Happy 23rd Birthday, Skyler What a year it’s been. Just one year ago, you were facing one of the hardest transitions of your life — aging out of your autism center, leaving behind everything familiar, and stepping into months of uncertainty, with no programs, no routine, and very little connection to the world outside our…
Last weekend I had the honor of delivering the keynote at the Rising Moms Caregiver Retreat and I left that room feeling incredibly inspired. When you gather a room full of caregiving moms together, you quickly realize something powerful: these are women who carry more than most people ever see. The sleepless nights, the appointments,…
One of the hardest balances caregivers walk is managing expectations while still holding hope for a safe and meaningful future. My nonverbal, profoundly autistic 22-year-old son, Skyler, is enjoying his adult day program and opportunities to be out in the community. But during a recent outing, he became dysregulated — smacking a few employees and…
When I first saw this caricature of myself, I smiled. It’s fun. It’s colorful. It captures a lot of what people see when they look at my life—writer, speaker, podcast host, sales leader, advocate. The microphone. The books. The ideas. The stages. The conversations. And yes, those hats are real. I wear them all proudly….
One of the hardest parts of being a parent caregiver isn’t just the exhaustion or the burnout—it’s the quiet loss of connection. And almost no one talks about it. We spend our days managing the pressures of caring for our special needs children, and over time our world narrows. We become so hyper-focused on caregiving…
When we moved to Colorado 6 months ago, we did so with intention and purpose. We uprooted our lives for adult services, programs, and opportunities for our 22-year-old, nonverbal autistic son, Skyler — with a future in mind that felt supported and possible. We arrived with concrete ideas of what Skyler needed to be successful….
I like to step into each new year with a heart full of gratitude for everything that brought me to this moment—and with genuine eagerness for what is still unfolding. Not because the road behind us has been easy, but because it has shaped me in ways I never could have imagined. As I reflect,…
There’s a phrase people use so casually when raising children: “You have to let go.” But when your child is an adult with profound autism—nonverbal, vulnerable, and dependent in ways the world doesn’t fully understand—letting go doesn’t feel casual. It feels terrifying. We moved to Colorado intentionally, guided by the promise of robust adult services,…
As a parent of a nonverbal autistic adult, I’ve learned not to expect my family’s reality to show up on television. Most shows simply don’t go there—at least not in a way that feels honest, nuanced, or grounded in lived experience. So when I started watching the Peacock series ‘All Her Fault,’ I didn’t anticipate…
We’ve all heard stories of literary heroes embarking on extraordinary quests. But what happens when the call to adventure isn’t a dragon to slay but a nonverbal, profoundly autistic adult loved one to care for? I recently sat down with Skyler’s new case manager to better assess and define the daily in-home support tasks he…