Episode 2 - Bullying and chicken pattaaays

This episode Sam and Jenna (and Kevin) talk about bullying... chicken pattaaays... our step families... and so much more! We hope you love it! Sam Balegno has Down Syndrome, lives in Massachusetts and eats a lot of pizza. Jenna Balegno (his older sister) lives in California, has a dog named Norman and eats a lot of pizza. Listen in on their casual and candid phone calls to each other and get a little insight on what it means to have Down Syndrome... and more importantly... what it doesn't mean. Welcome to the SammyCalls podcast! ________ Sam and I were chatting about the podcast a couple of weeks back and I randomly asked him what he wanted to talk about in the first few episodes and without missing a beat he blurted out that he wanted to discuss Bullying. Needless to say, I was surprised... in a good way. I do want to keep the podcast light but at the same time, life isn't always cupcakes and rainbows, am I right? The whole point of SammyCalls is to expose people to something they might know very little about. Or to just give people a perspective that they might not have ever considered... turns out bullying is part of the deal. The best we can do is try to educate ourselves. So sandwiched in between chatter about what was for dinner and who he beat in basketball this week, Sam talks about a time he felt bullied and gives advice to someone in his situation. This instance he describes might not seem like a big deal, but I think the story symbolizes much more. I think it is a translation of all the times he has felt isolated, threatened or berated in some way. So listen up, and maybe let Sammy teach you a thing or two! Some things discussed in this episode: Bart & MaryEllen, Sarah & Mike: Bart and Sarah are our step brother and sister on my Mom's side (Steve's kids). They have 5 amazing kiddos between the two! Ashley, Rachel & Paul: Ashley and Rachel are our step sisters on my Dad's side (Lisa's kids). Paul is Rachel's husband and Sammy LOVES his "Paulie." Community Connections, Inc (CCI) is a program for people with disabilities on the Cape that you will hear Sammy reference quite a bit. He typically goes Wednesday & Thursday but more recently started to go on Monday as well which has worked out well for him. communityconnectionsinc.org

You can listen to Episode 2 - Bullying and chicken pattaaays online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 2 - Bullying and chicken pattaaays is an episode from SammyCalls by Jenna Balegno.

This episode is 16:15 long.

This episode was published on Jul 1, 2016.

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