Ten years ago, I started writing about my son Lucas. What I didn’t realize back then was how much I would change along the way.

When your child is nonverbal, it’s easy to get stuck waiting. Waiting for words. Waiting for progress. Waiting for a moment that may never come.

But what I’ve learned is this: communication was always there. It just didn’t look the way I expected.

In this episode, I talk about what finally shifted my perspective from focusing on speech to recognizing understanding, intent, and connection through actions, routines, and trust.

Because trust changes everything.

When Lucas trusts me, he waits. He stays regulated. He doesn’t grab food, melt down, or panic in the same ways he once did. Not because he suddenly “learned behavior”, but because he knows I understand him and I’ve got his back.

I share real moments, from food struggles to transitions to a birthday party that showed me just how far we’ve come.

If you’re raising a child who communicates differently, this episode is about seeing what’s already there and building from it.

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I used to feel like I was waiting for something that would finally make everything make sense - my son’s verbal language. When you’re raising a young child with nonverbal autism, the hardest part isn’t always the day-to-day. It’s the uncertainty, the questions, and not having answers for any of it.

In this episode, I talk about those early years, the pressure from other people, and the reactions that come when your child doesn’t fit expectations. From denial disguised as reassurance to “cures” that miss the point entirely, it’s a reality a lot of parents quietly deal with.

The shift came when I stopped waiting. Not because everything got easier, but because I started seeing my son for who he is right now—not someone I’m still waiting to meet. That’s where autism appreciation began for me, and it changed everything about how I see him, our life, and what actually matters.

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I didn’t have answers when people asked why my nonverbal son was clapping, making sounds, or doing things they didn’t understand.

And that wasn’t because I was embarrassed.

It was because I genuinely didn’t know.

Over time, that changed. Not because someone explained it to me, but because I started paying attention. What looked random wasn’t random. What looked confusing actually had a purpose.

And once I understood that, something else clicked.

This isn’t just something my son does.

We all do it.

We just don’t do it out loud. We don’t do it in public. We don’t let ourselves.

This episode is about stimming, what it really is, and why the difference between my son and the rest of us might not be what you think.

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I used to think the hardest part of raising a nonverbal child was what he couldn’t say.

I was wrong.

This week, I talk about something I didn’t understand for years and honestly, didn’t even believe in at first: receptive language.

There’s never a moment when my son tells me what he’s learned. No updates. No explanations. One day he just knows what something means, and I’m left wondering when it happened.

It finally clicked when I lost my voice.

I thought I could just gesture, point, and figure things out without speaking. It didn’t work. Because my son doesn’t just communicate without words, he understands them.

That realization changed everything.

This episode isn’t about what he can’t say. It’s about everything he’s been understanding this whole time and what I almost missed because I was focused on the wrong thing.

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My son Lucas just turned 15, and I’m still catching my breath. He’s nonverbal, he has profound autism, and in my head he’s always been my “baby” — the kid with the same songs, the same books, and the same comfort routines. Then I look up and realize he has a mustache, he’s tall, and I’m standing there saying “go potty” like time hasn’t moved at all.

This week, I talk about what that moment brought up for me as his dad. I get into why I’ve always hated the “mental age” shortcut and why Lucas isn’t “really five” just because some parts of his life look younger to the outside world. He’s 15. He’s a teenage boy. And like everyone else, he’s fully himself.

I also talk about something that surprised me recently: Lucas’s receptive language. When I lost my voice, I learned pretty quickly that we can’t do life through pantomime alone, and that he understands far more than I sometimes stop to realize. It made me think about the words I use with him, the respect he deserves, and the reality that my little boy is growing into a young man.

It's Here! Get the book – “Hi World, I’m Dad: How Fathers Can Journey to Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation” on audio, digital, or print.

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This week on Hi Pod! I’m Dad, I talk about something I’ve come to admire about my son Lucas as he’s gotten older: he never pretends.

