The love and devotion these two brothers have for each other made my heart melt. Don't miss it when they shoot for the moon at 2:37, and get the tissues ready when they make an NBA player tear up in front of a huge crowd at 3:20.

Love this article! 

Jack Robbins is an 8-year-old with nonverbal autism. According to his Mother, Carla, his communication is limited, and he doesn't usually indicate what he likes or put words together spontaneously. But recently, something remarkable happened: What Carla thought was just Jack making a random sound was actually singing — he had taken a shine to the Katy Perry song "Roar." Carla grabbed a camera and recorded his rendition, cheering him on. She wrote in the description of the video she uploaded to YouTube, "He never says a word he is not told to say and he spontaneously sang this song, over and over because, well, obviously he likes it! Which is a miracle and so cool that he had a preference for music, an artist, a song AND he's singing it!" Jack is a hit on YouTube, where some commenters are offering words of encouragement. People are calling the video "inspirational" and writing things like "Very cool! Go Jack!" Carla and her son also appeared on Dallas's WFAA-TV Tuesday morning, where she spoke about the experience of seeing her son in this surprising moment of musical inspiration.

Check it out below:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/8-year-old-with-nonverbal-autism-delights-mom-by-singing-katy-perry-s--roar-185817648.html?vp=1

In the United States, there are over six million people who have special health, developmental, and mental health concerns. Most of these people have typically-developing brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters are too important to ignore, if for only these reasons:

• These brothers and sisters will be in the lives of family members with special needs longer than anyone. Brothers and sisters will be there after parents are gone and special education services are a distant memory. If they are provided with support and information, they can help their sibs live dignified lives from childhood to their senior years.
• Throughout their lives, brothers and sisters share many of the concerns that parents of children with special needs experience, including isolation, a need for information, guilt, concerns about the future, and caregiving demands. Brothers and sisters also face issues that are uniquely theirs including resentment, peer issues, embarrassment, and pressure to achieve.

Despite the important and life-long roles they will play in the lives of their siblings who have special needs, even the most family-friendly agencies often overlook brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters, often left in the literal and figurative waiting rooms of service delivery systems, deserve better. True "family-centered" care and services will arrive when siblings are actively included in agencies' functional definition of "family".

The Sibling Support Project facilitated a discussion on SibNet, its listserv for adult siblings of people with disabilities, regarding the considerations that siblings want from parents, other family members, and service providers. Below is a discussion of themes discussed by SibNet members and recommendations from the Sibling Support Project. 


Click on the link to read the rest of the article: 
http://www.siblingsupport.org/publications/what-siblings-would-like-parents-and-service-providers-to-know

While the NFL is dealing with the issue of bullying in the Miami Dolphins locker room, a middle school football team in Michigan has a deeper understanding of the game that pros may never reach.

The Olivet Eagles football team at Olivet Middle School in Olivet, Michigan, decided to run a play and intentionally not score, all without their coaches knowing.The football team planned the play for weeks, all so they could set up a very special moment for a special boy.

Keith Orr is a special needs child, and his buddies on the football team decided to give him the chance to run for a touchdown. Sheridan Hedrick, a player on the team, would've easily scored a touchdown, but he instead took a knee on the 1-yard line, much to the dismay of the crowd.

Check out this amazing video below! 

Hospital stays are often stressful and worrying for all the family. Siblings will cope best if well prepared in advance so that their emotional and physical needs can be met. Check out this great article below:

http://sibs.org.uk/parents/helping-siblings-cope-difficult-situations/hospital-stays

Here with a short video Spencer Timme made about what it is like to have an older brother with autism. 

He writes: I hope you enjoy it and see how blessed I am to have Mitchel as my brother. I love him to death and I want everyone to see how awesome our bond is!

*note, every case of autism is different some more severe than others, not every autistic person is like my brother. This video speaks on behalf of my personal relationship with my brother.

Hey Everyone! 

Thanks for visiting my site. I will be posting pictures, inspirational messages, and links to provide ongoing support for siblings of children with mental and/or physical challenges. For my first post I wanted to share a very cute video of a girl who has a brother with down syndrome. She explains what it is like to live with her adopted brother. Check it out, it's a beautiful video. 


 http://www.godvine.com/You-Need-to-Hear-What-a-Little-Girl-Says-About-Her-Brother-With-Down-Syndrome-4188.html