A Valpo Life in the Spotlight: Wendy Aragon

As the mother of an adult with special needs, Wendy Aragon has lived her life in constant dedication to not only her child but to numerous children with special needs and their parents across the Region.

Aragon grew up in Gary and attended a private Catholic school before her family transitioned to Porter County when she was in fifth grade. At that point, Aragon began attending public school, where she was among a much larger group of students and began to see more children with a wider variety of needs. This gave her an early passion for education as well as a love for the therapeutic benefits of music. Upon graduation, Aragon attended Indiana State University to study music and performance education.

After just two years of college, Aragon left school to move to Arizona. There, she began a career as an ambassador for Sunglass Hut, where she traveled the country and helped establish new stores. She was able to live in California for a while and experience new, exciting adventures but ultimately chose to return to living in Arizona, where she met someone, married, and gave birth to her daughter, Asia.

“After my daughter was born, I moved back to Valpo because my family was all around here,” Aragon said. “I have four sisters and one brother, and they’re all over the states now. Back then, I came back here to be around my family, and now nobody but my dad lives around here anymore.”

In 1995, Aragon and her then husband welcomed another child. A boy named Elijah, who soon began showing signs that he was different from other children.

“I didn’t even really know what autism was when I had him,” said Aragon. “It was actually one of my friend’s cousins, a nurse, who said ‘I think your son has autism.’”

Though Aragon was unfamiliar with autism, she believed it was important to find answers for her son’s sake. During this time, her marriage ended, and the father of her children returned to Arizona. Aragon was now on her own raising two children, one of whom had a significant disability.

“After their father left, I bartended for a while because I could work in the evenings. Elijah was very difficult to take care of. He has a lot of energy that can cause injury,” said Aragon.

Parents of children with autism know that the symptoms of the disorder can present very differently from one child to another. Aragon did not have other parents to speak with to understand that there are, in fact, many children and adults with symptoms like Elijah’s.

She felt isolated, especially as time passed and family members moved away. When the world shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, she refused to let the isolation take her down.

“Before COVID, Elijah had gotten up to 435 pounds,” Aragon said. “As an adult with autism, and with the way his autism presents, it was hard to find good care programs for him.” Aragon said. “He was pre-diabetic. We had him tested and found out he has Bardet-Biedl syndrome and homocystinuria. Not only do we have to be careful about what he’s eating since he can’t process certain foods, but the more weight he gains, the more complications he faces.”

Aragon began getting involved in any program she could find where she could not only help Elijah be more active but she could also offer support to other parents of children with special needs that she did not have herself. While she has, at some point or another, worked with virtually every program available in the area, she is most consistently seen working with the Penguin Project and Uniquely Nico, both of which have been lifesavers for her son and also for her own mental health.

“Penguin Project is a theatre group for people with disabilities. At first we tried it because I just thought it would be good for him to try something new. I always think it’s good to give something a try just to see if maybe you’ll like it or find a new hobby,” said Aragon. “Now he loves it, and he was a drum major. I get to be a mentor, which means that I stand back and shadow the players during the performance and only step in to help if they need it. I get to help teach them their parts, but they’re all very independent.”

The Penguin Project helped Aragon reconnect with her love of music and performance while also helping Elijah get active and keep his mind engaged. Aragon especially loves working with the adults in the program since she gets her share of “littles time” when she’s with her grandchildren. The program has given her a chance to find herself in a life that she lives primarily for others.

Uniquely Nico is an organization that offers families of people with special needs a chance to explore and connect with their communities. Events include sensory-friendly movies at the theater, bowling nights, baseball games, wellness events, and more. Aragon is the director of young adult programming with Uniquely Nico, and she is able to use her experience with Elijah to plan events that are accessible for adults with a wide range of needs.

“Right now, we’re doing a community garden over at Foundation Meadows at Butterfly Park,” Aragon said. “My cousin owns Blackbird Café, and they’re always donating snacks for these events, so that’s been a great source of support.”

Aragon is also involved with the Special Olympics. There, she is an assistant coach for power lifting, which is an activity she herself enjoys immensely and credits for helping her build mental as well as physical strength. She also enjoys Chicks with Drumstix, a cardio drumming class.

It was in this class that Elijah was able to use his love for drumming to work out, and he has now lost almost 200 pounds.

Aragon knows that many parents of children with disabilities do not have time for themselves. It is for this reason that she does not have many hobbies outside of the work she does to help her son stay active physically and mentally. To her, it’s worth the work to see the families she has helped and to know that they would not be where they are if she and her fellow volunteers were not giving their free time to be each other’s support systems.

Aragon is now remarried, and her husband of five years has adjusted his life to fit with her and Elijah. Their wedding was Star Wars themed, where Elijah was dressed as Chewbacca, and every guest received a lightsaber as a party favor.

In this partnership with her husband, Aragon is now surrounded by love through every challenge each new day brings. She is happy that she can be an advocate for many who do not have a voice or do not know how to raise it.

“I really want more people to know that there are ways to get involved with their community,” Aragon said. “Whether you have a family member with disabilities or not, you can always get involved in these programs. We have a community garden, we do theatre, we hike, we play board games. Anything you like doing, there’s a group you can do it with.”