Thanks for joining me! Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton Special Needs Sibling.... This is an actual thing. I knew there had to be others but I had no idea where or how to find them. I was actually going to start my own type of support group.… Continue reading The Journey Begins
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The Natalie Project
The time has come. I always knew it would. Being raised a forever-giving, forever-guilty Catholic, I HAD to learn to be okay with saying this: I need to prioritize my family. I remember it like it was yesterday. More than eight years ago, I was standing in a dark parking lot after an advocacy meeting,… Continue reading The Natalie Project
He Was Fifty. She Put On Cartoons.
Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.com From the outside, it probably looked like kindness. A man who doesn't speak is lying in a hospital bed. A nurse turns on the TV, finds a children's cartoon, and leaves it playing. Something gentle and bright to pass the time. My brother was fifty years old. When I… Continue reading He Was Fifty. She Put On Cartoons.
Two Buckets, One Person: What Happens When Systems Don’t Fit
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com I met a person with IDD while working in behavioral health. They were in acute crisis stabilization — the kind of admission that's supposed to be short, contained, focused on getting someone safe enough to leave. But this person was incredibly anxious about discharge. Not about being in crisis.… Continue reading Two Buckets, One Person: What Happens When Systems Don’t Fit
When “Just Call and Ask” Isn’t Simple At All
Photo by energepic.com on Pexels.com I had to refill a prescription this week. One prescription. Here's what that took: a call to my mail-order pharmacy, who told me they'd outsourced the fill to another pharmacy. An online chat that couldn't help and told me to call. A phone call that got transferred four or five… Continue reading When “Just Call and Ask” Isn’t Simple At All
The Quiet Threads That Bind: Siblings and Special Needs
Photo by Meruyert Gonullu on Pexels.com I don't have a sibling with a disability, so I want to be upfront about what this piece actually is: not an account of what it feels like from the inside, but what's visible from the outside, watching these families closely. The waiting rooms. The small routines that repeat… Continue reading The Quiet Threads That Bind: Siblings and Special Needs

