Summer Day Camp Fun......

Hey everyone it's Michael!!  I've not been blogging for awhile, but I've been having a great summer.  Mr. Rob just got a batch of pictures, so here's a few from the Summer Day Program.  One of my Kids on the Block buddies went to hang-out with the Kids from the Camp! 

Today is the last day of Summer Day for this year.  Soon we will all be back to school.  UGH!  I want to thank everyone who made this wonderful camp possible this year.


Until next time, Michael.

April is Autism Awareness Month.....

Happy Monday everyone.  Mr. Rob here, I hope no-one had an April Fools prank played on you yesterday!! Autism is no prank, and April is Autism Awareness Month.  I asked Michael if I could post today to pass on some of the latest information about Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  

Be sure to check out the autism NOW website for lots more information.  


Here are just a few of the newest facts:

• CDC estimates 1 in 88 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• ASDs are almost 5 times more common among boys (1 in 54) than among girls (1 in 252).
• More children are being diagnosed at earlier ages—a growing number of them by age 3.
• The "Learn the Signs. Act Early." program aims to change perceptions about the importance of identifying developmental concerns early and gives parents and professionals the tools to help.

These are just a few of the new data presented in the CDC's latest report on Austim Spectrum Disorders (ASD).  Be sure to check out all the latest news at the autism NOW website.


Thanks for checking in today and Michael will be back with a post soon.  -Mr. Rob

Selling Onions.......

Hi everyone, Michael here.  I hope you have had a great week!  Mr. Rob wanted me to let everyone know he had such a busy week last week he forgot to help me with my blog post about selling onions last weekend at the Salisbury Mall.


I helped Mrs. Jane, Ms. Nadine, Mr. Wayne, Yumkin, all our friends from the Summit Civitans, and Rowan Brain Injury Support Group for Community Day at the Salisbury Mall.  Even my twin brother Mark got to join in the fun!  Thanks to everyone who bought a bag of onions to support the Summit Civitans!  Here are some pictures.  Thanks Mrs. Jane for taking them.

Thanks for checking by today!  Until next time, Michael..

ACC Basketball.....

Hey everyone, it's Michael here.  I had a great Saturday.  I went to the Community Day at Salisbury Mall with Mrs. Jane and some of her friends.  Mark my brother even got to go with us! I will tell you all about that in my next post.  I just wanted to tell you what we did after Community Day.  


Mark and I got to hang out with Mrs. Jane.  We all watched the NC State vs. UNC basketball game.  There were only two bad things about this.  First, NC State lost.  Second, Mrs. Jane MADE both of us WEAR these awful UNC shirts.  Just take a look.

That's o.k. though, we didn't have to wear them on Sunday to watch the final of the ACC Tournament, and we ALL know what happened then.   Check back soon to hear what else we did on Saturday.  -Micheal.

My brother Mark......

Hi there everyone, it's Michael here.  Today I want to introduce you to and tell you more about my twin brother Mark.  Here's a picture of us together.

As I have told you, Mark is my twin brother, except he has something called Cerebral Palsy (CP for short).  CP is a developmental disability that affects Mark's ability to control his movement.   The muscles in Mark's mouth, hands, and legs are affected.  He has to use a wheelchair to get around, and he just loves the freedom it gives him.   He calls it his "cruiser!"


In addition to muscle stiffness, the kind of Cerebral Palsy Mark has can cause muscle seizures.  That's why he wears a helmet.  During a seizure, he might fall out of his chair and hit his head.  Mark say, "I wear this helmet to protect my great brains!"


For Mark, one of the hardest parts of having cerebral palsy is talking, because the muscles in his mouth and throat are stiff.  His words come out slowly and sound slurred, and it is sometimes hard for people to understand what he is saying.  Mark is working with a speech-language pathologist, Ms. J, who helps him learn how to better control his muscles so he can swallow more easily and is able to speak more clearly.


So when I sat down to tell Mark all about the Spread the Word movement and special day (which is tomorrow 3/7/2012) he wanted to hear all about it!

Mark got really excited when I told him about the r-word day.  You see, I've heard people call Mark the r-word, either to him or behind his back.  I know how bad this makes him feel.  Sometimes students do this, sometimes people out in public.  Sometimes it's because they don't know better, but worse sometimes they do!


In fact, I asked Mark about this, and he told me how sad it makes  him feel when someone uses the r-word when talking to him or about him. He said sometimes people are just being plain mean too!


Here he is telling me all about how he feels.  You can see how excited he is!

So please, don't ever use the r-word.  Also, nicely correct anyone you may hear using it too.  Do this for not only Mark, but everyone who had a developmental disability.  It would be one of the best things you could ever do to help them.


Check back again soon.  -Michael

Spread the Word to End the Word (again)......

Happy Monday everyone, it's Michael here.  This week, is the Spread the Word to End the Word day.  March 7, 2012 to be specific.  If you haven't checked out their website yet, the please do check it out.  It is full of great stories, news, activities, downloads and bunches of other stuff.


I told you about Mrs. Jane getting an end the r-word t-shirt the other day.  Here's a picture for you.  I even got to be in the picture!

It's a great shirt, and Mrs. Jane told me she was so very proud to get one for her very own.   Here's Mr. Jay the teacher at the Adult Compensatory Education class at RCCC, showing us the back of the shirt.  Thanks, Mr. Jay for all you do!

If you remember, Mrs. Jane let me model her new t-shirt, but she didn't let me have it.  Bummer!!  Oh well that's all for today.  I'm going to post again this week, to tell you all about my brother Mark, so be looking for that.  Also, Mrs. Jane says this will be a very busy week because some people from CARF are coming to visit us.  They are going to help us with something called "Accreditation."  I know Mr. Rob has been busy helping to get ready, and Mrs. Jane has been really busy with this, so I hope all goes well.  Take care and check back soon.  -Michael. 

Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month......

Hey everyone, Micheal here.  Mr. Rob told me I should make a blog post about March being Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.  Thanks to President Ronald Reagan, in 1987 he issued a Presidential Proclamation making it so. 

Mr. Rob said this would be a good picture to post letting everyone know about this.  He said you could find out lots more about this special month by looking at The Arc's website.

In honor of this month, and a special movement called "Spread the Word to End the Word," I am introducing my twin brother Mark.  I will be making a post in a couple of days telling all about Mark.  He is very special to me, and I am proud he is my twin brother.  Check back soon to hear all about him.  -Michael