Hannah Aylward, also known as Hannah Burcaw, was born on December 12, 1995, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is an American YouTuber and disability advocate best known as one half of the channel Squirmy and Grubs.
Aylward built her public profile alongside her husband, author and activist Shane Burcaw.
Who is Hannah Aylward?
Hannah Aylward is a content creator, author, and public speaker from Minnesota. She and her husband, Shane Burcaw, run Squirmy and Grubs, a YouTube channel that documents their interabled marriage.
The channel has grown into a platform for disability advocacy. Aylward and Burcaw have spoken at universities, companies, and conferences across the country about ableism and accessibility.
Their work has drawn coverage from outlets including PEOPLE and Healthline. In 2025, the couple published a book together on interabled relationships.
Early Life of Hannah Aylward
Hannah Aylward grew up in Minnesota, where her family still lives today. Her parents, George and Elizabeth Aylward, later became coffee shop owners in the Minneapolis area.
She is the youngest of three children.
Aylward was a competitive swimmer growing up. She continued the sport at the college level, swimming on her university’s varsity team.
Before her YouTube career took off, she held ordinary jobs typical of a college student. She worked in retail and also worked as a dog sitter and dog walker.
Hannah Aylward Age
Hannah Aylward is 30 years old as of 2026, born on December 12, 1995. Her zodiac sign is Sagittarius.
She has achieved enormous success in her life as a YouTuber and public speaker.
Hannah Aylward Ethnicity and Nationality
Hannah Aylward is American. She was born and raised in Minnesota and holds United States nationality.
Her ethnic background has been described as white, with some sources citing Polish heritage on her family’s side. She grew up in a close-knit household in the Minneapolis area, where her extended family still lives.
Hannah Aylward Education
Aylward attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She graduated in 2019 with a degree in sociology and anthropology.
She was a member of the Carleton College swim team during her time there. Her senior year overlapped with the early growth of Squirmy and Grubs, since the channel launched in June 2018 while she was still a student.
Carleton College has since featured her, alongside Shane, in its alumni news coverage. You can read more about the Carleton College community she was part of.
Hannah Aylward Career
Hannah Aylward’s public career began with a shared decision to document her relationship with Shane Burcaw on YouTube. What started as a way to record a road trip turned into a long-running channel with millions of views.
Channel Launch
Aylward and Burcaw uploaded their first Squirmy and Grubs video on June 19, 2018. It featured a road trip from Minneapolis to Pennsylvania, titled “Shane takes a bath in the hotel pool.”
That early video laid the groundwork for the channel’s format. It combined everyday moments with an honest look at Shane’s disability, spinal muscular atrophy.
Later that year, they posted a travel vlog called “Girlfriend Helps Disabled Boyfriend Take A Shower – Will He Survive?” It gathered more than 550,000 views within three months.
In December 2018, Chris Ulmer interviewed the couple for his show Special Books by Special Kids. The episode was titled “An Interabled Love Story (Intimacy and Disability).”
Breakthrough and Growth
Squirmy and Grubs grew steadily in the years that followed. By the mid-2020s, the channel had posted several hundred videos and passed 1.8 million subscribers.
One of their most viewed uploads, “My Life Expectancy Has Changed,” drew more than 4 million views. The channel has also been the subject of profiles by The Today Show, Insider, and Bloomberg.
In 2024, a lighthearted video showing Hannah “dropping” Shane into a pool as a joke about Olympic diving went viral.
The clip also drew a wave of hateful comments, which Shane addressed directly in a public post about the exhaustion of constantly educating people about disability.
Current Work
Aylward and Burcaw relocated from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, citing a warmer climate that eases complications from Shane’s SMA. According to a 2025 Carleton College feature, the couple still returns to Minnesota each May to stay at a home they share with Hannah’s parents.
In February 2025, the couple published Interabled: True Stories About Love and Disability from Squirmy & Grubs and Other Interabled Couples. The book compiles essays from interabled couples alongside the Burcaws’ own story.
Shane and Hannah have continued speaking publicly through 2026, including appearances at the Abilities Expo, where they present on interabled relationships and accessibility.
Hannah Aylward Channel Stats and Achievements
Squirmy and Grubs have grown from a small travel-vlog channel into one of Minnesota’s most-followed YouTube accounts. The channel has posted several hundred videos over its run.
It has also crossed well over 100 million cumulative views. Their content has been recognized in mainstream media coverage rather than through traditional awards.
Hannah Aylward Brand Deals and Collaborations
Aylward and Burcaw generate income through YouTube ad revenue along with brand partnerships. Merchandise, including branded T-shirts, sweatshirts, and tote bags, has also been part of the channel’s business.
Public speaking is another major part of their work. The couple speaks at universities, elementary schools, and companies about ableism and interabled relationships.
Hannah Aylward Husband
Hannah Aylward is married to Shane Burcaw. He is an author and disability activist who was born with spinal muscular atrophy.
The two met after Aylward reached out to Burcaw following a documentary appearance of his. They began dating in 2016, while she was still in college and he had recently graduated.
Burcaw eventually moved to Minneapolis so the couple could live together while Aylward finished her final year at Carleton. Hannah became his primary caregiver, a role the couple has spoken about openly as part of their advocacy work.
They married on September 4, 2020. The wedding was an intimate backyard ceremony officiated over Zoom, and the couple shared footage of it with their YouTube audience.
In 2025, the couple spoke publicly about pursuing IVF. They described the experience as emotionally heavy to share, while continuing to be open with their audience about the process.
Hannah Aylward Children
As of mid-2026, Hannah Aylward and Shane Burcaw do not have children. The couple has said they want kids but have described themselves as not yet ready in earlier interviews, and more recently have discussed their IVF journey publicly.
Hannah Aylward Net Worth
Estimates of Hannah Aylward’s net worth are around $3 million as of 2026. Her income comes primarily from YouTube ad revenue, brand partnerships, book royalties, and paid speaking engagements.
Squirmy and Grubs has grown into a channel with millions of monthly views. That scale, combined with the couple’s book deal and their busy speaking schedule, points to a comfortable and diversified income.
Hannah Aylward Social Media
Hannah Aylward is active on Instagram under the handle @hannahayl, where she posts under the name Hannah Burcaw. Her bio lists Squirmy and Grubs and notes she splits time between Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
The couple’s main platform remains their YouTube channel, Squirmy and Grubs, where they have posted content since June 2018.
They also maintain a presence on TikTok, where interview clips and short updates from events like the Abilities Expo circulate widely.
The Bottom Line
Hannah Aylward built Squirmy and Grubs from a single road-trip video in June 2018 into a channel with over a million subscribers. Her 2025 book with Shane Burcaw, Interabled, extended that work into print.
She grew up in Minnesota as a competitive swimmer and graduated from Carleton College in 2019 with a degree in sociology and anthropology. Her marriage to Shane, which began in 2016 and led to a 2020 wedding, sits at the center of the couple’s advocacy work.
In 2026, Aylward and Burcaw continue to speak at events like the Abilities Expo while sharing their IVF journey with their audience. Their channel remains active, with new video content and public appearances throughout the year.
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