RECENT POSTS

November Favorites {2024}
Recent favorites—a podcast and two essays—that I enjoyed in November 2024: 1. The Antidote To Not-Enoughness | Robin Wall Kimmerer. I could listen to snippets of

When Is It Time to Speak Up?
After our most recent national election, I started wondering when/whether/how I should respond publicly to politics here in this newsletter or on social media. You might

Disability’s Beautiful Complication of Human Flourishing
I’ve written a lot from the perspective of a white, affluent, educated, able-bodied, married woman about the ways in which my demographic group has rates

Culture’s Good-Life Mirage
How do we decide who has a life worth living? I thought about this question as I listened to bioethicist Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, PhD, tell me

S8 E6 | A Life Worth Living? Reimagining Life, Choice, and Disability with Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Ph.D.
Apple YouTube Spotify More! How do we decide who has a life worth living? Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, PhD, author and professor emerita of English and bioethics

One Way Churches Can Welcome People With Disabilities
Want to make your church more welcoming? Invite individuals with disabilities to lead in reading or prayer. MORE WITH AMY JULIA: FREE RESOURCE: 10 Way

What Can We Do After the Election? Be Salt and Light
In the wake of the results of the American Presidential election, I suspect many of you feel like I do. Bedraggled and unimportant and impotent

Waiting With Hope in the Dark | Advent Devotional
With all the political divisions and election news this year, it can feel like we’ve come to the end of ourselves. We’re waiting—impossibly waiting—for our

When You Get Knocked Down: The Aerobics of Jesus
I love this imagery of the aerobics of Jesus from my conversation with Rev. Corey Widmer. If you try to mend broken things and get

How to Respond to Election Results
Today is Election Day here in America. For some of us, the last few months have made us want to plug our ears and run

S8 E5 | How to Be Christian During Election Season with Corey Widmer, Ph.D.
Apple YouTube Spotify More! Political divides don’t just disappear after elections. If you long for a hopeful way forward, this conversation is for you.

“My Vote Makes a Huge Difference”
Does this election matter for people with disabilities and their families? Does this election matter to people with disabilities and their families? Our daughter Penny,

Love for the Yankees | Penny in Her Own Words
Every night, before she goes to bed, Penny walks into our bedroom for an evening ritual with Peter. No matter what time of year it

The Best Questions to Ask Parents
Here in Connecticut, we are settling into the rhythms of fall, with soccer games and afterschool activities and the waning temperatures of summer and the

October Favorites {2024}
Books, essays, podcasts, films, and more that have prompted me to stop and reflect during the month of October. 1. Special Hope Network. We have been

Welcoming Kids With Disabilities to Trick-or-Treat on Halloween
I’m thinking about Halloween for kids with disabilities. Part of what makes Halloween exciting is the idea of having fun and being together with other

Is Independence the Goal?
Every so often I get asked, “Do you think Penny will live independently?” I’ve started answering that question about my daughter who has Down syndrome

Developmental Milestones for Children With Down Syndrome
I used to love developmental charts and graphs and measurements when it came to parenting. Then I hated them. And now I’m realizing their value