Inchstones with Sarah | Autism Advocacy & Caregiver Stories
INCHSTONES is a podcast about caregiver stories, nonverbal autism, and the realities of special needs parenting—hosted by Sarah Kernion, a mother raising two children with profound, non-speaking autism. Here, we talk honestly about the parts of autism and disability parenting that don't always fit neatly into an inspirational story: caregiver burnout, grief and acceptance, communication, sensory needs, advocacy, family dynamics, therapies, education, sibling relationships, and the uncertainty of raising children with significant support needs. But INCHSTONES is also about learning to recognize progress differently. Because when you're parenting a child with profound or nonverbal autism, the moments that change everything aren't always traditional milestones. Sometimes they're the inchstones: a new form of communication, a regulated transition, a moment of connection, a life skill practiced for the hundredth time, or something your child does today that once felt impossible. Through candid caregiver stories and conversations with parents, physicians, therapists, researchers, educators, advocates, and autistic voices, Sarah explores the questions families are actually asking about autism, special needs parenting, profound autism care, autism communication, caregiver mental health, autism therapy options, special education, sensory support, and life beyond childhood. There are no perfect answers here. There are real families, complicated conversations, practical insights, hard truths, unexpected joy, and a community that understands that progress doesn't have to look typical to matter. If you're raising an autistic child, parenting a nonverbal or nonspeaking child, navigating profound support needs, or looking for honest conversations about special needs family life, welcome to INCHSTONES. Because milestones aren't the only measure of a meaningful life.
Episodes
What happens when a father whose career is built around managing risk is handed something he can’t plan his way out of? In this episode of the INCHSTONES Podcast, Sarah Kernion talks with autism advocate and corporate risk management professional Mike Hanner about raising his eight-year-old son Kingston, who is nonspeaking, autistic, and has apraxia. Mike spends his professional life anticipating what could happen, assessing ...
What if the behavior you’re trying to change is actually telling you something?
In this episode of the INCHSTONES Podcast, Sarah Kernion talks with developmental psychologist and learning support specialist Dr. Amy See about nonverbal autism, special needs parenting, behavior, nervous system regulation, and learning to see the whole child before deciding what their...
Special needs parenting can keep a caregiver's nervous system on high alert long after the immediate crisis has passed. In this episode of the INCHSTONES Podcast, Sarah Kernion talks with Stacey Uhrig, founder of Flip Your Mindset, about caregiver burnout, nervous system regulation, chronic stress, and what happens to parents after years of caring for children with significant support needs. Autism families spend enormous amounts o...
What if one of the most powerful things you can do for your autistic child is stop waiting for someone else to have all the answers? In this episode of INCHSTONES, Sarah Kernion sits down with Len Arcuri, founder and host of the Autism Parenting Secrets podcast, for an honest conversation about special needs parenting, nonverbal autism, caregiver stories, root causes, and learning to trust what you observe in your own child. After ...
Who gets represented when the government decides the future of autism research? In this episode of INCHSTONES, Sarah Kernion is joined by advocates Tyler Hudson and Olivia Rojo for an urgent conversation about profound autism, caregiver stories, special needs parenting, and the families asking federal autism research to better reflect people with the most significant support needs.
At the center of the conversation is the Interagen...
What can fiction reveal about special needs parenting that facts and statistics sometimes cannot? In this episode of INCHSTONES, Sarah Kernion talks with author Jacqueline Friedland about Breathing Underwater, her new novel exploring autism, caregiving, adolescence, independence, identity, and the extraordinary power of having one person who refuses to stop believing in you.
Jacqueline was raised by a professor of special educat...
What happens when families know a treatment could help their child—but can't access it? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with pediatric neurologist Dr. John Gaitanis to discuss autism advocacy, autism therapy options, and why Meadow was created to help families access individualized care beyond a diagnosis.
For many families, an autism diagnosis is only the beginning. The harder question often com...
