Autism Awareness day is coming up!

In honor of autism awareness day coming up I thought I can show you how easy it is to make a difference and donate to a charity for autism research! Here are some links to some of my favorite charities:
http://www.autismspeaks.org
http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/donate.php
http://www.autism.org.uk

Also you can volunteer! I volunteer at the Shaffer Center every month. I play with the kids there and it is so much fun for me and for them!!!

Get ready to raise your blue flag! National Autism Awareness day is coming up, April 2!!!

First 100 signed

Great video if you are interested in learning american sign language!!!

A Normal Weekend

Someone requested to have a post about a normal weekend for Robb so here it is!

Like most people Robb doesn't do the exact same thing every weekend. He is a busy person! Here are things he does every weekend. Like most teenagers he sleeps until 12:00 and has the worst bed head when he gets up. Also he has Occupational therapy in which he learns life skills like setting up the table and eating with his fork and not getting ketchup everywhere. Also from january to june Robb is training in the pool for special olympics!!! And what weekend would't be complete with out a couple episodes of the wiggles?!? Besides that Robb does many different things on the weekends! I'll try to keep you posted!!!

A cool thing about Robb's School

At Robb's school all of the kids have notebooks in which the teachers write how the day went! Then my mom reply's on the sheet. It helps to see how his day was and what he and that day and to see the progress that Robb is making!

Here is the latest update:

Robb just got back from an awesome weekend getaway with the  League for People with Disabilities! It was Neverland themed (Peter Pan) and Robb got to dance, cook, make arts and crafts and do so much more!!!!

Autism and Love

"Autism and Love" music video

This is an Autism awareness music video made for Real Look Autism (A great website! Check it out: http://www.reallookautism.com)! The cover is of my mother and Robb, and look closely in the video you will see a short video of Robb and I when we were younger! Hope everyone had a happy Valentines Day!

Robb's Life in the eyes of his brother

Hi, my name's Poe, I am Robb's younger brother. I love Robb, but he gets pretty much all the attention in our family. He likes to watch me play sports and he gets disappointed when me and my sister fight. He can be funny to! But sometimes he thinks it is funny to laugh at me when I am hurt so he is basically a normal brother. In someways it's good and in someways it's bad, but what is pretty awesome is that Robb doesn't hurt me and I don't hurt him. But I still see him as a normal brother.

Sibling Panel

On Tuesday I was on a panel for siblings of kids with special needs at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore MD. Me and some other siblings got in front of people studying to be Psychiatrists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and other people in that field and we would talk about are relationship with our sibling, challenges, how my relationships have been affected, what therapists were doing that I don't like, and many other topics. This is my second year doing the panel and I plan to do it next year for it is a lot of fun to show people what life is like from the view of a sibling of someone with special needs! Happy Almost Valentines Day!

2014 Olympics Training

It is that time of year again, the 2014 olympics Training is starting! The lunch was yesterday where all of the olympians meet officially starting it! This will be Robb's 3'rd year competing and we our hoping he will be able to do the unassisted swim, but either way Robb is exited to get back with the team!

Skiing

Robb used to hate ski trips because he had never been able to ski. He used to just stay cooped up in our hotel room with my mom while my younger brother, dad, and I went skiing. This year it was different! At timberline ski resort (where we stayed) their was Chris! Chris ran a program for challenged athletes and instead of just plain skiing he and his assitants took Robb down the hill on a chair with skis on it! Robb had a blast and loved every bit of it, riding on the chair lift, going down, and then doing it again! One thing is for sure, we are definitely going back next year!

Happy Birthday Robb!!!

Robb you are officially 14!! On 12/31/1999 you came into this world, at three you developed autism, and you have been a joy, amazing role model to the many lives you tuch every day!!! I love you!!! And may everyone have a prosperous New Year!!

Kids with special needs in books

Though many people don't know it there are lots of books about/with kids with special needs! Here are a couple of book that I have read, I am reading, and my friends have recommended:

Al Capone Does My Homework is a  book I am currently reading about a boy
and his family who live on Alcatraz in the early 1900's. In this book
he has a sister, Natalie, has autism! When she gets accused of burning
down his old house him and his friend will try to prove she's innocent!
So far it is an AMAZING book!

Another book I have read is Rules. In this book a girl writes
rules for her brother with autism. The cover represents
her rule "no toys in the fish tank". It has a weak ending, but
a good book none the less.

Please comment if you know anymore! If you write a recommendation I will put it on my post!

What I'm giving Robb for Christmas

My family celebrates Christmas and every year I try to top the present I got him the year before. I don't think I'll be able to top this year though because I got him something he loves more than ever......

A Custom Dish Towel!!!!

Robb loves to swing around dish towels more than monkeys like to eat bananas, but he always swings around one that my family needs to use. Now he will get his own that he can swing to his hearts content!

SHHHHH! Don't tell him though!! and have some

HAPPY HOLIDAY's!!!!

Ravens Games

I don't know about you, but Robb loves Raven football games! He cheers the loudest, yells the most, and is truly a die hard Ravens fan!  He just loves all of the noise and stamina of it all! It makes him so happy when everyone else is happy and he will try his best to keep everyone happy! Most importantly though, 

GO RAVENS!

Letters about Literature contest

Hi y'all! Their is a contest for kids in 4-12 grade called "Letters about Literature". You have to write a letter to author who has written a book or poem that has impacted your life. I wrote a letter to Yeats about his poem the Fiddler of Dooney and how it has impacted my life involving Robb. Here it is:

Dear W.B. Yeats,

“When I play on my Fiddle in Dooney, folk dance like the wave of the sea”. Does this line from your poem the Fiddler of Dooney just talk about a fiddler, or does it mean a little more? I ask myself this question when I think about my brother, Robb.

Robb has autism, a mental disease making it more challenging for him to communicate. I used to always hold inside my thoughts and feelings about the different fits he has, the ways he entertains himself and people’s opinions about him, but your poem made me wonder. If I play my fiddle or write about Robb maybe folk will dance or listen, so I decided to start a blog “Robb’s Life” to express my thoughts and feelings for Robb, and it worked! There were viewers from South America, Europe, and Asia, but that is not what matters.

In the process of making and maintaining Robb’s Life, I realized something else from your poem that stay true to me forever. You said that “the good are always the merry save by an evil chance”, and autism saved me. It saved me from being unable to handle responsibility. It saved me from being ignorant to the different people in the world. It saved me from really being able to understand the difference one person can make.

So I want to say thank you for teaching me lessons.  I would never have been able to learn myself.

Sincerely,

Astri Doub

Thanksgiving

Every Thanksgiving my family goes to my uncle's House. This is a lot of fun for Robb because he doesn't get out much and when it is to see my uncle it can't get much better. Robb knows he is going to get lots of food and know one will question how much he eats. Also we ride over the bay bridge to get there and he loves looking out the window at the boats below. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and as much fun as Robb! (If thats possible!)

Sticking with Routine

Robb is very serious about sticking to routine. For instance, when he is with his therapist and my mom comes home Robb pushes his babysitter out the door, if he gets a meal without ketchup he will get mad, and any other thing out of the ordinary. Sometimes it is good, like when he doesn't eat food he can't have, but when it comes to the daily routine Robb is not flexible. Hopefully he will learn to try new things and not be so stubborn. Stay tuned!

Just meeting Robb!

     Hi I just met Robb I'm his sisters friend. I wasn't sure what to think at first since I had never met any one like him. But when I saw him I knew even though he was different he still was like every one else wanting to have fun and live a good life. He was nice in the heart and tried really hard to be kind. So when your walking down the street and see someone like him don't stare just smile and wave since they are reall like you. :)