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Recycling Book Underway

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Our 4th book is now well underway. It’s a rubbish book … which isn’t what you think 🙂

We have been collecting cans and bottles from local businesses and houses, so we are turning these into a book on recycling. A recycling book fully funded by recycling! Very cool. Plus Elijah is meeting more and more people around our local area, building connections which will help him later in life. (And it gets him away from screen time, teaching him a good work ethic!)

We will then give these recycling books out as rewards, as supporters give us their recycling items … and with the profits we will be able to distribute free books to schools in the local community (and then further afield) with the intention of:

  1. Encouraging reading;
  2. Creating awareness of recycling;
  3. Creating awareness of Down syndrome;
  4. Introducing more people to Elijah and Crumpet.

Recycling as a community project attracts a lot of support, from locals, businesses, council and local media. So I would definitely recommend it as a way to raise funds for a worthy cause.

To follow our book illustrations progressing from draft ideas through to final pages, complete with commentary, click here!

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Testing for Down Syndrome

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Bloganuary writing prompt
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
View all responses

This is my first Bloganuary post using the prompt above. I have been following Andy Marshall’s posts each day, but this one prompted me to take action! If you haven’t met us before, Elijah and Crumpet (played by Dad, Rob) have made a load of YouTube videos and have a range of rhyming, illustrated kid’s books on different topics (not about Down syndrome, but with Elijah as the main character). Signed copies are available on our website, www.elijahandcrumpet.com

Many families who have experienced Down syndrome say that they ‘wouldn’t change a thing’. It’s a well-known phrase on social media. Why? Because their child has brought them so many positives that (if they ever thought otherwise) they no longer view Down syndrome with the negativity that they once had. Life as a family becomes a bit different, but it’s still a good life which has meaning, achievements, love, happiness and much more.

So I would get rid of testing for Down syndrome. That does come with another societal change, though. A few in fact, since you can’t just undo one thing that society has created and hope for the best. In a world that welcomed Down syndrome as a natural part of life and humankind, you would find a lot more support for people living with Down syndrome. It would be easier for them to receive an excellent education and they would be given equal opportunities in the workplace, with support and modified work if required, yet still with the same pay as regular workers.

Imagine a world which valued Down syndrome as a gift. A world in which you received only genuine congratulations from everyone when your child was born and not ‘sorry to hear that your baby has Down syndrome’.

Now, many families with any kids do struggle. A regular kid can have many issues growing up and in life. So it’s not everyone who finds parenting easy, just as bringing up a child with Down syndrome is not easy for everyone. But with more support, it would be made easier.

The test stands for choice. (Note that my view is not right to life as a choice – that is another debate which is certainly worthwhile but it’s a different argument that I am presenting here.) That choice represents how society values the condition of Down syndrome. With most parents choosing to terminate on finding out that their unborn has an extra 21st chromosome, it shows that Down syndrome is not valued. In many countries we have come a long way from the past, when people with Down syndrome were institutionalised. We perhaps value the condition more now than in the past. But back then it was only discovered at birth, so it was at least more common in society.

Iceland declared a few years back their ‘success’ in being able to identify Down syndrome with a 100% success rate. Would this ability mean that Down syndrome would be wiped out? That the condition would no longer exist? That people with Down syndrome would not be allowed the chance to impact and change the world with their unique abilities and personalities? That’s the risk we face.

When I look at Elijah and ask whether or not the world is better off with him being present, it’s obviously a simple answer – ‘yes, much better off’. The thought that testing might have reduced his chance of life is horrific. Yet testing has prevented many lives with Down syndrome from having been lived, prevented many families from experiencing the things that we say we appreciate dearly, and prevented society from sharing more of this experience.

(We didn’t have an early test, by the way, for the sole reason that we were already of the opinion that we would be fine if we had a child with Down syndrome. That turned out to be a great opinion to hold.)

#downsyndrome #testingfordownsyndrome #downsyndrometest

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Book #3 is now available!

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‘Best Book Forever’ has just been published! Written with the support of Logan City Council Libraries and the First 5 Forever team, ‘Best Book Forever’ is a celebration of libraries – showing how lucky we are to have these places to explore and seek out magical stories.

This brings our Elijah and Crumpet book series up to 3 books, which is very exciting to see. We can now start working on book #4, which is our recycling book.

If you would like to order, please click here: Order Books

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Best Book Forever

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“Hey, isn’t that this book? How clever!” says Elijah as Crumpet finally brings him the library book he is looking for.

We have been working away over the past 6 months on the third book in the Elijah and Crumpet series: Best Book Forever. This book idea came about when we made a video for our local Logan Library up in Queensland. They were keen to support early readers and also inclusion, so we came up with the idea of writing a book about the library.

Andy Marshall was busy with his own kid’s book, plus running a cafe, so understandably he had to decline the offer to illustrate this one. So we eventually found an illustrator, Fatima Arif, who was able to continue the look of Elijah and Crumpet.

Now we are in the final stages of having this ready to print … so if you would like to pre-order a copy, please click this link: https://elijahandcrumpet.com/crowdfunding/

We look forward to sharing Best Book Forever with you – you will be able to download a free pdf from our supporter page on Buy Me A Coffee in the near future: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/crumpet

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Elijah and Crumpet in the Blue Mountains Gazette!

