About US
John Paul Ingram
Love John Paul was created to celebrate the life of John Paul Ingram, a non-speaking autistic and gentle giant. John Paul was officially diagnosed with regressive autism at the age of three. John Paul had his own rhythm. A sensory seeker, water-baby, curious, joyful, smart, mischievous but most of all, loving. He never knew a stranger and would approach anyone with both hands up to deliver a thunderous high-five. He was 6 feet 8 inches tall, and 298 pounds, so he was memorable. He worked so hard in his therapies to make his body do what he needed, and always with a positive attitude even though it had to be so frustrating. The number of therapies ranging from A-Z we tried over his seventeen years could fill up an entire page and didn’t make much difference. As his mom, a speech language pathologist, I felt helpless even with the knowledge I had. There were therapies that he enjoyed and that helped with his brain-body disconnect, but what made the biggest difference and gave him a voice was using a letterboard to communicate. Not an I-pad or a high-tech AAC device, but a laminated piece of paper with 26 letters. Once we learned how to spell using Rapid Prompting Method, he was set free. John Paul loved to learn and was finally given the opportunity to do age-appropriate academics. Besides math, he had a love of poetry and wanted to pursue a career as a poet and writer. It was so exciting for us and his twin brother, Thomas, to communicate meaningfully for the first time at eight years old.John Paul had many friends and a girlfriend of six years named Lily. He had two goals in life: learn to type independently and marry Lily. John Paul also had a seizure disorder that was discovered when he was six years old. The seizures became worse as he grew up and is what he died from on September 24, 2023. John Paul had a heart so pure and so giving. He was love in human form. This website was created in John Paul’s memory to help parents and caregivers navigate their way in helping their child if they are a non-speaker, an unreliable speaker or minimal speaker.