How one Georgia father’s experience shows what happens when families connect.
Learning that your child has a disability or special healthcare need can bring a lot to the surface at once. New emotions, new questions, and big decisions follow. Families often must learn an unfamiliar system of health care, education, and community services while still caring for their child day to day.
Information and resources matter. But for many parents, the most helpful support comes from talking with someone who has been through something similar.
At Parent to Parent of Georgia (P2P), we see this happen every day through our Supporting Parent Program.
A Father’s Journey Becomes a Source of Support
Marshall Seal is the father of four boys, including his son Landon, who has autism. He knows what it is like to face the questions, choices, and feelings that come with raising a child with a disability.
Now Marshall draws on that experience to help others. He serves as a volunteer Supporting Parent with P2P.
In March 2026, Marshall joined P2P CEO Latoya Palmer-Addy for an interview with Rose Scott on WABE’s Closer Look. They talked about what families may go through after a diagnosis and why both reliable information and personal connection matter.
Marshall has supported about seven parents through the program. He makes himself available whenever they need someone to talk to.
His story points to something central to this work: no family should have to face every challenge alone.
The Value of Someone Who Understands
P2P’s Supporting Parent Program matches parents and caregivers of children with disabilities or special health care needs with trained volunteer parents who have faced similar situations.
Supporting Parents do not need to have every answer. What they offer is just as useful: they listen, encourage, share what they have lived through, and do it without judgment.
When a family is weighing a difficult decision, a conversation like this can provide reassurance. It can also help them feel more confident about what to do next.
Marshall’s story also shows the role fathers can play in supporting one another. Every family’s experience is different, and hearing from parents with a range of perspectives makes our whole community stronger.
Building Connections That Make a Difference
For decades, Parent to Parent of Georgia has helped families and individuals affected by disabilities or special health care needs. We offer free information, training, resources, and connections to other families.
The Supporting Parent Program is one way we help families build relationships rooted in lived experience.
Each family’s path is different, but nearly every parent shares the need to feel understood. A parent may be new to a diagnosis, planning for a child’s move into adulthood, or dealing with a challenge they never expected. In each case, it helps to know someone else gets it.
Often, a parent who once received support later becomes the one who gives it.
That is the power of parent support.
Hear Marshall’s Story
To hear more about what families experience and why meaningful connections matter, listen to Marshall Seal and Latoya Palmer-Addy talk with Rose Scott on WABE’s Closer Look.
To learn more about Parent to Parent of Georgia and its free services, visit www.p2pga.org or call us at (770) 451-5484.
Submitted by Parent to Parent of Georgia (P2P), a statewide nonprofit organization supporting Georgia families and individuals from birth to age 26 who are affected by disabilities or special health care needs.