Families

Thanksgiving is a season of gratitude, connection, and love—a time to celebrate life’s blessings. But it can also be a time of reflection, especially for families navigating change or those creating new traditions. If this year feels different for you, know you’re not alone. This is my first Thanksgiving after my divorce, and while it’s been a year of challenges and transitions, I’m embracing this holiday as an opportunity to find joy, create new memories, and honor the beaut

A few weeks ago I was featured in Parents Magazine, sharing my tips for a more inclusive Halloween. I shared a lot of tips from how to plan costumes, to how to coordinate Trick-or-Treating routes. I have more to say on this topic so in this blog, I share our family’s experience with Halloween, how I realized I needed to change my thinking, and how I created new, better traditions.  When I first became a mom, I remember being so excited to pick out Conner’s first costume. He l

I’ve thought about writing this blog for a long time but it’s a vulnerable and controversial topic. I mentioned my journey with IVF/PGD in my memoir, “Silence and Light” but even then I wasn’t ready to share my thoughts on this sensitive topic. But, today as my younger son, Dalton, started college in high school, I was struck with how proud I am of him and how grateful I am that he is my son. He is amazing is so many ways and I can't imagine life without him in it. He is such

In this blog I describe some of the benefits of family involvement in special education - one of my favorite topics and a focus of my resear

My blog about my experience in school choice and education, to supplement the findings from interviews with families in New Orleans and Washington DC. https://www.crpe.org/thelens/we-see-challenges-school-choice-and-special-education-through-parents-eyes

Today I started the day in tears in my car, a reminder of the long emotional few weeks our family has been through. A few months ago, our two middle schoolers, Hunter and Dalton, started to struggle in school. The reasons were different but the family impact was the same. The reality is that we needed to move both of them to a new school that could better serve their needs, preferably a place where we could keep both boys together. Finding a “right fit” school for our son, Hu

I’m excited to share my podcast about raising two sons with Usher syndrome. In my first episode, I tell you a little about my family, and our experience working with IEP teams. It can be stressful trying to advocate for your child, and I have learned a lot along the way about working with schools to support my sons Conner and Dalton. One of the best things we did was allow our kids to have input into their their IEPs, so I talk about the benefits of student involvement. My ho