The Dispatch | How We Tell the Story of Down Syndrome
Recently, Jesse Ridgway, a YouTube influencer, announced in a lengthy social media post that his wife had terminated her pregnancy at 20 weeks due to a diagnosis of trisomy 21,…
Small Steps, Big Dreams: Permission to Assume Possibility for Our Child With Disability
Penny calls in her own prescription refills now. It’s a small detail of our lives together, but it also feels like a symbol of something bigger. Eight years ago, her…
Finding Your People After a Diagnosis: Community, Disability, and Hope
We experienced a wellspring of response when our daughter Penny was born and diagnosed with Down syndrome. People showed up in prayer, meals, messages, and care. And like so many…
Start with Delight: What a Down Syndrome Gala Revealed About Belonging and Joy
On Saturday night, Peter and I went with Penny to the Down Syndrome Association of Connecticut’s World Down Syndrome Gala. We were jet-lagged, and I didn’t want to get dressed…
When Fear Limits Imagination: Supporting Our Daughter with Down Syndrome and Her Dreams Beyond Home
“I would start tomorrow if I could,” Penny said, after our visit to Clemson University. (You can watch a short highlight clip of why she loved Clemson here!) The ClemsonLIFE program…
The Dignity of Risk: What My Daughter’s First Ballet Bun Taught Me About Disability, Growth, and Possibility
Last week, I was packing up for the fourth of four speaking trips in a month when my mom called to say she wouldn’t be able to come stay with Penny that…
The Dispatch | Finding the Good Life in an Age of Designer Babies and High Achievers
When our daughter Penny was born, I was a student at Princeton Seminary. I stumbled through the basic Greek of the New Testament and enjoyed the hours of theological debate…
A Lifeline for Disability Parents: Your Feedback, Our Future
TAKE THE NEXT STEP PODCAST BONUS — Feeling alone in the hard parts of parenting a child with a disability? Hear how other families are finding support, encouragement, and practical…
The Lucky Few: Finding Delight and Belonging in Disability with Heather Avis
When Heather Avis says she’s one of “the lucky few,” she means it. In this episode, we talk about growing up with our children with Down syndrome, what it means…
The Measure of Intelligence
Apple YouTube Spotify More! What freedom could we offer one another as humans if we weren’t so stuck on the "treadmill of achievements and quantified learning"? Pepper Stetler, PhD, is…
