or of
nine, right, nine of us.
Really realistically, it's the three of us that are taking parent calls that are, you
know, and then Angela, our fierce leader, executive director, accompanies us to parent
leadership.
So we will the four of us will go to parent leadership.
But when you think about there's nine of us and we're statewide, we can't be in every
place at every time, which is what parent leadership affords us the opportunity to have
representation in different parts of the state for perhaps there's a Down syndrome body walk
and it's in eastern Idaho and we would love to have a table there.
Well, if we have a parent leadership graduate that is willing to stand, you know, willing
to man that booth and really speak about I-Pool and what we can do, that's another great outcome
of parent leadership.
It provides us these contacts and representation in other areas of the state, board members
even.
We've got board members from from parent leadership and it's just been good all around for everyone.
Yeah.
And it doesn't have to go one.
You don't have to be a board member after you don't have to, you know, serve on groups
and councils after it.
Right.
It's really like you said, Sarah, it's what you want, what your personal goal is and what
you want to get out of it.
I'm going to put you both on the spot.
Okay, great.
I'm laughing maniacally.
What are some barriers to coming to parent leadership and what do we do to alleviate,
make it as accessible as possible to everyone?
We do just the first thing that comes to my mind is a childcare stipend, right?
Yeah.
So what our stipend includes, so we we pay you to come.
Sorry, I'm making a mess here.
We provide a stipend for the week for families or for parents to come.
And then we pay for travel.
And then we feed you.
So the only expense you have if you're selected to come is any extra snacks, treats you want
to bring and you know, whatever.
That's really all the extras.
But go ahead.
I just wanted to throw out if I think of one or if anyone else thinks of one scenario and
then we'll try and brainstorm how we could get you there.
So say I'm a single mom and I'm a single mom.
Let's just start there.
I'm a single mom.
How do I get there?
How are you going to help me get there?
This is something I really want to do.
I'm a great candidate for it.
I could use CSW hours.
Yeah.
Well, first I would say, you know, I hope I would look to your extended family, friends,
family.
Is there anyone from the church that what what is who is in your community that can
potentially help out?
You know, ideally, we do it during August.
Sorry, April, because kid kiddos are still in school.
So yes, a huge help.
And that is a huge help.
So if there is someone in your tribe that can, you know, someone in your group that
can that, yeah, yes, that can come and help, which is why I bring up CSW hours.
Right.
Yeah.
Yep.
So we've also in that.
And that's why we kind of when we're talking, we emphasize that it's really those the check
in Monday night and we leave Friday morning so that it's it doesn't seem like such a such
a huge hardship and that we do it in the regions that are fairly close to family.
So travel isn't super far.
We do have a good point.
So you're not talking.
We're doing we're not talking.
One and two.
And we're not.
Yeah, absolutely.
So we're bringing we are coming to you.
And so travel is I think if you're in New Meadows and we're up in up in Coeur d'Alene,
what is that, three, three hours at most.
I'm just putting a worst case scenario out there.
Right.
We're not asking you.
No, no, no.
Very to come to Boise.
No, no, no, no, no.
It's not a day worth of travel.
It's like you can come up after the kids are settled.
And we've had we've had in in some circumstances, not ideal, but we have we've had made arrangements
for late check ins.
And I think we had a really unique circumstance where we had a Friday a Thursday night.
Yeah, I believe she she had a newborn that she had to get home to.
So yeah, again, what I'm hearing is just beyond flexible bend over backwards.
Yeah, let's try to find a way.
And I if there's somebody that's on the fence and is really, you know, trying to struggle,
that's some reach out to us individually.
And we will try to figure out, you know, to brainstorm some ways to really help make it
work for you.
We're not an exclusive group of no.
And we've had I guess I would even put this caveat out there.
We've had dads attend.
It doesn't just have to be moms.
So right.
Parents, parents.
It's just parent leadership.
Now we don't want couples to come.
Obviously, you know, we we want one parent to really own this this portion, this this
program.
So we and one needs to be able to support the child at home.
So yeah, good point.
Since parent leadership is, for lack of a better way to describe it, it really is an
experience.
It's really immersive.
The only thing that we're not flexible on is that it can't be held virtually.
No, you cannot.
You just can't get the same.
And Melissa, if you can hear, she's kind of giggling.
I was that person last year.
Oh, I live in Boise.
I don't want to drive up to McCall.
We got weird snowfall.
It was weird.
We got snow right before we're like, we're still going down.
I was super nervous.
I was like, is there any zoom option contingency for this weird weather?
And you guys were like, you know what?
You drive as slow as you want.
Yeah, yeah.
Come here at eight o'clock.
Come here at 10 o'clock.
We'll wait up for you.
This is my number.
Text me if you have to stop at any point.
Do you want to ride with someone?
Yes, I was I was blown away when Sarah messaged me back and said, hey, you know, if you want,
I can hook you up with another parent who can drive you if you're if you're that I get
anxiety and then we're adding snow into the mix.
