When the Work Leaves the Room in Chicago, IL
Today, I had the honor of serving as the morning keynote speaker for Start Early’s Early Learning Network (ELN) 2026 Pre-Service Professional Development Conference in Chicago, Illinois. I shared From Acorn to Mighty, Mighty Oak Tree™, a story rooted in human development, collective responsibility, and the conditions that help children maximize their personal potential. While the story is mine, the human experiences woven through it belong to so many people. Some hear themsel
Teaching My Child to Speak Up for Himself | Episode 27
Episode 27: From Autism Diagnosis to College Freshman Teaching my child to speak up for himself. In Episode 27, we discuss developing self-advocacy—the ability to understand what you need, identify who can help you access it, and speak up for your own best interests. I began this work with my son long before he had the words to advocate for himself. Even when he was not yet verbal, I understood that the absence of spoken language did not mean the absence of an opinion. So, I
The Acorn in the Eyeglass Case in Tallahassee, FL
Today, I had the pleasure of working with the Capital Area Community Action Agency team right here in my own backyard of Tallahassee, Florida. It was invigorating to watch the team grasp the concepts of the Top-Notch Village™ framework. It always does my heart well to see the lightbulb moments and the a-ha moments on people’s faces as the pieces begin to connect. Then, at the end of our time together, I received a the most beautiful Godwink. The Early Childhood Development Ma
Helping My Child Build Friendships | Episode 26
Episode 26: From Autism Diagnosis to College Freshman Helping my child build friendships. In Episode 26, we discuss my son’s growing desire to make friends and establish meaningful connections with people outside of our family. This was one of the more difficult parts of his development for me to watch. I wanted him to have friendships because he wanted them. But as his mother, there was something else underneath that desire for me. I know I will not live forever. I have alwa
When the Acorn Movement Took Legs in Hempstead, NY
This morning, I witnessed the most beautiful thing.❤️🥰 I watched the Acorn Movement take legs. At the end of my signature keynote, we have an Acorn Commitment Ceremony where service providers make a commitment to the children they serve. Typically, we use one tree representing the entire agency. The Assistant Head Start Director of the Economic Opportunity Commission of Nassau County, Inc. in Hempstead, New York, had the brilliant idea to create one Acorn Commitment Tree for
Helping My Child Engage with Others | Episode 25
Episode 25: From Autism Diagnosis to College Freshman Helping my child engage with others. In Episode 25, we discuss a characteristic of autism that has required continued attention throughout my son’s development: he can become so deeply focused on his own thoughts and interests that he may not naturally acknowledge or engage with the people around him. As a Young Tree, relationships outside of our family were becoming increasingly important to him. So, we began working more
Helping My Child Read Emotions and Social Cues | Episode 24
Episode 24: From Autism Diagnosis to College Freshman Helping my child read emotions and social cues. In Episode 24, we discuss emotions, facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, and other social cues that my son needed explicit support learning to recognize and interpret. As he developed, we practiced looking beyond the words someone said to consider the other information present in an interaction. What was their facial expression? What did their tone communicate? W