Lucas is a nonverbal teenager with profound autism, and one of the things that stands out to me more and more is how real he is. He can’t fake a smile. He can’t hug someone just to be polite. If he’s happy, you see it. If he’s excited to see you, you know it. Everything about him is genuine.

I think about how many people spend time telling the world who they are — funny, generous, authentic — while Lucas simply shows you. There’s no performance, no pretending, and no trying to be the person someone else expects.

Years ago, when Lucas was very young, I worried I might never understand him without words. What I didn’t realize then is that I would end up understanding him better than most people I’ve ever met.

This episode is about authenticity, parenting, and why sometimes the person who says the least can still teach you the most.

It's Here! Get the book – “Hi World, I’m Dad: How Fathers Can Journey to Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation” on audio, digital, or print.

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Last week was the first time in a long time that I missed an episode of Hi Pod! I’m Dad. The reason was simple: I lost my voice.

At first I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. My son Lucas is nonverbal, and I’ve always believed we don’t need words to communicate with each other. But once my voice was gone, I realized pretty quickly that we actually rely on those words more than I thought.

That experience led into something I wrote about this week on the blog: autism appreciation. I talk about why appreciating my son’s autism doesn’t mean pretending life is easy or ignoring the real challenges that come with raising a child with severe autism. Those things are real. I just choose not to make them the focus of our story.

Lucas is honest in a way most people aren’t. If he’s happy, he’s happy. If he loves you, he loves you. There’s no pretending, no manipulation, no trying to be something he isn’t. That honesty is part of what makes him who he is.

I also talk about how surviving a quintuple bypass in 2012 changed the way I see life and parenting. It made me realize that the moments we have right now matter more than the worries about the future.

Lucas doesn’t need a movie ending to be a hero. He doesn’t need hidden powers or some big milestone to make his story meaningful.

He’s already Lucas. And that’s enough for me.

It's Here! Get the book – “Hi World, I’m Dad: How Fathers Can Journey to Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation” on audio, digital, or print.

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This week, I talk about a word that comes up far too often when you’re raising a child like my son Lucas: “fix.”

For many people, it sounds logical. If a child is nonverbal or has autism, they must need to be corrected, changed, or fixed. But as Lucas has grown, I’ve learned something very different. My son isn’t broken. He never was.

In this episode, I share how my perspective changed over time, from trying to correct the way Lucas played and communicated to realizing that teaching and fixing are not the same thing. I talk about the moments that helped me understand his world, why I would never want to change who he is, and how acceptance, trust, and patience shaped the bond we share today.

It’s an honest conversation about parenting, expectations, and what it really means to love your child unconditionally.

It's Here! Get the book – “Hi World, I’m Dad: How Fathers Can Journey to Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation” on audio, digital, or print.

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When Lucas was little, some of the things we worked on felt almost ridiculous.

They didn’t seem urgent. They didn’t feel important. And at the time, everything else felt like it was on fire. If it wasn't language, it wasn't a priority in my mind. Yet, we worked on them anyway.

Now he’s almost 15. He’s bigger than me. He’s growing into himself. And some of those early moments, the ones that didn’t seem to matter yet, suddenly do.

This episode isn’t about puberty, or milestones, or “getting it right.” It’s about what happens when you accept who your child is early, keep working anyway, and realize years later why it mattered.

It's Here! Get the book – “Hi World, I’m Dad: How Fathers Can Journey to Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation” on audio, digital, or print.

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This week, I talk about a moment that made something click for me as a dad.

For years, I thought understanding why my nonverbal son does things was the key to helping him. But raising Lucas has taught me something different.

I don’t always need answers. I need awareness. I need trust.

In this episode, I share how learning to respect what my son does, even when I don’t fully understand it, has reshaped the way I parent, the way I protect him, and the way I see my role as his dad.

This is about trust, transitions, and what happens when you stop trying to decode your child and start meeting them where they are.

It's Here! Get the book – “Hi World, I’m Dad: How Fathers Can Journey to Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation” on audio, digital, or print.

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Also, be sure to read the blog that started it all - Hi Blog! I'm Dad.