FASD Hope is a podcast about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), through the lens of parent advocates with over eighteen years of lived experience.
Linda Rosenbaum, author of "Not Exactly As Planned: A Memoir of Adoption, Secrets and Abiding Love" is the featured guest of Episode 40. Linda Rosenbaum was born in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from George Washington University in Washington, DC. She moved to Toronto, Canada and married her husband, Robin Christmas. Linda and her husband have been married for 36 years and they have 2 children, whom they adopted. Their son Michael, is 33 and lives with an FASD. Their adult daughter, Sarah, is 31. Linda and her family live in a small community on a tiny island that is a 10 minute ferry ride from downtown Toronto. Linda is a writer, editor and she has worked in both television and films. Above all, she is a wife, mother and an advocate for people living with FASD.
"Not Exactly As Planned" was the first book about FASD that Natalie (podcast host) read, almost 6 years ago, when she and her husband were starting to seek answers about getting their son evaluated for an FASD. Natalie credits Linda's book as the book that started their family's journey into learning about FASD. In this heart-to-heart conversation, Natalie and Linda discuss the following: Linda's journey in building her family through adoption, how she learned about her son's FASD diagnosis, advocating for her son, what led to her writing "Not Exactly As Planned", her words of wisdom for parents in the FASD community and her hopes for those individuals with FASD (and their families / loved ones).
"Tell the story of the mountains you climbed, your words could become a page in someone else's survival guide." - Morgan Harper Nichols
EPISODE RESOURCES -
"Not Exactly As Planned: A Memoir of Adoption, Secrets and Abiding Love" by Linda Rosenbaum (Demeter Press: 2014). Sold at various booksellers, Amazon and
https://demeterpress.org/books/not-exactly-as-planned/
You can also find Linda's book on the "Resources" page of fasdhope.com
If you'd like to contact Linda, you can do so via email through info@fasdhope.com
"Trying Differently Rather Than Harder" by Diane Malbin, MSW. (FASCETS: Portland, OR / 1999 /2002/ 2017)
FASD Hope-
http://www.fasdhope.com/
Natalie Vecchione (podcast host) - natalie@fasdhope.com
Instagram - @fasdhope
Facebook - @fasdhope1
Pinterest - @fasdhope1
Clubhouse- @natalievecc