#042 Natalie Vecchione: Mom on a Mission with a Microphone

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One of the best parts of my job is talking to all the caregivers who have such a wide range of experience and offer so much practical information to help others on the journey. Natalie Vecchione is one of those.  

She and her husband are parents to a 5-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old son (with FASD). She has been a Board-Certified Music Therapist for 25 years and began homeschooling six years ago. She and John are co-founders of FASD Hope and recently began a new adventure in the world of podcasting. They live in the farm country of North Carolina.  

Her journey to a diagnosis for her son when he was 15 was a rocky one like so many of our listeners have been down. We talk about that journey to get the diagnosis and how when she and her husband brought up FASD as a possibility she was dismissed. 

“Anytime it would be, nope, that’s not it. Because so many practitioners were under the impression that you had to have a facial characteristic and you have to have all of these symptoms, which our son did not.” 

We know less than 10% of individuals have those facial features. Interestingly enough her son was eventually diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. We discuss that long road, what her son is doing now, as well as: 

• The book she read that gave her, her first “aha moments”; 
• How she and John have reinvented their lives to accommodate their son; 
• The difference between homeschool and schooling at home, along with tips and tricks to be successful; and 
• Why she prefers to call the strengths of individuals with FASD, superpowers. 

“If you embrace that okay this is brain-based and that you can focus on strengths and you meet them where they are, you can do this!” 

I love sharing resources and we can lean on and learn from each other. I love that she used her spark to create a bonfire of change.  In fact, she has created her own podcast, FASD Hope. She shares what her goals are with it, including amplifying the voice of dads and male role models and caregivers. So get your pen and paper or notes app ready … this episode has lots of great practical information.

Show Notes:

Website: FASD Hope

Email: fasdhope1@gmail.com 

Facebook & Pinterest: @fasdhope1 

Instagram: @fasdhope  

Other:

Outschool.com 

Josh’s Hope Foundation 

Books:  

Not exactly as planned, Linda Rosenbaum 

If you’d like a PDF of Making Sense of the Madness, An FASD Survival Guide all you have to do is join my mailing list! Welcome to the Team otherwise, it is available for purchase, along with my FASD Sound Bites and Sanity Savers: A catalogue of collective wisdom and things that make you go 'hmmm' on your local Amazon site.

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