Every Child Belongs

What happens when motherhood looks nothing like you imagined?


 
In this deeply honest episode of Every Child Belongs, Kim Botto sits down with author, coach, and podcast host Kara Ryska to talk about the emotional reality of parenting children with disabilities and medical complexity. Kara shares her family's journey after her son Levi was diagnosed with brain cancer at just two years old, and how that diagnosis reshaped everything she believed about motherhood, faith, grief, community, and herself.


 
Kara is the founder of Pathway to Peace Coaching Community and host of the Special Needs Mom Podcast, where she helps mothers of disabled and medically complex children move from survival into healing, peace, and possibility.


 
Together, Kim and Kara explore the hidden grief many caregivers carry, the isolation that often follows a diagnosis, the shame around "impermissible thoughts," and the practical ways community can support families who are struggling. Kara also shares her powerful framework describing the emotional stages many special needs moms experience, from stunned survival to restoration and hope.


 
This conversation is raw, hopeful, validating, and deeply encouraging for parents, caregivers, church leaders, and anyone wanting to better understand the lives of families navigating disability and chronic caregiving.


 
"Boundless Hope for Every Child: Help for the Hurting, Compassion for the Misunderstood, Belonging for the Lonely" by Kim Botto https://amzn.to/3Utuw6V
(affiliate links)


Every Child Belongs explores how we can create spaces where every child feels heard and valued, whether neurodivergent, differently abled, or they've experienced trauma. We'll hear from educators, parents, professionals, and more.


Kim Botto is an adoptive mom, grandma, an advocate for kids and teens with disabilities, as well as a long-time leader of kids in student ministries.

What does belonging actually look like for families raising neurodivergent children, children with trauma histories, and kids with significant disabilities?


In this episode of Every Child Belongs, Kim Botto sits down with foster and adoptive mom, educator, and trauma-informed parenting advocate Kayla North for a deeply honest conversation about parenting, empathy, church belonging, and helping every child discover their place in the world.


Kayla and her husband Ryan have fostered around 30 children over the years and are raising six children, several of whom are neurodivergent or have significant developmental differences. Through their ministry at One Big Happy Home, Kayla helps parents, churches, educators, and caregivers better understand trauma, attachment, and practical ways to support children who experience the world differently.


Together, Kim and Kayla talk about the assumptions people make about families with disabilities, the hidden realities of parenting children with invisible struggles, how to build empathy in both kids and adults, and why churches must move beyond simply saying "everyone is welcome." This conversation is full of practical wisdom, emotional honesty, and hope for parents who sometimes feel unseen or isolated.

"Boundless Hope for Every Child: Help for the Hurting, Compassion for the Misunderstood, Belonging for the Lonely" by Kim Botto
https://amzn.to/3Utuw6V
(affiliate links)

Every Child Belongs explores how we can create spaces where every child feels heard and valued, whether neurodivergent, differently abled, or they've experienced trauma. We'll hear from educators, parents, professionals, and more.

Kim Botto is an adoptive mom, grandma, an advocate for kids and teens with disabilities, as well as a long-time leader of kids in student ministries.

What if the problem isn't that churches don't care… but that they don't know where to start? In this episode of Every Child Belongs, Kim Botto sits down with ministry leader Ryan Faulk to talk about what it really means to help neurodivergent and disabled kids belong in church communities. Ryan serves as Director of Children and Disability Ministry at Cornerstone Church in California and has spent years helping churches move beyond good intentions into meaningful discipleship.


Ryan shares how he "accidentally" created a low-sensory youth ministry environment that drew neurodivergent students in, and how that experience completely changed the way he viewed church, inclusion, and discipleship. Together, Kim and Ryan discuss student ministry transitions, sensory environments, disability ministry silos, church fears around feeling "unequipped," and why every church must move from passive welcome to active belonging.


This conversation is deeply practical for pastors, ministry leaders, volunteers, and parents alike. Ryan offers simple but powerful frameworks that help churches think differently about disability ministry, including one unforgettable analogy about goldfish transitions and another about gardening that may completely reshape how you think about supporting kids and families.


"Boundless Hope for Every Child: Help for the Hurting, Compassion for the Misunderstood, Belonging for the Lonely" by Kim Botto
https://amzn.to/3Utuw6V
(affiliate links)


Every Child Belongs explores how we can create spaces where every child feels heard and valued, whether neurodivergent, differently abled, or they've experienced trauma. We'll hear from educators, parents, professionals, and more.


Kim Botto is an adoptive mom, grandma, an advocate for kids and teens with disabilities, as well as a long-time leader of kids in student ministries.

What if the "misbehavior" you're seeing… isn't misbehavior at all?


Lori Crosby, licensed marriage and family therapist and co-founder of the Reach Hurting Kids Institute, joins Kim to unpack how trauma impacts children and how we can better support them at home and in church.


Drawing from her own story of loss and healing, Lori shares why behavior is always communication, and how small shifts in how we respond can make a lifelong difference for a child. 
This conversation is both deeply personal and incredibly practical, covering everything from play therapy to summer routines to creating safe, welcoming environments for kids who've experienced hard things.


Lori Crosby is a licensed marriage and family therapist, registered play therapist, and co-founder of the Reach Hurting Kids Institute. She co-authored Trauma-Informed Children's Ministry and helps equip churches to better support kids and families navigating trauma.


Resources & Links
Reach Hurting Kids Institute
https://reachhurtingkids.com/
Trauma-Informed Children's Ministry (book)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1666715743


"Boundless Hope for Every Child: Help for the Hurting, Compassion for the Misunderstood, Belonging for the Lonely" by Kim Botto
https://amzn.to/3Utuw6V
(affiliate links)


Every Child Belongs explores how we can create spaces where every child feels heard and valued, whether neurodivergent, differently abled, or they've experienced trauma. We'll hear from educators, parents, professionals, and more.


Kim Botto is an adoptive mom, grandma, an advocate for kids and teens with disabilities, as well as a long-time leader of kids in student ministries.

What happens when you love your child… but being around them feels overwhelming?

In this deeply honest conversation, Kim Botto sits down with adoptive mom, author, and TBRI practitioner Lisa Qualls to talk about something many parents feel—but few say out loud: blocked care.

Lisa shares her personal story of adoption, trauma, and parenting through extremely hard seasons. From feeling confident as a mom… to experiencing dread, exhaustion, and emotional shutdown—this episode gives language to what so many parents silently carry.

If you've ever felt like you're just surviving… or wondered why connection feels so hard… this conversation will help you understand what's really happening—and how healing begins.

"Boundless Hope for Every Child: Help for the Hurting, Compassion for the Misunderstood, Belonging for the Lonely" by Kim Botto
https://amzn.to/3Utuw6V
(affiliate links)

Every Child Belongs explores how we can create spaces where every child feels heard and valued, whether neurodivergent, differently abled, or they've experienced trauma. We'll hear from educators, parents, professionals, and more.

Kim Botto is an adoptive mom, grandma, an advocate for kids and teens with disabilities, as well as a long-time leader of kids in student ministries.