Castos Description
Episode Summary
What happens when a special education teacher spends years working with profoundly disabled students—and then realizes the biggest lesson wasn't about teaching at all? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with former special education teacher and Unspecial Podcast host Zack Ponder to explore caregiver stories, autism advocacy, neurodivergent parenting, and why presumi...
Can you tell the truth about disability parenting without losing hope? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with caregiver advocate Elyse Davis to explore caregiver stories, neurodivergent parenting, grief, resilience, and why honest conversations help families feel less alone.
After years of feeling like she didn't quite fit anywhere, Elyse Davis decided to stop softening her family's story.
Instead of repeati...
What happens when the life you planned disappears overnight? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with former TMZ executive producer Evan Rosenblum to explore caregiver stories, disability parenting, neurodivergent families, and how raising a child with profound disabilities transformed his understanding of purpose, fatherhood, and joy.
When Evan Rosenblum's daughter Sydney arrived at just 25 weeks gestatio...
An autism diagnosis changes everything—but it should never become the only thing you see. In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with longtime friend and autism mom Nora Canzoneri for an honest conversation about autism advocacy, caregiver stories, and learning to parent the child before the diagnosis.
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Full Episode Description
When Nora Canzoneri’s son Cam received his autism diagnosis in 2018, she wal...
Every mother begins with expectations. Few of us imagine how deeply motherhood will transform our identity.
In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with author and nurse practitioner Valerie Probstfeld, creator of To Mom Is to Love, for a heartfelt conversation about caregiver stories, neurodivergent parenting, grief, identity, and learning to choose love when life unfolds differently than expected.
Valerie shares th...
What if autism isn’t one condition to treat, but many different biological stories waiting to be understood?
In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with pediatric neurologist Dr. John Gaitanis to explore why autism care should begin with understanding the individual child—not simply the diagnosis. Together they discuss autism advocacy, root cause medicine, caregiver experiences, neurodevelopment, inflamm...
What does autism teach a father about strength? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with Tommy of Spectrum in Camouflage for an honest conversation about autism fatherhood, faith, mental health, and how raising a nonspeaking autistic son completely transformed his understanding of success, purpose, and what truly matters.
When Tommy’s son Wyatt began losing language around age two and a half, everything he ...
What happens when years of caregiving, hypervigilance, grief, and responsibility finally catch up with a mother? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with Libby Hudson for an unfiltered conversation about profound autism, marriage, caregiver burnout, grief, and what it takes to survive when your family’s needs seem bigger than your capacity to carry them.
Libby and her husband Tyler Hudson have become respec...
What happens when autism support moves beyond four walls and into nature? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with Dr. Dana Spett, founder of Pony Power Therapies, to explore autism, sensory regulation, equine-assisted services, and why connection, movement, and nature can create powerful opportunities for growth.
Dana’s journey began as a mother searching for support for her own daughter. What started with...
Many parents of non-speaking autistic children carry a quiet certainty: my child understands more than they can show. In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with occupational therapist, researcher, and Spellers Method co-creator Dr. Dana Johnson to explore whole body apraxia, motor planning, communication, and why behavior may not tell the whole story.
For years, families have been told to trust observable behaviors...
What does autistic adulthood actually look like? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with autistic young adult Zach Ennis and his mother, Stacy Ennis, for a powerful conversation about independence, self-advocacy, friendship, community, and building a meaningful life with autism.
Too often, conversations about autism stop in childhood. Zach’s story offers something many families are searching for: a glimpse...
An autism diagnosis changes more than a child’s future. It changes the people who love that child too. In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with Bari Shore for an honest conversation about autism parenting, childhood apraxia, community, motherhood, and the unexpected personal growth that emerges from raising a neurodivergent child.
When Bari’s son Dean received his autism and apraxia diagnosis during t...
Why do so many autism moms feel like they can never fully relax? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with Kerry Stevens for an honest conversation about caregiver burnout, autism motherhood, hypervigilance, and the invisible emotional load that comes with parenting autistic children.
Kerry shares the reality of raising her son Connor while balancing work, therapies, school meetings, financial pressure, and the co...
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