Episode 13: Parenting

Samantha Przybylski is a stay-at-home mom to her four-year-old daughter, Scarlett. Samantha has Spinal Muscular Atrophy type 3. Samantha graduated with her Bachelor’s of Science in Cytotechnology. After college, her and her husband’s jobs took them to various cities in Texas and eventually to Arizona. She worked as a cytotechnologist for 7 years.

Samantha decided after having her daughter and as her disease progressed that it was best for her to leave her career and instead take on the important role of being a stay-at-home mom. She and her family decided it would be best to move back to their home state of Wisconsin to raise Scarlett. They built a house and settled in. 

Samantha likes to advocate for SMA and disabilities in general on her Instagram. She also shares her everyday life and her adventures of being a disabled parent to Scarlett.

Erin Pieper is a St. Louis native and the author of Dismantling the Disability. Her book chronicles her uphill battle as a single mom living with Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA) who advocates for finding a treatment for this rare disease. Erin has participated in many fundraising events, locally and nationally. She has taken part in more than five Research Trials at the University of South Florida. Erin is also the designer of “FAn”, a t-shirt campaign to spread awareness and support for those diagnosed with FA. She is committed to overcoming the struggles of FA in order to excel as a mother and make the world a kinder place.

Check out more about Erin’s book, Dismantling the Disability: My Uphill Battle with Friedreich’s Ataxia.

Mindy Henderson is the Editor-in-Chief of MDA’s Quest family of content and the host of this podcast. She was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, type 2 when she was 15 months old and has been a life-long partner to MDA. Mindy is also a motivational speaker and a writer, with her first book set to hit book stores in Summer of 2022.