A village for families like ours
Our Special Village started as a circle of chairs — parents of children with special needs, meeting weekly in Murfreesboro to share what they’re carrying. This site is that same village, extended to every family in Middle Tennessee who needs it.
How it started
The group was founded by Dr. Taylor Hickok of Little Luminaries Therapy Services, who kept meeting parents who had the same look — capable people worn thin by systems that don’t explain themselves and a road nobody around them seemed to be walking. So she set out chairs. Today the group is led by Cari Parr, and every Wednesday at 5 PM, parents and caregivers gather at We Rock the Spectrum in Murfreesboro.
It stayed simple on purpose: free for parents and caregivers, kids welcome (discounted supervised open play while the grown-ups talk), and a standing rule that nobody has to explain the basics or apologize for the hard days. Come late. Leave early. Cry if you need to. Laugh — you will, more than you’d expect.
Why the website
Week after week, the same questions came up in the circle: How does Katie Beckett actually work? Is ABA right for us? What happens when he turns 18? Where do I even start? The answers exist, but they’re scattered across a dozen agency websites and a hundred Facebook threads — and no family should need luck to find them.
So we built the village a front door. The Resource Library holds plain-English guides checked against official sources. The events calendar stays current so you never learn about the good stuff a week late. The weekly newsletter brings it to your inbox. Everything here is free and always will be.
Why “village”?
Because the old saying is true, and doubly true for our kids. No parent can master TennCare policy, IEP law, therapy science, and their own laundry alone. But a village — one parent who’s already fought the insurance appeal, another who knows which dentist is patient, another who just brings the coffee — that’s enough. It has to be, and it turns out it is.
Come sit with us
No signup, no intake form, no minimum attendance. If you’re raising a child with special needs — any diagnosis, any age, or no diagnosis yet — there’s a chair for you.
Wednesdays · 5:00 PM
We Rock the Spectrum
820 N Thompson Ln
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Free for parents & caregivers · discounted supervised open play for the kids · call or text (615) 900-4420
Our friends at Little Luminaries
Our Special Village is a community project of Little Luminaries Therapy Services, the Murfreesboro pediatric therapy practice where the group began. The village is its own thing — this site isn’t a clinic brochure, joining costs nothing, and nothing here requires being (or becoming) a Little Luminaries client. They just believe, like we do, that families do better together.
Who writes this site?
Parent volunteers from the group, with guides checked against official sources before publishing and reviewed on a schedule. We’re parents, not lawyers or doctors — treat everything here as a knowledgeable friend’s starting point, and confirm details for your own situation. Spot something outdated? Tell us — you’ll be improving it for the next family.