Ken Atkins

Being raised on a small North Texas dairy farm in the late 1950s and early 1960s gave me a firm foundation in caring for others and the importance of family. These lessons would pay off greatly when, at age 40, I welcomed my firstborn into the world--a son with Angelman Syndrome and a prognosis of lifelong dependency on others to meet his most basic needs. Navigating those needs, mostly as a single parent, forced me to deal with my own special needs--overcoming divorce, depression, alcohol abuse and dangerously low self esteem. But God always had a plan for greater things in my life, and He used my nonverbal sons to show me the way.