Summary: Elizabeth met Amy Silverman in real life when she was asked to "engage in conversation" with her at my local independent bookstore. She knew of Amy at the time as a journalist who had recently published a memoir called My Heart Can't Even Believe It: A Story of Science, Love, and Down Syndrome. We parents of children with disabilities and special needs know one another because of the communities we have created, and Elizabeth had seen Amy's work online, had friends who knew her and was otherwise familiar with her, but it was such a joy and honor to finally meet and then talk writing, books and -- well -- parenting a kid with special needs. In today's podcast, we got to pick Amy's brain on her new projects and what's been happening with her and her family since the book was published. Amy is funny -- so funny, in fact, that we laughed throughout the whole episode, and I think you'll very much enjoy joining us! Amy is a freelance writer/editor/teacher in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, a place she's still learning to love. She's married to Ray Stern, an editor at Phoenix New Times, the alternative newsweekly. They have two children, Annabelle and Sophie. When Sophie was born, the couple were surprised to learn that she had Down Syndrome. As Amy said, "Wait a second, I have never written about Down syndrome. I have never met a person with Down syndrome. I don't know anything about people with intellectual disabilities. [I] had to have a real come-to-Jesus with myself, which is not easy for a Jewish girl, and realize that I was the one who avoided people with Down syndrome in the checkout line at Safeway." In today's conversation, we spoke about the transitions our children face when their older siblings leave home for college, and that led to Amy telling us about her daughter Sophie's persistent questioning of her own place in the world.
