431 – Mike Durso of Philadelphia, PA SVP at Ping Identity, Father of Three Including One With a Rare Disease
Description
Our guest this week is Mike Durso of Philadelphia, PA who is a senior vice president at Ping Identity, a cyber security firm. Mike is the father of three children including one with a very rare disease who is also involved with martial arts.
Mike and his wife, Mary, have been married for 21 years and are the proud parents of three children: daughters: Giuliana (19) and Mia (9) and son Dominic (17) who has a rare genetic condition known as RBN12 gene depletion, which has created global developmental delays
We learn about some fascinating aspects Dominic’s situation, his rare disease diagnosis, his schooling at Our Lady of Confidence (OLC) Catholic School, his involvement with Montgomery City Special Olympics, Tiger Schulmann’s Martial Arts and the organization’s Swing for the Stars program, a special event where individuals with disabilities step into the spotlight and go one-on-one with some of the gym’s top fighters. It’s more than an exhibition. It’s a night built on inclusion, awareness, and respect. Giving these special athletes an experience they’ll never forget.
Mike has also helped start the Dominator Foundation, a charity committed to raising funds for student activities & scholarships so families facing financial hardship can send their children to OLC.
It’s an uplifting story about faith, family, acceptance and embracing life all on this episode of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast.
Show Notes –
Phone – (267) 254-7840
Email – durso2323@gmail.com
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldurso/
Spot.fund/thedominatorfoundation
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thedominatorfoundation?igsh=MXc3NXQ5bDN1dDJ1OA==
Order your copy of the new 21CD book: Dads Raising Chidlren With Special Needs & Disabilities: A Guide For 21st Century Dads on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4tdvjcv
Join 21CD on the SFN U.S. Tour, a 30 day, 50 state, 60+ stop tour taking place from May 21 to June 21, 2026: to strengthen and grow the Special Fathers Network and distribute 2,000 complimentary copies of our new book.
Transcript:
Mike Durso is the father of three children with special needs
Mike Durso: I’m really lucky and blessed to have the people in my life that are on this journey with me, especially Mary and my girls and Dominic’s. I wish the community could meet him because he’s got such a big heart and such a big smile, and he is really a special kid in a lot of ways, but he brings a lot to the table, and I think, his disability certainly doesn’t define him.
David Hirsch: That’s our guest this week, Mike Durso, a senior vice president at Ping Identity, a cybersecurity firm. Mike is the father of three children, including Dominic, 17, who has a very rare disease that has created global developmental delays. We’ll hear Mike’s thoughts on fatherhood and raising a child with special needs on this Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast.
Mike Durso: Dad to the dad, you’re not on your own. We walk this road together, hard and whole.
David Hirsch: Now say hello to the founder of the Special Fathers Network and host of the Dad to Dad Podcast, David Hirsch.
Special Fathers Network launching 50 state tour to promote special needs parenting
David Hirsch: David, hi, I’m David Hirsch, host of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Two brief messages. First, I’m thrilled to announce our new book, Dads Raising Children with Special Needs and Disabilities. A, guide for 21st Century Dads is now available on Audible, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other sites. Second, the Special Fathers Network US tour. A 30 day, 50 state, 66 stop tour, taking place from May 21st to June 21st, Father’s Day. The tour started yesterday in Maui. Today we’re in Anchorage. Tomorrow we’ll be in Milwaukee and Minneapolis. Then all around the US by RV to all 50 states. The purpose of the tour is to strengthen and grow the Special Fathers Network, to provide resources to special needs families, and to distribute 2,000 complimentary copies of my new book. For more information on the Special Fathers Network and all the tour locations, see the show notes or simply go to 21st centurydads.org through every season and every
Mike Durso: stride, great dads are present. 247365.
David Hirsch: Now let’s listen into this conversation between Mike Dursault and David Hirsch.
