Everyone deserves a voice, even if they find themselves or their loved ones voiceless.

From the child who isn’t able to advocate for their needs to the parent who can’t figure out the next right step to take, Laurie sees you and she understands because that’s a part of her life too as she raises her son, Skyler, who is autistic and a non-speaker.

A mother’s love, however, knows no bounds and even though autism presents various challenges for her, her son and her family, Laurie knows it does not define who a person is nor does it devalue or diminish their contributions to this world. Our world—even when it’s unpredictable and frightening, both deafeningly quiet and overwhelmingly loud—is still shimmering with silver linings and powerful lessons… lessons that Laurie and Skyler have learned together every step of the way.

Alone isn’t where anyone has to stay, and community strengthens the voices of all. Laurie invites all who are passionate about using their voices to share a message of hope, inclusion, perseverance and opportunity as she pulls back the curtain and reveals the brutally honest and heartwarming accounts families navigating autism and other special needs experience daily.

Opportunity is available when hope is shared and embraced.

Knowledge is possible when understanding is sought out.

Change can happen when all voices equally matter and are heard.

Hey, I’m Laurie. Welcome to My Life.

I’m a self-professed “warrior mom” whose honesty, humor and authenticity have connected me to families, medical professionals, therapists and frankly everyone I meet. (I’ve yet to meet a stranger.) When my son, Skyler, was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, I uncovered my life’s purpose: to advocate for those in need and that becoming a mother has taken me on a journey to who I was meant to be.

Through my podcast, Living the Sky Life—Our Autism Journey, my books Welcome to My Life: A Personal Parenting Journey Through Autism and Selling Vegetables to Drunks: Lessons I Learned as an Alcoholic’s Daughter, and my advocacy work, I seek to make a lasting impact in the autism community and beyond however and wherever I can.

Learn More About Laurie

Work with Laurie


Publications Featuring Laurie’s Writing

Publications Featuring Laurie’s Writing

Welcome to My Life is a memoir like no other—truthful and raw, hilarious and unexpected, heartbreaking and uplifting. Laurie’s book is a love letter to her autistic son and a welcome letter to the masses about the importance of understanding and inclusion. Take a journey with her as she gives voice to Skyler’s story and visibility to other children and adults on the autism spectrum.

Travel with Laurie on an autumn road trip from Indiana to Michigan, to bury her alcoholic father — a man whose dreams were permanently deferred, whose secrets followed him to the grave, and whose addiction all but defined the way his children experienced the world. In this captivating true story, you will “ride shotgun” with Laurie, eavesdropping on her conversations with her teenage daughter, Kendall, about the secrets of her former life, the truth about her father, and the nostalgic “good times” she and her sister had while growing up “in the country” on the outskirts of a small Midwestern town.

Latest from the blog

Img 4320

Shatter the Nevers

When I became a mother to my son, Skyler, I had many dreams and plans. Even at the age of 3 when he was diagnosed with autism and the landscape & process for when and how he would achieve those dreams changed, I held on tight. With each visit to the various medical providers throughout…
Read More Shatter the Nevers
Img 2946

Unexplained Bruises

It never gets easier. The wondering, the worrying and ultimately the sadness of never knowing the cause or scenario behind new injuries. My 21-year-old, nonverbal autistic son came home from his autism center with this shiner and he’s unable to tell us how it happened. And it’s not just the bumps & bruises randomly appearing…
Read More Unexplained Bruises
Image

Energy of Surrender

It’s taken me 49 years to recognize a very important concept… the energy of surrender accomplishes much more than the energy of control. And I have my nonspeaking, autistic 21-year-old son, Skyler to thank for teaching me that valuable lesson. You see, as much as I hope, pray & dream that Skyler will become even…
Read More Energy of Surrender