6. How to Nurture Special Needs Siblings and Spouses with Alana Miller and Lindsay Grohowski

Alana Miller and Lindsay Growhowski are moms to 14-year-old John and 10-year-old Brayden, who has intellectual disabilities. As a stepmom, Lindsay has been in the boys’ lives since Brayden was a toddler and John was in Kindergarten. Alana is a Family Resource Specialist for KidsPeace, a therapeutic foster care agency in Richmond, VA. Lindsay is a Middle School Counselor. And just last year they started a small business called, Say Hello Threads.

Their mission is to be conversation starters and advocates. They hope that instead of teaching children not to stare, people will instead teach them to say hello when they see someone who is different than they are. Although 10-year-old Brayden is mostly non-verbal, one of his favorite things to do is say “hi” and “bye.” And as his moms, they just want people to acknowledge him and converse with him even if he is not able to respond verbally past the “hi”.

Alana & Lindsay

website - Sayhellothreads.com

Instagram and Facebook - @sayhellothreads

Lara

website - larakitts.com

Facebook - @larakittsllc

Instagram - @lara.kitts