Mike Durso is the father of three, including a son with a rare disease
David Hirsch: I’m, thrilled to be talking today with Mike Durso of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who’s a senior vice president, Ping Identity, a cyber security company. Mike is also the father of three, including a son with a rare disease. Ah. And who is involved with the martial arts. Mike, thank you for taking the time to do an interview for the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast.
Mike Durso: absolutely, David. Thanks for having me.
David Hirsch: You and your wife Mary have been married for 21 years, and the proud parents of three children. Daughter is Juliana, who’s 19, and Mia, who’s 9, and son Dominic, 17, who has a rare genetic condition which has affected the RBN M12 gene, which has created, global developmental delays. Let’s start with some background. Where did you grow up? Tell me something about your family.
Mike Durso: Absolutely. So I grew up, in the Philadelphia suburbs. A small town called Chalfont, Pennsylvania, which is, in Bucks County. Small, family. It was my parents and my older sister, who’s four years older than me. and we lived what I would say a pretty standard suburban life. Played a ton of sports, very close family. Grew, up in kind of an Italian household. So someday dinners and family was a big important part of everything that we did. And my parents, I was very blessed to have two of the best parents out there that were supportive and involved in everything I did. Came to every game, every track meet, everything I ever did. They were a big part of. And, were always big fans.
David Hirsch: That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing. is your dad still alive?
Mike Durso: He is. My dad is, Yeah, he’s 78 years old and he lives in the same house I grew up in. And he is a huge part of our life. He’s here three or four days a week driving with somebody to practice. He’s super tight with Dominic and with my other two girls. And, he’s. Yeah, he’s a big part of our life.
David Hirsch: How would you describe your relationship with your dad?
Mike Durso: We had a really good relationship. I think sports drove a lot of that as I was growing up. And then as I got a little bit older, you know, it started to expand into life and finances and political stuff. And now having a family and him being such a big part of it. He and I become. We’ve always been very close, but we’ve become, I would say more on the term, like peers now, where I’m going through a lot of the same things he probably went through in his life. And it’s, a great relationship and even better, my wife’s relationship. I always say he would take my wife over me. I don’t blame him. I probably would too. But.
David Hirsch: Yeah, yeah, my wife has said that about, one of the, fiance’s to our younger son. You know, Charlie, if something happens between you and Hayes. We’re keeping Hayes.
Mike Durso: Yeah, that makes sense.
David Hirsch: any important takeaways, lessons learned that come to mind when you think about your dad?
Mike Durso: Yeah, I mean, he really taught me what it meant to go to, like, just to go to work. Like to show up every day.
00:05:00
Mike Durso: And I think that’s a real good description of my dad. He just shows up whether it’s never missing a day at work, going every day doing your job, never complaining about it, whether it’s showing up at games, showing up for another family member, showing up for my kids or anybody. He always kind of had that way about him. He’s not the most dynamic or kind of boisterous person in the world. but he’s there and he shows up. When he’s passionate about something, it means a lot to him and he will go to bat for it. And I’ve learned a lot of that from him. But just the idea that he’s kind of old school, he did his job and he didn’t complain and he didn’t look for praise and he didn’t have a lot of expectation. It was just like, hey, this is what I’m supposed to do. So I’m going to go do it and I’m, going to do it proudly and do it for my family.
David Hirsch: That’s awesome. So I think what I heard you say, he has a good work ethic. So he picked up your work ethic from your dad. he’s very consistent. Right. And his, approach. He didn’t use the word present, but that’s sort of my interpretation. He was always present. What more could you ask for? Right. That’s the way I think about it.
You graduated from Drexel with a BS in marketing
So, you mentioned you went to Drexel. I remembered that you took a BS in marketing and you’ve been in the tech sector for most of your career. And I’m wondering, when you look back, how do you connect those dots to get to where you are at Ping Identity today?
