Charlotte Pyke is a Project Officer at Inclusion Canada and a sibling advocate within our global family network.

In her reflection below, Charlotte shares what it meant to take part in the Family Summit at the World Congress, where families from around the world came together to share experiences and remind us that inclusion begins and grows within families.

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Being part of the Family Summit as a sibling was both grounding and energizing. Families were around the room from every part of the world.

Each family was shaped by different social and cultural contexts, where societal expectations of their family member with an intellectual disability differ.

Despite these different experiences, a shared truth echoed. What stood out most clearly to me — and what I believe our global network must carry forward — are three messages that feel urgent:

  1. Families are the foundation of inclusion, but they need knowledge, connection, and support.
  2. Inclusion must be intentional and lifelong: spanning school, community, and employment.
  3. Family leadership, especially involving siblings and young people, is key to sustaining the movement.

These messages came through in powerful conversations. Yet, what struck me even more deeply was the feeling in the room — the quiet recognition between people who just get it.

Families of people with intellectual disabilities can walk through life surrounded by misunderstanding.

Friends, neighbours, even extended family sometimes struggle to see what inclusion really means or why it matters so deeply. But in that space, at the Summit, with families from across the globe, we didn’t have to explain. We didn’t have to translate our experience.

It was like walking into a room and, for the first time, being completely understood by strangers, without having to say a single word.

That sense of belonging is powerful.

It reminds me that while advocacy, allyship, and policies are critical, our movement’s heart beats strongest in these human connections, in families who see one another, stand beside one another, and keep pushing forward together.