The Education Collaboratory Podcast
Life Above Water
Coming Soon! Real stories. Real families. Real connection.
The Education Collaboratory’s Life Above Water podcast shares the social and emotional experiences of families raising children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Families are experts. Life Above Water starts here.
The podcast brings that expertise forward as public education grounded in lived experience, emotional truth, connection, and the science of learning and social and emotional development.
The Education Collaboratory examines how education systems can better serve students and families. Life Above Water helps the public understand how those systems feel from the inside. The podcast strengthens The Education Collaboratory’s broader commitment to building education systems where students are seen, served, and safe to learn.
Life Above Water explores
Navigating Systems
Hear how families navigate unclear pathways around schools, healthcare, Medicaid waivers, housing, services, and other critical resources and services that help their children learn and thrive.
Emotional Truth
Listen to families and their experiences of grief, joy, burnout, love, advocacy fatigue, uncertainty, pride, and the full complexities of family life without simplification or judgment.
Transitions
Learn how families navigate the journey from diagnosis to early intervention, school services, adulthood, and each new chapter of life.
Community & Connection
Hear how families build networks of support and create belonging in systems that can feel isolating.
Rights & Advocacy
Explore how families navigate the policies that shape access to education, services, and full participation in community life.
Life Above Water was built for:
Parents & Caregivers
For families who want to hear from others who have walked similar paths, through IEPs, therapies, transitions, diagnoses, systems navigation, and the small victories that do not always get publicly recognized.
Educators & School Staff
For teachers, school leaders, counselors, psychologists, and support staff who want to learn directly from families, gaining essential context to build stronger, more empathetic school partnerships.
Advocates & Providers
For professionals working alongside families who want their practice to be grounded in the realities families live every day.
The Curious Public
For anyone seeking to better understand disability, family life, caregiving, education systems, and the emotional work families do every day.
