06/17/2026
Angela is one of our Embrace Abilities board members—and also a parent living this in real time. She wrote this, and it put words to what so many of us are carrying into summer.
────────────
Summer can feel complicated when we’re parenting both a typically developing child and a child with disabilities.
One child is thriving in the freedom of summer—riding bikes, running through sprinklers, visiting water parks, making memories that seem effortless and carefree.
The other may be struggling with the loss of routine, sensory overload, disrupted schedules, medical appointments, therapies, or simply the challenges that change can bring.
And there we are, standing in the middle, feeling pulled in two directions.
Trying to give one child the adventures they crave while providing the structure, support, and accommodations the other needs. Trying to make sure neither feels forgotten. Trying to balance fun with survival. Joy with exhaustion.
Some days it feels impossible.
But if we’re showing up every day, adjusting plans, advocating, comforting, encouraging, and loving both children through their very different experiences of summer, we’re doing more than enough.
The memories won't all look the same. The milestones won't all be the same. The needs won't be the same.
But love doesn't have to be divided to be shared.
To the parents navigating two very different summers under one roof: we see you. The effort we’re making matters. Our children may need different things, but they both need us—and every day we’re doing our best to give them exactly that.
And that is something worth celebrating.
Summer may not look like everyone else's, but we're making memories, building resilience, and finding joy in our own way.
To all the parents managing feeding tubes, mobility gear, sensory needs, hospital stays, and typical childhood milestones. We see you. Even on our hardest days, we are doing better than we think.
