This week, Indiana learned the devastating news that 16-year-old Jeffrey Epps, a nonverbal autistic teenager, was found deceased after wandering from home. His death appears accidental, but it reveals a deeper truth that families like his live with every single day: the world is not yet built for their children. Parents of autistic, developmentally delayed, and nonverbal children live with a constant, quiet vigilance. Every door becomes a risk. Every body of water becomes a threat. Every...

A Time of Courage, Connection, and the Power of Showing Up Lately, I’ve been thinking about how fragile things feel. How families are holding their breath as headlines talk about shutdowns, cuts, delays, and dwindling support. How caregivers wake up every day and do the work anyway — even when systems make it harder than it should ever be. And yet, beneath the noise and uncertainty, I’ve been watching something else gather strength. Something homegrown. Something steady. Something powerful...

I remember the sound of the clock ticking in the principal’s office. The smell of floor wax and pencil shavings. And that small table—just big enough for two embarrassed children trying not to exist. Before free and reduced lunches were available, my brother and I were asked to sit there every day, just outside the principal’s office, because we didn’t have bring a sac-lunch or order the school lunch. We were sent to the office because we didn't have food. "It isn't polite to watch others...