Our Story

I started XoBug after a diagnosis that changed how I understood my son, Bug. After months of questions, lab tests, MRIs, and visits with specialists, he was finally diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome. If you're not familiar with it, Fragile X Syndrome is a genetic condition that's the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability, and the most common single-gene cause of Autism.

I am a physician. I know how to read research. I know how to navigate medical systems and interpret clinical language and find the studies that apply. And I still could not find anything written for what it really feels like to sit at the table with your child at seven in the morning — before coffee, before you've caught your breath — and not know what to do. Everything I found was too clinical, too generic, or built around a child who learned in ways Bug didn't. The strategies made sense on paper and fell apart in practice. The guides were written for professionals, not for parents. The research was rigorous and completely inaccessible.

So I started making my own — matching games around his obsessions, imitation activities that didn't require words (Bug is non-verbal), and guides for family and friends who wanted to help but weren't sure how.

That's what XoBug is. Materials made by a parent who's been in the thick of it — for families who are, too.

The tools I make are built on behavioral science and translated into plain language for real families — activities, routine supports, calming strategies, and parent guides designed to be used at home.

What XoBug Makes

XoBug is the resource I wish I'd had after the diagnosis.

Everything is shaped by life with Bug, and grounded in evidence-based behavioral science — specifically Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) — one of the most extensively researched intervention approaches for Autism and neurodevelopmental differences. Here, the science is translated into plain language, parent-friendly tools for everyday home life. The tools are designed to be picked up and used at home, today, without a clinical background, because most of the real work doesn't happen in the therapy room. It happens at the kitchen table. In the car on the way to school. At dinner, when a new food appears on the plate and you're not sure what to do next. In the thirty seconds before something difficult, when you need to know what to say.

All the resources here are built around a few core ideas:

• Kids learn best through what they already love. A matching game works the same way no matter what's on the cards. It's just a lot more effective when what's on the cards is something your child already cares about. These materials are built to work with any interest — dinosaurs, trains, bugs, or that one very specific shade of purple.

• The method matters more than the materials. All of the learning modules are built on ABA-informed approaches — things like least-to-most prompting, demonstration-first learning, and positive reinforcement. I keep the methods consistent and let families customize everything else.

• Non-verbal doesn't mean non-communicating. Every module I make has a non-verbal adaptation — rewritten for children who communicate through gestures, AAC devices, vocalization, eye gaze, or a mix of all of these. A point is a full correct response. A reach is a full correct response. I build for the whole picture.

• Families are more than parents. I make guides for siblings, for grandparents, for aunts and uncles — because the people who love your child don't always know how to show it in ways that help. I try to make that easier.

For You, If…

You're navigating a new diagnosis and don't know where to start. Your child learns differently and the standard materials don't fit. You're doing a lot of invisible work and need tools that meet you where you are. You have a grandparent, teacher, or sibling who wants to help and needs a place to start.

I built this space because I needed it. As a physician. As a parent. As someone who had both the training and the humbling experience of realizing that training only gets you so far.

I suspected you might need it too.

A Note on Diagnoses

XoBug started with Fragile X Syndrome, and our personal story lives throughout these materials. But almost everything XoBug make is intentionally broad — written for any family navigating a neurodevelopmental diagnosis, not just FXS families specifically.

If your child has Autism, a global developmental delay, a genetic syndrome, or something rarer that took years to name — these materials were made with you in mind too.

A note on what XoBug is not

The guides here are parent resources, not clinical resources. They are informed by behavioral science and written by someone with a medical background — but they are not a substitute for professional evaluation and support. Every guide includes a disclaimer, and I mean it genuinely: please work with qualified professionals. The guides are designed to complement that work, not replace it.

Not sure where to start?

Every XoBug guide has a companion quick guide — a 2-3 page introduction covering the most essential ideas. Pick the topic most relevant to where you are right now and download it instantly.

Browse the quick guides

Ready to go deeper?

The full XoBug guides cover behavior, communication, potty training, selective eating, home ABA, the IEP, and more. Written in plain language for parents doing the real work at home.

Browse the full library

We don't have all the answers. We're still figuring this out alongside you. But we're here, we're making things, and we're glad you found us.

With love (and a few extra antennae),

XoBug