Mike Durso: Yeah, I have to give Drexel a lot of credit, the co op program that they run there. So it’s a five year program where you go to, the middle three years. You go to school for six months and you work for six months. But, it is a very formal program where if you invest in it, they will line you up with interviews and with companies so you come out of college with a real resume and real work experience. I was able to land a co op with an IBM spin off a company called Lexmark, which was a printer company, I think laser printers. It’s where I kind of understood a little bit about what tech really was, a little bit about what being a sales executive and a leader could be in that industry. And I was really blessed to get into that co op and get with a Guy named Mike Johnson who mentored me. And, we’re still friends today. We talk pretty regularly.
David Hirsch: That’s awesome. Well, everybody should have a Mike Johnson in their life. At least one.
Mike Durso: He would love to hear that.
How did you and Mary meet? Mary and I met in grade school
David Hirsch: So I’m sort of curious to know, how did you and Mary meet?
Mike Durso: geez. Mary grew up, in Northeast Philadelphia. I was in the burbs, and we met in grade school, and we kind of knew of each other a little bit through those few years. And then we started dating when I was 15. So, it’s probably 30, 31 or 32 years later. We’re still. We still like each other. We still get along. We still, have kind of grown up together, is what I say. And it’s been, it’s. It’s been awesome. I really am, again, very lucky that she tolerates and deals with all of my crap.
Dominic’s overall diagnosis is just an intellectual disability
David Hirsch: Let’s talk about special needs, first on a personal level and then perhaps a little bit beyond. What is Dominic’s diagnosis and how did it come about?
Mike Durso: Yeah, so his overall diagnosis is just an intellectual disability. So he has a, 65 IQ and, I would say he’s got a handful of different physical challenges. We found out at, I GUESS it was 11 weeks. I think there’s an ultrasound around 11 weeks. It initially started with something called a cystic hygroma, which is a bunch of fluid that builds up on the back of, your neck, and they can measure it really young. And it’s an indicator for downs and an indicator for genetic challenges. So we went through all of the testing there. He didn’t have down syndrome. We knew that, but we didn’t really know what to expect. So when he was born, he was helicoptered from Doylestown hospital down to chop because he had some VSDs in his heart and he had a couple other unique things, and they wanted observation. he spent the better part of the first seven or eight months of his life. The better part of it was there. So he went through a lot of therapy, speech, ot, pt early on in his life. And we got a very quick start on it. We kind of embraced that there were some challenges and said, we’re going to throw every resource possible at this and see where we land. And in a couple of years, as he got older and he started to get into school and things, there was just that global developmental delay. He was just behind in everything. He walked late, he talked late, and then when school came, he was just late. Eventually we were able to get him tested and the global developmental Delay became a more formal diagnosis of an intellectual disability. and then what you mentioned earlier, this RBM12 was something that we were fortunate enough to be part of a genetic study at CHOP at Children’s Hospital in Philly, which is one of the most special places in the world. I have to always give Chop, their credit because that place is just. It does amazing, amazing things. And we’re still seen by five or six doctors there, and it’s just an amazing place. And, if anybody ever has, to go there, just trust you’re in the right place. but they did a genetic study and he happened to be a part of it. And this is where they found this very rare RBM12 deletion.
00:10:00
Mike Durso: At that point, this is going back maybe eight or nine years ago. They told us they checked medical journals, they checked everything, and he was the only person that they could find that had this deletion. Just for people listening, I would say that the closest compare, I would say, is he connects best with. I, would say very high functioning down syndrome is, where he connects without any of the physical attributes of it.
David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, thanks for sharing. It does sound very unique. So the diagnosis didn’t come, like, right away, but it was something that, became, known after the genetic testing. But the treatments wouldn’t have been any different. Right. You’ve done everything that you would be doing.
Mike Durso: That’s right.
David Hirsch: It’s not like a defining, diagnosis and like, oh, okay, now we know what we’re up against. It’s sort of like, it is what it is. Right.
Mike Durso: That’s what they said. If we had known this five years earlier, we wouldn’t have done anything different.
David Hirsch: Yeah. So that’s sort of satisfying from one perspective.
Mike Durso: Yeah.
