It all began with Ethan
The world told me who my son could never be.
But love revealed who he already was.
Whole. Wise. Waiting to be known.
His truth became my mission:
to reimagine how we all see.
Our Story
It began with Ethan.
My beloved son was diagnosed with severe, nonspeaking, high-support-need autism. Like so many parents, I was handed shattering news that turned out to be false. At five, after a full evaluation at a prestigious autism center in New York, the report concluded: “Ethan has the mental capacity of a five-month-old baby.”
That single line became a crushing weight on my heart, and on so many parents like me. We are told to fear “false hope.” We are told that silence means absence, that struggle means incapacity, that our children’s lives are deficits to be managed.
And yet, beneath the assumptions and the silence, there was Ethan—waiting to be heard, waiting to be loved.
So—What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Everything.
Love is not sentiment or soft emotion. Love is power. It is the matrix of reality itself, the force that unites us in one shared consciousness despite the illusion of separation.
Nonspeaking autistic people have been writing about this for years. They speak of love as the anchor of truth, the antidote to fear, the foundation for belonging. They do not understand hate, war, or cruelty. They feel deeply, empathize profoundly, and yearn for connection.
Love asks two questions:
How can I be of service?
What is needed in this moment—for others and for myself?
When we live from these questions, we begin to build a different world.
The Truth About Nonspeaking Autism
Ethan’s body is affected by apraxia—a neurological condition where signals between brain and body are scrambled. He understands what is being asked, but cannot always process or execute movements smoothly. His nervous system, often overwhelmed, can react or withdraw.
This is not a lack of intelligence. This is not defiance.
It is the frustration of a brilliant, sensitive human being trapped in a body that will not cooperate.
Like Helen Keller before she learned to communicate, Ethan lived in a storm of misinterpretation. But severe nonspeaking autism is not a deficit of cognition—it is a condition of the nervous system and motor planning. The limitation is in expression, not in understanding, thinking, or feeling.
Ethan’s Breakthrough
At eleven, with the help of spelling-to-communicate, Ethan typed the words that shattered the false narrative:
“You just have to love me and that is your job. The rest is my job to do.”
In one sentence, he claimed his voice, his wisdom, his agency. He also gave me my job description as his mother—and, as it turns out, my life’s calling.
The Greater Revelation
Ethan is not alone. With assistive technology and communication supports, countless nonspeaking autistic individuals are revealing themselves as thinkers, poets, philosophers, comedians, and visionaries.
And they are united in their message: Nothing about us without us.
It is time to presume competence.
It is time to listen.
It is time to act in love.
The Reluctant Leader
“I never wanted this role. I did not seek visibility, or microphones, or the weight of leading change. Yet, for Ethan and his community of beloved nonspeakers, I could not turn away.
Like reluctant leaders before me, I step forward—not because I feel ready, but because love leaves me no other choice. Ethan has shown me the way. Now I walk it.”
A New Lens on Autism—and on Life
Autism is not tragedy.
Difference is not deficit.
Behavior is communication.
Presume competence.
Yes, our loved ones may need 24/7 support.
And yes, they also carry infinite worth, dignity, and potential.
Love is not about warm, fuzzy feelings. Love is endurance. Love is the “I am here for you no matter what” commitment that anchors trust, fuels creation, and generates win–win solutions for all.
This is the love that dissolves paradox.
The love that transforms fear into possibility.
The love that builds the world our children need.
Our Vision
Every talk, every workshop, every coaching session, every page of my book, every conversation—all are simply containers for Ethan’s message: You just have to love me.
And that message is manifesting in Rising Voice Village—a model community where nonspeaking autistic adults can live safe, joyful, self-expressed lives surrounded by friends, dignity, and care for their lifetimes.
This is not only about autism. It is about humanity. It is about daring to see beneath the surface, to laugh at the absurdities, to improvise together with a spirit of “yes, and.”
Because when love leads, new worlds are born.
“This is our story. And if you’ve read this far, perhaps it is yours, too.”