You literally gave me so many options to get there.
We want parents to get there.
We want to remove those barriers because we know that barriers exist.
It's hard for us to get away.
Right.
We all have kiddos with special health care needs or what have you.
And it's hard.
We understand wholeheartedly.
So we want to get you there.
But on the flip side, wouldn't you agree that this you would never have gotten out of parent
leadership what you did if it was a zoom option?
If I had had the ability to start it on zoom, I would have ended it in person.
I would have drove there if I if I were and I and that there's no way I would have found
a way to get there.
Yeah, that's cool.
Because it was way.
Yeah.
So that's why I laugh because it's fun.
But it's it proved a great point.
Yeah.
That it's an absolutely interactive, immersive and it's immersive because you can't go home.
You can't be charades on zoom.
You can't be.
Yeah.
You can't play a horse sound on zoom.
There's no way that would have come across or heads up.
Sorry.
Yeah.
Can't play heads up on zoom.
And I just feel like my karaoke wouldn't be as on point if I was on zoom in person.
No, you could do a potentially a like disco background on our zoom.
So that might step it up a notch.
But I just don't think so.
It's not going to happen.
And we don't we don't kidnap you, but we don't let you go home either for the same reasons.
Yeah, if you'll if you live right down the street, you can tell your family however many
days you want.
You have to take that extra night.
We'll back you up.
Go to Target.
You just have to find somewhere else to stay after.
Yeah.
So if you're in Coeur d'Alene, yes, the house is in was an athel this year.
But if you you know, you're going to be away from home for those four nights.
So that's a commitment.
Yeah, we understand that that's a commitment, but it's an important commitment to get out
of parent leadership.
What everyone gets out of it.
You need to be there for that networking, for that just that camaraderie that happens
at night.
You just can't put it into words.
It's next level, especially level.
Uh huh.
Where's the applause button?
I just I just keep coming back to the fact that that first day really just sets the stage.
It just really opens you up to everyone around you.
And again, no one's going to pressure you to share more.
No, you write down as much as you want to write down.
You share as much as you want to share.
But you you're going to you're going to eventually be paired with someone like myself who's going
to share their entire life story.
And that helps parents share and helps connect.
It does.
Yeah.
Yep.
So I just I think if we're going to just go around the table real quick and give one thing
that we love or one thing that we didn't cover, you just want to emphasize mine would be is
that it's just really it's it's like a community.
Yeah.
The what you get out of it is so I could run into any one of those.
All of my cohort were moms.
I could run into any one of those moms anywhere and just walk up and start talking.
And and that hopefully you do.
So that's why we have it in the same region so that you you build those connections.
You run in in the grocery store.
You know, I could run into you in the grocery store and say, well, my neighbor is having
this issue.
What do you think?
And do you know what I mean?
And it's just so I have I keep saying it organic, but it really is these community.
It creates such a great thing for the community.
So it breaks down barriers, breaks down those barriers.
For the record, I have run into.
Have you?
I ran into Gretchen at the library.
I don't think she would care if I called her out right here.
We ran into each other at the library.
That makes us awesome for summer reading.
You know, Melissa's like that tracks.
That's right.
A library.
Listen, anyone else have anything they want to emphasize or their favorite part of leadership?
I think it really for me every single time, it it reminds me of my why this job of parenting
any of our children.
It's hard.
We all know that.
But then when you amplify it with our kids with extreme needs, be it mental health, physically,
health care wise, makes it an even bigger challenge.
And reminding us why we're doing this parenting gig for our kids really puts it into perspective.
And for me, it's a responsibility to take the knowledge I'm learning as this as my son's
parent and sharing it with with everyone and making making it better.
Yeah, I would agree.
All of what you said, ditto ditto.
It's a community.
It is.
It really is.
Being with like minded individual like being with parents that get it that, you know, I've
said things in this parenting role that I didn't think I would ever say in a million
years.
And we've we've had this conversation.
You couldn't write you couldn't have told my 19 year old self that this is where I was
going to land.
No.
But to be with parents who is all who have also landed there, there is it's a very unique
experience unlike anything else out of this world.
If you're on the fence, I'm better off from having gone to this.
If you're wondering if this is for you.
It is.
It absolutely is.
I am speaking directly to you.
You can apply online.
Yeah.
Right.
And our application is on our website.
And if you need help with that, just give us a call and we'll walk you through it or
do it for you.
Well, OK.
Thank you so much out there for listening in.
If you are in Idaho or are planning on moving to Idaho and have any questions on systems,
services for children with disabilities, please reach out to us on our website at I pull Idaho
dot org.
That's I P U L Idaho dot org.
Be sure to come back next time for our discussion on the components of an IEP.
Until then, I'm Allison.
I'm Sarah.
And I'm Melissa.
And this has been Unlimited Parenting.