Was there some meaningful advice that you got early on that helped put this uncertainty into perspective
David Hirsch: Was there some meaningful advice that you got early on that helped put, this uncertainty into perspective for you?
Mike Durso: There’s a lot of advice. Yeah. And it came in all different forms. I think we were pretty open about a lot of things, and we kind of always leaned on each other. And I actually think going through it almost brought us closer together. And I think it can splinter relationships really quickly. But we always had that approach of like, hey, we’re in this together. And there were days when people would be like, I don’t know how you guys. And again, what we deal with is so small compared to some of the other stories you’ve had on your podcast and some of the other things out there. But as you’re living it and you’re, you know, going to the hospital and one of you is sleeping there and one of you is coming home and you know, your kid flat lines on the table before, an mri and you’re dealing with all that stuff, you kind of have a choice to make. And we were always very good at leaning on each other and understanding that we were both going through this together and kind of having it pull us together. We learned a lot through the process and we put the family through a lot of stress and came out the other side of it. And I think that’s the most important part.
Dominic had to be intubated for an mri
David Hirsch: Yeah, well, thanks for sharing. And not to focus on the negative, but what have been some of the bigger challenges that you encountered, the biggest
Mike Durso: memory and the hardest thing we dealt with. Dominic had to be intubated for an mri. When they pulled the tube after the mri, he stopped breathing. His heart was still beating, but he stopped breathing. So they had to come out into the waiting room. And you’re sitting there with your three month old getting an mri and they come out and say there was a complication, he stopped breathing. You can imagine the reaction. Again, you’re in an emotional state. So when you hear he stopped breathing, you don’t realize that, okay, he stopped breathing, but his heart was still beating, so he’s fine. Your initial reaction is he stopped breathing. Oh my God. Did he die? Did he? That led to 7,000 more tests and a million other things. And, it opened up another whole couple months at the hospital. But that was one of those ones that was pretty traumatic. The other things I think were just going through the cycle of trying to find the right school for him was hard. It was hard. We did it through Covid, which made it even harder. but going through that transition and knowing every day that you’re sending your son to school and it’s not working and it’s not the right environment and trying to figure out how to manage that, and my guess is so many of your listeners have experienced that where your kid doesn’t want to go to school and it’s not the right environment. And you’ve got to navigate that system to find the right environment. And sometimes it’s trial and error. And we certainly tried and we certainly failed. And I, you know, at one point we sent them to the local public school during COVID and someone said, get, an advocate or get a lawyer right away. And I’m like, I deal with people every day. I negotiate contracts, I’m going to go befriend these people and I’m going to build relationships and this will all be Fine. And three months in, I said, man, I am a moron. I need to get an advocate. I need somebody that can help me walk through this the right way. And I did. And I got the. My opinion. One of the best human beings ever, an attorney. That just helped us through the entire process and made it so much easier. But you’ve got to learn and you’ve got to make mistakes and go through it and keep persevering.
David Hirsch: Yeah, well, thanks for being so open and authentic about that. that’s probably a topic for a whole other podcast,
Mike Durso: for sure.
What impact has Dominic’s situation had on his sisters, your marriage
David Hirsch: What impact has Dominic’s situation had on his sisters, your marriage, or your extended family for that matter?
Mike Durso: That’s a really good question. His older sister’s two years ahead of him, and I think it took her time to understand that he had a disability or that he was a little different. And some of the social things I think she struggled with a little bit through the years that are hard for anybody, let alone a girl. The 6th, 7th, 8th grade years are just challenging years. And I think having a brother that, that was a little bit different was hard for her to understand. And then I
00:15:00
Mike Durso: think the last couple of years it’s clicked and she gets it in some sense. It’s become a source of pride for her that she understands her brother and that now they have a nice connection. She was home this past weekend and she gets up and she’s 19, so she spends a zillion dollars a year at Starbucks. So for him to wake up and her to say, hey, Dee, do you want to come to Starbucks with me? And she drives and gets them something. That’s stuff that they get to do. It’s very normal that teenagers do, and it’s something that I think that gives him that feeling of normalcy when he gets to go somewhere with his big sister.
