Dan Perritano and his 23-year-old special needs daughter are encountering many literal intersections on a trip from their home in Erie to Washington, D.C. — with him walking, while pushing her in a three-wheel buggy.

The trip is also a metaphorical intersection for his love of Emma, her love of riding with him, his fondness for the walking and pushing, the van-based support from Perritano’s wife, Jane Brady, Emma’s mom; along with money they’re raising for Erie Homes for Children and Adults and recognition they’re generating for the challenges faced by special needs families.

On Friday, there was also the weather: cool enough to see your breath when they started in Cresson about 7 a.m., sunny and breezy, with clear air and puffy clouds.

Emma was born healthy, but eight days later, her brain began to bleed, creating pressure that caused irrevocable damage, according to her parents, who spoke at the Sheetz in McKee late in the morning Friday, near the end of that day’s trip along Old Route 22 and Routes 220 and 36. Doctors at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh stabilized Emma, performing procedures to relieve the pressure — including insertion of a shunt that still remains, they said.

They sent her home after ensuring she could eat, Perritano and Brady said, and they watched as she grew.

When Emma started to roll over, they said “yay!,” Brady recalled.

When she picked up Cheerios for the first time, they said “yay!,” he said.

But with Emma’s cerebral palsy, it remained “wait and see,” she said.

They enrolled Emma in an early intervention program, which included speech, occupational and physical therapy.

They enrolled her in school, where she was included, when possible — in hopes that others would become more accepting as much as for Emma herself to directly benefit, according to Brady.

As time elapsed, the deficits became clearer.

Emma can’t talk, for the most part — although she can repeat words sometimes from songs she likes.

She knows colors and shapes, follows simple directions, understands much of what’s going on around her, and she’s good at communicating her needs and desires, her parents said.

After spending a day with her, anyone would know what she’s trying to convey, Brady said.

She can use a computer mouse, and even knows how to get rid of the ads, so she can get to the Taylor Swift videos faster, Brady said.

She likes YouTube and the Beatles, too, including “Let It Be” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” Brady said.

When she’s listening to Van Halen’s “Jump” in her buggy, she hoists herself up in time to the music, her dad said.

And she likes to go out with her parents — so much so, she’s dismayed when they return to the garage after an outing, Brady said.

But she can’t understand complex ideas or do academic work, like math,

her parents said.

On Friday at Sheetz, her communication efforts included frequent, emphatic pointing to tell her dad that it was time to start walking again.

When Brady asked, “Who wants ice cream,” Emma’s mouth opened in delight, and her hand shot up.

The initial realization of his daughter’s disabilities hit Perritano harder than it hit Brady, but it was over more quickly, Perritano said.

“As a special needs parent, I think you grieve,” he said.

The difficulties of caring for Emma, including the need for personal, recurring interventions, are real.

Yet the times spent walking with her are joyous, Perritano said.

They’ve been doing the extended fundraising trips in the summers ever since he acquired the buggy in 2015, he said.

“It opened up (our) world,” he said. “We get to do stuff.”

The fundraising helps create a context and justification.

But he’d do the walking anyway, Perritano said.

In a way he does — frequently going out with the buggy near their home in Erie, even in difficult weather.

He’s a runner, and he likes to keep moving, he said.

He’s 57, and when he retires from his job as soccer coach for Penn State Behrend, and Brady, the campus registrar, retires, they’ll do what they do in the summer all the time, they said.

Such a life could include talks about the challenges of special needs families at schools wherever they travel, Perritano said.

The summer walks, the encounters they create — along with such talks in communities — can help move society toward the empathy for special needs individuals that has become so much more common today than it was generations ago, Perritano and Brady said.

“She touches a lot of people,” Perritano said of Emma. “She connects us.”

Anyone who cares to follow their progress can search “Emma and Dan’s Summer 2022 Walk” to connect to the family’s Facebook page, they said, where people can see Perritano’s daily “stories” about the trip.

This summer’s walk is about 320 miles and began in March, with weekend forays, each followed by a return home to Erie, with the next walk beginning where the last one ended, Perritano said.

The family broke from their home base on Sunday, after reaching Punxsutawney.

They first stayed at a bed and breakfast near Prince Gallitzin State Park.

On Thursday, they checked into a dorm room at Mount Aloysius College, their current base.

They return to base after every day’s approximately 15-mile walk, until the return distance grows too large.

Then they move on to the next base.

That next base will be in Hagerstown, Md., Perritano said.

They expect to arrive in Washington around June 12.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.