The Gift of Linda Carranza
Linda Carranza with her first published book, Felipe and His Super Senses.
A rising voice within the Greater Houston area, Linda Carranza is a bilingual educator, Autism advocate, and author of Felipe and His Super Senses. Inspired by her son Felipe, who is on the Autism spectrum, Linda transformed her personal journey into a mission to promote awareness, inclusion, and belonging for neurodiverse children and their families. She works in public education and actively shares her story throughout the community, serving as a guest author in libraries across the Greater Houston area and as a guest speaker for Stafford Early Childhood Center’s LOVE4ALL Autism Awareness event. In recognition of her advocacy and impact, she will also be honored at the 2026 Autism Mother’s Day Awards Gala in Dallas. Linda believes that advocacy begins at home and grows through community.
My first encounter with Linda would actually be at our workplace at the time, Stafford Early Childhood Center in 2023. Upon realizing that we both shared the journey of Ausome motherhood in common, we would always uplift and encourage one another through the accomplishments and the challenges. As a colleague, it has truly been a gift to watch her grow in leveraging her voice as a leader within Fort Bend County and now; thanks to the release of her new book, her empowering messages of love and belonging are making nationwide impact not just for families touched by an Autism diagnosis, but for communities as well.
In the essay that follows, Linda shares the powerful transformation that took place within herself as she embraced the beautiful spectrum of Autism within her son.
From a Mother’s Heart: Redefining Leadership Through Love
There was a time when Autism consumed me.
When my son Felipe was first diagnosed, I went through every stage of grief. I blamed myself. I questioned everything. I laid on the floor beside him while he lined up his trains, watching him quietly, trying to understand this new world we were stepping into. I wanted to fix it. I wanted to take it away. I wanted him to be “normal.”
But love transformed me.
A young Felipe lies on the floor of his home with his toy trucks and trains neatly aligned before him.
I realized leadership does not always look like a stage, a microphone, or a title. Sometimes leadership looks like early intervention appointments, IEP meetings, sleepless nights researching therapies, and sitting on the floor learning how your child sees the world.
Felipe did not need fixing.
He needed understanding.
He needed belonging.
And in learning how to advocate for him, I found my own voice.
Today, I serve as a bilingual educator in public education. I advocate not just as a professional, but as a mother who understands the emotional weight families carry. I know what it feels like to walk into meetings unsure, overwhelmed, and protective. That lived experience reshaped my values.
Leadership, to me, is preserving dignity. It is stepping away from algorithm-driven validation and choosing authentic connection instead. It is choosing community over comparison. It is choosing love over fear.
Publishing Felipe and His Super Senses was never about attention. It was about representation. It was about creating a story where children like my son see themselves as capable, powerful, and wonderfully made.
Belonging is not something we wait to be invited into. It is something we build.
I began my advocacy journey as a panelist for LOVE4ALL: Voices of Strength, Stories of Autism, Pathways to Belonging. I am deeply grateful to Ms. Atkinson and Mrs. Hynes for that opportunity. That space showed me that storytelling is not just healing — it is transformational.
My son is not the face of autism. He is a child with gifts, humor, resilience, and light.
And I am not just his advocate. I am his mother.
Leadership legacy, for me, is this: Love loudly. Advocate boldly. Create spaces where difference is not tolerated — it is celebrated.
In Love & Light.
— Linda Carranza
Stay Connected
Find ways to follow, support, and stay engaged with Linda’s work through her social media platforms and publications.
On The Horizon
Discover what Linda is working on next, including upcoming projects, events, collaborations, or opportunities to learn from and connect with her work.
Moments To Remember
A collection of meaningful photos that capture highlights from Linda’s journey, experiences, and milestones that have shaped her story.