David Hirsch: I love it. Thanks for sharing. How about your extended family?
Mike Durso: Like I said, my wife has nine brothers and sisters and they’re exceptional. Everything about them and how they support Dominic is. I can’t say enough about it. They’re just really good people and they care about us and they care about him and they are an incredible support system for him. my sister as well, she doesn’t see him as much because she’s got a lot going on in her life and I have a cousin who lives in New York, but they’re there for everything. The event we’ll talk about. My sister in law’s and brother in law’s are a huge part of his life, and his cousins are the Be all and end all for him. He’s very, very lucky, to have cousins in his life that he looks up to and that treat him just like gold. So we’re really lucky.
David Hirsch: Yeah, well, you are blessed in so many different ways. And that’s a very large family. Mary’s family with the what are your brother and sister in laws and all their kids, The Dominic’s cousins, if you will.
David Hirsch: So we’ll be back with more of the conversation on the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast in just a few moments. But first, this quick message. Please help 21st Century Dads gather research on families raising children with special needs by having them complete the Special Fathers Network early Intervention Parents survey. A link to the survey can be found in the show notes. As a token of our appreciation, each person, mom or dad, who completes the survey will receive a great dad coin.
OLC is tailor made for kids with special needs
Thank you. Now back to the conversation.
David Hirsch: So I want to talk a little bit about our lady of Confidence. This is a really unique situation within the Philadelphia Archdiocese. And I’m wondering, how is it that you found them? and what has been your experience?
Mike Durso: I mean really, it was kind of blind luck. It was an Internet search. We were pretty desperate. Dominic was in his third school, I think in three years. And it was, a great school for what they did. It just wasn’t the right fit for him. Dominic doesn’t have any behavioral issues, so he will sit in the classroom and stare at the wall or stare at the blackboard for eight. he may not learn anything, but he won’t disrupt the class in any which way. He’s a very well behaved, student. This school had some behavioral challenges and I don’t know that it was the right environment. So we were looking for a school and both Mary and I went to Catholic school, but we always had the concept that Catholic school didn’t have, the support system or the resources to really deal with an intellectual disability or any of the other challenges. And when we found this school, our lady of Confidence and recognized that it was purpose built, tailor made for kids that had special needs. We went and checked it out and you just saw teachers dancing and playing games and hugging students. Then when you met the teachers, you recognize that these are the people you want caring for your kid because they genuinely care. They are not making a whole lot of money and they are doing it because they believe that that’s their calling to go help the special needs community. And getting to know some of them, they are just unbelievable people that genuinely care about your kids just like you do. And when we walked through that, we said, this is the right place for him. Mary and I got very comfortable with the idea that, based on Dominic’s intellectual disability, based on his iq, it wasn’t important to us that he learned algebra. It was important to us that he had the community around him and that he developed life skill that would help him more so than the academic curriculum. And OLC hit that across the board in every which way. It’s the best decision we’ve made, bar none. He gets up every day and can’t wait to go to school, which is just one of the best things in the world. Seeing him say, I’m excited to go
David Hirsch: to school, that’s exciting. Thank you for sharing.
Dominic trains at Tiger Shulman’s martial arts program
let’s talk about the Tiger Shulman’s martial arts program. I understand that 60 locations, very well developed. How’d you even get involved with that program?
Mike Durso: I graduated college and gained 20 pounds working and said, I need to figure out what I can do to stay in shape. Getting a basketball game together. When you’re 25 and everybody’s working or trying to figure out if they’re getting married and whatnot, it just is really hard to get 10 people together. And I had a huge interest at the time in the ufc.
