My Daughter Does Not Exist to Teach Me a Lesson
Many people, when Penny was first born, talked to me about why it would be good for me to have a child with Down syndrome. They said: Penny would be…
The cool thing about universal design is that you don’t even notice it. I’ve been attending Hope Heals Camp at Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, Alabama for four summers now.1 I’ve heard people say that it…
I used to be afraid to set goals for our daughter Penny, who has Down syndrome. It felt like if we didn't meet those goals, we would be passing judgment…
William turned 16 last week. We ordered Indian food and ate ice cream cake and sang a song in his honor. The chorus (set to Taylor Swift’s Getaway Car) might…
As we head into another election cycle, I’m paying attention to the language politicians use to talk about people with disabilities. This is not a partisan issue. I’ve heard politicians…
Last year, after we returned from a week at Hope Heals Camp, I wrote that camp “is not a place where we lay out a message of salvation, but rather…
We asked our kids last week what metaphorical season they are in right now. All of them seemed confused. Literal summer also pretty much always feels like emotional summer to…
I couldn’t help but feel sad when LeBron James said in an ad for the Olympics that “being a winner is a curse.” He says it doesn’t matter whether you’ve…
Penny and I did a presentation together at Hope Heals Camp about taking steps to plan for the future. If you want great advice and info from an 18-year-old who…
After spending eight hours in the Philadelphia airport (a long, boring story), we landed in Birmingham and are now at one of our favorite places—Hope Heals Camp. Before we left…