Inchstones with Sarah | Autism Advocacy & Caregiver Stories

What if your nonspeaking autistic child understands far more than they can communicate? In this episode of the INCHSTONES Podcast, Sarah Kernion welcomes Katie Asher, co-author of The Book of Heaven with her nonspeaking autistic son, Houston, for a deeply personal conversation about profound autism, presuming competence, motherhood and Christian faith. Katie shares her family's journey, the communication experiences she describes with Houston, and how faith has helped her navigate grief, uncertainty and hope. Together, Sarah and Katie explore: Why speech and motor difficulties should not automatically be mistaken for a lack of understanding What it means to presume competence in nonspeaking autism The grief and guilt that can accompany disability parenting How faith and hope coexist with profound suffering The invisible emotional and spiritual lives of our children Why caregiver love is often expressed through ordinary, daily acts How much of a person are we missing simply because they cannot show us who they are in the ways we expect? Discover more caregiver stories at www.inchstonespodcast.com.Guest: Katie Asher is a writer, researcher, advocate, and mother. She and her son Houston were featured in season, one of The Telepathy Tapes. After over two decades of trauma her vaccine injured son, Houston, began communicating the depth of his intelligence, personality, courage, and faith, forcing her to reckon with the lies she had believed about severe autism and what is actually true and possible. This discovery led her to extensive research about quantum mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology, physiology, and scripture. Katie and her son Houston have explored how science actually confirms the spiritual realm, the truth of Scripture, and the promises of God. The Book of Heaven is their effort to bring understanding regarding severe autism and hope in all we have through the atonement of Christ and love of God. To purchase a copy of A Book of Heaven: CLICK HERE

What happens when you've advocated for your child at every turn, but the disability services they need still aren't there? In this episode of the INCHSTONES Podcast, Sarah Kernion welcomes Brie Abate, founder of Lexi's Law Family Advocacy Network, to discuss the gaps in adult disability services, special education transition programs, and mental health care for young adults with complex needs. Brie's daughter Lexi is 22. After years of navigating systems that struggled to address her intellectual disability and mental health needs, Brie began advocating for legislation to close age-related service gaps. Together, Sarah and Brie explore: Why the transition from school to adult disability services leaves families struggling The challenges of accessing appropriate care for complex disabilities What Lexi's Law hopes to change Why parents shouldn't have to become experts in broken systems The difference between keeping our children safe and helping them live meaningful lives Because our children deserve more than services. They deserve lives filled with belonging, relationships, and possibility.

When your autistic child is hitting, screaming, refusing a task or melting down, the first question is often, “How do I stop this behavior?”But what if we're asking the wrong question?In this episode of INCHSTONES, Sarah Kernion welcomes Laura Petix, pediatric occupational therapist, creator of The OT Butterfly and author of The Sensory Code, for a conversation about sensory processing, nervous-system regulation and what children's behavior may be communicating.Laura challenges the familiar question, “Is it sensory or is it behavioral?” and explains why the more useful question is what may be happening beneath the behavior.Together, Sarah and Laura explore:- How to recognize the difference between “won't” and “can't right now”- Why sensory overload can look like refusal or defiance- Regulation versus compliance, and why harmless stimming shouldn't automatically be interrupted- How to identify sensory patterns without becoming consumed by caregiver hypervigilance- Why autistic children may become dysregulated after school- Understanding elopement while taking its serious safety risks into account- Three things parents can observe to better understand their child's sensory needs- Why sensory dysregulation can accumulate throughout the day or week- How parents can support their children's regulation while learning to understand their own nervous systemsAs the mother of two children with profound, nonspeaking autism, Sarah brings the perspective of a caregiver who understands how much communication can happen without spoken words.This conversation is not about finding one universal solution for every autistic child. It's about becoming more curious, more observant and more willing to consider what a child's body may be communicating before deciding how to respond.Because sometimes the most important shift isn't changing the behavior. It's changing the question we're asking about it. Guest: Laura Petix | The OT Butterfly | The Sensory CodeHost: Sarah Kernion | INCHSTONES Podcast | Instagram: @inchstonesbysarahMore conversations about profound autism, caregiver stories and special needs parenting: www.inchstonespodcast.com

For parents raising children with profound autism or significant disabilities, planning a vacation can feel overwhelming before anyone even packs a suitcase. Airports, TSA, sensory overload, unfamiliar hotel rooms, food restrictions, elopement risks and disrupted routines can make families question whether traveling is worth attempting at all.But what if the goal isn't to eliminate every risk? What if it's to prepare well enough that fear doesn't make every decision? In this episode of INCHSTONES, Sarah Kernion welcomes Jordana Izzo, Director of Accessible Travel at Travelmation, for a practical and deeply personal conversation about traveling with autistic children and family members with significant support needs. After her son Sal was diagnosed with autism, Jordana refused to accept the idea that her family's world needed to become smaller. Today, she helps other families navigate accessible travel with greater preparation, realistic expectations and confidence. Together, Sarah and Jordana discuss:- Preparing autistic children for airports, flights and unfamiliar environments- Practice flights, airport walkthroughs and visual preparation- Planning around elopement risks, hotel safety and swimming pools- Why downtime and realistic expectations can transform a vacation- Choosing three meaningful activities instead of trying to do everything- Accessible cruises, group travel and specialized respite support- Making room for siblings whose needs and interests may be different- The importance of asking specific questions before booking a trip Sarah also shares what traveling looks like with her two nonspeaking children, Milly and Mack, whose needs and safety considerations are very different. This isn't a conversation about creating the perfect autism-friendly vacation. It's about expanding our children's worlds without pretending that the work, risks and planning aren't real. Because what might happen shouldn't automatically take away from what could happen. Guest: Jordana Izzo | TravelmationHost: Sarah Kernion | INCHSTONES PodcastFind more conversations about profound autism, caregiver stories and special needs parenting at www.inchstonespodcast.com.

There are parts of profound autism that rarely make it into public conversation. Severe self-injury. Medical complexity. The fear of not being able to keep your child safe. And the isolation that comes when the world has no idea what life inside your home actually looks like. Jillian Eisloeffel, founder of Bobby's World Profound Autism Advocacy, joins Sarah Kernion for an intimate conversation between two mothers raising children with profound autism. Jillian shares how her son Bob began engaging in severe self-injurious behavior seemingly overnight, changing their family's life and beginning a difficult search for medical answers. She describes the emotional toll of trying to protect him, the barriers to accessing care, and what it means to advocate without a dependable support system. But this conversation is also about the joy of watching Bob reconnect with the world around him, and the profound meaning Jillian finds in the smallest moments of his life. Together, Sarah and Jillian explore why mothers share difficult stories publicly, why caregivers with the greatest responsibilities are often missing from advocacy spaces, and how we might build communities that meet families where they actually are. They also discuss the complicated relationship between honesty and advocacy: how to acknowledge the profound disability our children experience without diminishing their dignity, intelligence or humanity. Because loving our children completely does not require us to pretend that their lives, or ours, are easy. Honesty about profound autism isn't the opposite of love. Sometimes honesty is precisely what love requires. Guest: Jillian Eisloeffel | Bobby's World Profound Autism AdvocacyHost: Sarah Kernion | INCHSTONES PodcastMore conversations: www.inchstonespodcast.com