00:20:00
Mike Durso: I was fascinated by the idea of jiu Jitsu. I was fascinated by the idea of kickboxing and Muay Thai. So I joined a gym in South Philadelphia in the end of 2006. I trained for, a bunch of years there. We moved out to the suburbs and had to find a new gym. So I went on a pretty big search for a gym. It took me a year or two to figure it out. I wound up joining there myself. So when Dominic became old enough and I said, hey, one, this is really good. Whole learn discipline, whole learn, self confidence. He’ll learn something they call non quitting spirit, which is super important. But he’ll also learn to defend himself. And at some point in his life, if he ever does find himself in a situation where he’s being picked on or being bullied, I want him to be able to feel confident enough to defend himself. That was important to me. So, we brought him in for a class and, Mike Marchande. Marchand, the guy who owns a school through his disability, and he’s like, I don’t care. I don’t care. What’s wrong? Bring him in. We’re going to make him part of the family, and we’re going to train them like any Other kid, the rest is, I’ll say the rest is history. He’s been training there two to three days a week for six to 10, 11 years. He’s gone through the belt system. he has competed in events when he was a younger kid with kids that didn’t have disabilities. It’s a second home to him. Everybody there knows him. There’s pictures hanging up every year when he does his event. They’ve always treated him as if there was nothing wrong. And they’ve held him to the same standard as anybody that walks through the door. understanding that he may not be as fast or as gifted from a coordination standpoint and his footwork may be a little off, but all of the other things that go along with that school and the positive things of accountability, of discipline, of non quitting spirit, of focus, he’s held to that standard. I translate life to him in terms of being a black belt. Like, hey, this is what it means to be a black belt on the mat. But that carries off the mat. So being a black belt, when you go to school means wearing your uniform the right way. It means doing your homework, it means being respectful to your teachers, to your classmates. The concept of being a black belt they teach you goes off the mat and he’s really, really is how he understands things. And I’ll say to him, hey, is that black belt behavior? What you’re doing? Is that black belt behavior? And he’s kind of like, okay, I get it, I get it.
David Hirsch: Yeah, that’s amazing. Thank you for sharing.
Fight Night is an event where special needs kids compete against professional fighters
So what’s this, Fight Nights about?
Mike Durso: Yeah, yeah. So this is the fourth year they’re going to do Swing for the Stars, a, make a wish, like Fight Night, where these students got the experience of what it would be like to be a professional fighter for the night. So the walkout song, the pre fight interviews, the photo shoots, and the highlight is they get to do a walkout and then compete against the Tiger Showman’s professional fighter. But this event gets four or five hundred people, there’s a whole production staff, it’s streamed live on YouTube. And these special needs kids that train in their school every week get to go out and have an experience as a professional fighter. They get their hand wrapped by the pros, they get to go out and compete, do a post fight interview. And it really is an exceptional, exceptional event. And they started it to raise money, for some of their local charities in Long island and New Jersey. And it just continues, continues to roll on. We show up, with 25 to 35 of our family members. It’s two hours away. So it’s a big commitment. Family and friends. I mean, I have buddies that drive out and I buy walkout shirts. We do a whole thing. We sell sponsorships, and we take this really seriously. We have a ton of fun with it, but we show up with a loud, proud group of people.
David Hirsch: It sounds extraordinary.
A young dad may be faced with a difficult decision regarding his newborn
So, thinking about advice now, and I’m wondering, what advice can you offer? Maybe a young dad who finds himself at the beginning or close to the beginning of his journey with a child that isn’t as typical as you might have been expecting.
Mike Durso: First and foremost, I would say, and this is such a difficult word in that emotional time, but try to anchor yourself. And poise is a word that always comes to mind because you will hear things that scare the heck out of you from a doctor, or you will read something that will just throw you into a tailspin. And I would say try to stay grounded, and try to stay as even keeled as you can, because it’s generally never as bad as you think it’s going to be, and it’s probably never as good as you think it might be. So I would say stay poised. Trust in your faith. If you have faith, trust in your faith. And then. And the other thing I would say is don’t be afraid to push back. And don’t be afraid if you don’t believe something is right and your intuition is telling you that something’s off, go get a second opinion. Push back. Don’t just accept
00:25:00
Mike Durso: what everyone is telling you, whether it’s doctors or schools. this is such a cynical thing to say, and it pains me to say it. Not everybody has your kid’s best interest at heart. There are some people that absolutely will, and they’re amazing, but not everybody does. People have their own agenda, and you’ve got to advocate and fight as much as you possibly can for your kid. That’s not always an easy thing to do, but you kind of owe it and you should do it.
