The honest, relatable, actionable guide to doing life with a child with diverse needs. 

I can't help your kid. But, I can help YOU. 

If Glennon Doyle and Rachel Hollis had a baby with special needs and wrote a book about it, this is the book they would write.

With help.

From me. 

Because I’m a mom who’s been there for the past eight years. And I’m a writer. And I type really fast and show up with snacks.

When I first found out that my baby was disabled, I was scared, exhausted, and hung out in a bottomless pit for a long time. I cried a lot. I peeled myself off the floor as needed to change diapers and to make scrambled eggs.  

I wish someone had had the empathy, the experience, and the conviction to tell me this: 

YOU WILL FEEL BETTER.

But, no one did. I had to figure that out for myself. And it took a long time. And now that I found out that I'm actually not in a bottomless pit, that’s the one thing I find myself telling other parents who are new to this path. 

This is the book that doctors should be giving parents along with the news that their child is one of the 120,000 born every year with a disability. And this is what to do about it. It’s where to start, what to ask, and how to do life now that you’re on a path that you didn’t choose.

It chose you.

Welcome to the club.

This book shows you where to start in the overwhelming world of special needs, including the basics on:

•Diagnosis

• Supports

• Financial realities

• School

• Insurance

• Therapies

• Legal protections

• Your new life

• How this impacts relationships

• Ableism & dealing with people who don’t get it

• Other helpful stuff that you never imagined you’d need to know

The thing is that no one learns any of this until you’re in the thick of it. This is where I’ve been, what has worked for our family, and how you can use the knowledge we’ve gained to save you gobs of time, money, and stress. It features interviews with leading experts on disability care, education, laws, and all the things, as well as letters from other parents who are walking the path with us. 

You’re going to be the one to help your kid. Not me. Not the doctors or teachers or therapists or the guy selling you some nice-smelling oil of some sort at the shop down the street. It’s all on you. And, we’re in this together. This is where you start. And, however you’re feeling right now, I can promise you one thing for sure:

YOU WILL FEEL BETTER.

What a beautiful picture. Thanks, I took it myself. Two brothers, enjoying a fountain, a rainbow arcing in their midst. Perfection. Look closely and you'll see that Sean is holding Aaron down as he attempts to climb into the fountain. And their pants were pulled from the dirty laundry because I forgot to start the washer that night. What you won't see here is that minutes after this photo was taken, Sean stumbled into a nest of yellow jackets and got stung a bunch of times just as Aaron had a major diaper blowout. Because, life. And, you know what? Perfection.