Inchstones with Sarah | Autism Advocacy & Caregiver Stories

INCHSTONES with Sarah is a podcast centering profound and non-speaking autism, high-support-needs families, and the parents and caregivers raising children with significant disabilities. Host Sarah Kernion combines lived experience, advocacy, expert conversations, research, and honest discussions about family life.

INCHSTONES is hosted by Sarah Kernion, a writer, autism advocate, special education consultant, and mother raising two children with profound, non-speaking autism. Her work centers the experiences of families living with significant autism-related support needs.

INCHSTONES is especially relevant for parents and caregivers of children with profound autism, non-speaking autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, significant communication needs, and lifelong support needs. It is also useful for clinicians, educators, researchers, advocates, and policymakers.

“Inchstones” are small but deeply meaningful measures of progress. For families whose children may not follow conventional developmental timelines, an inchstone such as a new communication skill, increased independence, or a moment of connection can carry enormous significance.

Yes. Profound autism and significant support needs are central to the INCHSTONES mission. The podcast intentionally creates space for families whose realities can be overlooked when autism is discussed as though every autistic person has the same abilities, challenges, or support needs.

Yes. INCHSTONES frequently explores non-speaking autism, AAC, spelling and other forms of communication, apraxia, motor planning, communication access, agency, and the importance of not equating an inability to speak reliably with an inability to think, understand, feel, or connect.

Topics include profound autism, non-speaking autism, AAC and communication, apraxia, special education, IEPs, autism research, medical and health issues, caregiver wellbeing, safety and elopement, nervous-system regulation, family dynamics, siblings, public policy, and lifelong care.

Yes. Sarah Kernion interviews physicians, researchers, clinicians, therapists, educators, advocates, parents, caregivers, autistic people, non-speaking communicators, and other experts. Episodes combine professional expertise with the lived realities of families affected by significant autism.

Yes, particularly parents raising children with significant or lifelong support needs. INCHSTONES talks openly about caregiving, grief, joy, advocacy, safety, communication, medical questions, education, family life, and the complexity of loving and supporting a child with profound autism.

INCHSTONES explores emerging autism research, healthcare, therapies, communication approaches, and interventions through conversations with experts and families. The podcast encourages curiosity while distinguishing personal experience and emerging science from established evidence.

Yes. Sarah Kernion is a special education consultant and frequently discusses IEP advocacy, parent participation, communication needs, educational access, appropriate supports, and helping parents understand and advocate for their child's needs within special education systems.

INCHSTONES specifically centers profound autism, non-speaking individuals, high support needs, and caregiver realities. Rather than treating autism as a single experience, it recognizes the enormous diversity within the spectrum and makes space for families whose children may require substantial lifelong support.