You agreed to be a mentor father as part of the Special Fathers Network
David Hirsch: Thank you for sharing. out of curiosity, why have you agreed to be a mentor father as part of the Special Fathers Network?
Mike Durso: I was super intrigued when I listened to a couple of your podcasts, and I said, this is just a really, really unbelievable organization, and there’s not a lot of people out there that are doing what you’re doing and sharing these unbelievable stories. So, to me, I was inspired by what you’re doing. And I listen to a ton of podcasts, and I have at some Point. I want to get into this game a little bit. I’m not sure what the topics will be, but I’m super inspired by what you do and so appreciative that you’re putting these great stories out there because people need to hear them and the support group amongst the community needs to hear them. So I think it’s really special what you’re doing. I appreciate it.
David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, we’re thrilled to have you. Thank you for being involved in the Special Fathers Network.
Michael Dorso is part of the Special Fathers Network mentoring program
Is there anything else you’d like to say before we wrap up?
Mike Durso: I’m very lucky. I’m really lucky and blessed to have the people in my life that are on this journey with me, especially Mary and my girls and, you know, Dominic’s. I wish the community could meet him because he’s such a. He’s got such a big heart and such a big smile and he is really a special kid in a lot of ways. but he brings a lot to the table and I think, his disability certainly doesn’t define him.
David Hirsch: Yeah, well spoken. If somebody wants to connect with you, what’s the best way to do that?
Mike Durso: Email is probably the best way. Dorso2323 Mail is probably the best way to get me. Or LinkedIn is a super easy way to get me as well. Michael Dorso on LinkedIn.
David Hirsch: And is there a website for the Dominator Foundation?
Mike Durso: I’ve got big plans for this foundation. Websites, events. I just need a few more hours in the day to hit the lottery so I can resign from, my day job and go run this.
David Hirsch: Okay, well, thanks for sharing. We’ll be sure to include that information in the show notes, so I’ll make it as easy as possible for somebody to follow up. Mike, thank you for your time and many insights. As a reminder, Mike is just one of the dads who’s part of the Special Fathers Network, a mentoring program for fathers raising a child with special needs. If you’d like to be a mentor father or are seeking advice from a mentor father with a similar situation to your own, Please go to 21stcenturydads.org thank you for listening to the latest episode of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. I hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as I did. As you probably know, the 21st Century Dads foundation is a 501c3 not for profit organization, which means we need your help to keep our content free to all concerned. Would you please consider making a tax equal contribution? I would really appreciate your support, Mike. Thanks again.
Mike Durso: Thank you dad to the dead.
David Hirsch: You’re not on your own.
Mike Durso: We walk this road together, hard and whole.
David Hirsch: And thank you for listening to the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. The Special Fathers Network is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Through our personalized matching process, new fathers with special needs children match up with mentor fathers in a similar situation. It’s a great way for dads to support other dads. To find out more, go to 21st
David Hirsch: centurydads.org and if you’re a dad, looking for help or would like to offer help, we would be honored to have you join our closed Facebook group. Please go to facebook.com groups and search dad to dad. Lastly, we’re always looking to share interesting stories. If you’d like to share your story or know of a compelling story, please send an email to david2stcenturydads.org the dad
David Hirsch: to dad Podcast theme was written and performed by Shane Madden. The show was produced by me, Tom Couch. Tune in again next week for another intriguing conversation on the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast.
Mike Durso: Through every season, in every stride, great dads are present. 247-365-24-7365.
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