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For Down Syndrome Awareness Month, which is October, we contacted our local paper, the Blue Mountains Gazette, to see if they were interested in writing an article on us. They were! So here it is, a lovely article with lots of information and positive vibes about Elijah and Crumpet! Link to online version is below if the image is hard to read.

https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/8335106/elijah-and-crumpet-local-father-and-son-youtubers-release-book-for-down-syndrome-awareness/

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October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

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Did you know that October is the internationally recognised Down Syndrome Awareness Month?

It’s a month which is chosen so that everyone can channel their energy towards social media campaigns and projects to raise awareness of Down syndrome.

So what have Elijah and Crumpet been doing?

2021 Childhood Summit

Elijah submitted an application video for the 2021 Childhood Summit which is being held in Logan this month. He was chosen to be a speaker, so we agreed that he would make a video on his chosen subject, seeing as that’s his strongest means of communication. He will be talking about imaginative playground design.

We have been busy practising Elijah’s speech and this weekend we completed the filming (funnily enough, meeting 2 other Elijahs in the playgrounds we visited – one of whom is appearing with his sister in our video!)

Super Scout Update

Elijah and Crumpet also filmed their Super Scout video this weekend (it’s been a busy weekend!), so we are all set to launch several crowdfunding campaigns once this video is edited.

Working with Scouts Queensland is great, but we need to fund the illustration costs, so seeing as we have experience of crowdfunding, we thought we should make the most of it. We gain a broader reach on each platform we list on, so it’s really a case of ‘the more, the merrier’! We will set the target amounts very low to ensure that we can collect whatever we raise.

Our fundraising page is all ready on our website, with pre-order copies starting to sell now at $20 for a signed, limited edition copy.

So that’s enough news for October! It’s quite busy, but it’s been fun and we are continuing to sell copies of Motivate Man both through our website and through online channels.

Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

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Super Scout

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Time for another Blog post, now that we have released news about the second book we are working on: Elijah and Crumpet – Super Scout!

Scouts Queensland are currently trialing our first book, Motivate Man, as a fundraiser so that we can get the logistics of it right. We will then decide how we can use both Motivate Man and Super Scout around the Scout network in Queensland, then get the rest of the country interested!

We will be providing the books at cost price and Scout Groups will then be able to keep the profits they make. All of this comes under the Scout’s Sustainable Development Goal 10 on inclusion and diversity, so it’s a great collaboration. Here is Elijah’s introduction video about the book:

Tea with the Governor

I was invited to attend an afternoon tea at Government House in Brisbane to meet His Excellency the Governor, The Honourable Paul de Jersey and his wife, Mrs Kaye de Jersey. I joined a large group of Scouts (youths, Leaders and management) and found these events happen because the Governor is the Chief Scout of the Queensland Branch. So it was great to network with the various Scouting personnel and I was able to give Mrs de Jersey a ‘Motivate Man’ book, upon which she had someone bring a copy of her book, ‘Gavel finds his place’, which is about the Vice-Regal dog, also a kid’s book.

Book 3 – still a secret!

We have since made some more connections and hope to get some press coverage soon, to coincide with the book launch … or launches. Did I say that we have also started on book 3? We can’t say too much at the moment, but the script is done and we are just waiting on the green light before we start illustrating.

Illustrating the books LIVE!

So if you would like to follow the creation process of Super Scout, please come and visit Andy Marshal and me when Andy does his ‘Sketchy Live’ on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/c/AndyMarshallForkInTheRoad

You can message us questions and we are normally on from 9.30 for about an hour (depending on kids sleeping). We discuss options, add funny things, trouble shoot and discuss a wide range of topics. Plus you hear our news.

2021 Childhood Summit

Elijah recently applied to speak at the Childhood Summit taking place in Logan next month, producing a 2-minute presentation on video. Well, he nailed it and was chosen, so we are now doing a 10-minute presentation about Playgrounds and Imagination. Should be good. If you haven’t seen it, you can watch Elijah’s 2-min application here:

That’s all for now,

Stay safe, Rob and Elijah and Crumpet 🙂

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The Power of Being Positive

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If you are not listening to Podcasts, I recommend that you have a listen! I only jumped on to learn about writing a book, self-publishing and crowdfunding. I am amazed at how much I have listened to and how much I have learned. I feel like I am at university again, or learning my role at work – it’s a good feeling to be filling up a new part of my brain and learning some new skills!

Crumpet knows how to listen!

I listen on my hour-long trip to work and either listen at 1.5x speed or 2x speed, since most people on podcasts take their time. It means I cover twice as much ground 🙂 I also recommend skipping the first 3 mins usually as they are just introductions. So I found some very good channels and I have listened to about 100 hours now, condensed into 50 hours.

There’s a lot of experience out there and the interviews with successful crowdfunders all talk about preparation. They also talk about ‘going for it’ rather than waiting until you are sure that the project will be successful. You learn as you go and you sometimes have to just try it out. You may fail, but if you don’t try, you will never know and you will never learn. You have to be positive.

I tested the site with the Art project, but there was little interest. Rather than seeing this as a failure, I learned a lot. The nervousness about what will happen when I press the launch button – it’s no longer an issue! I know that I will be bombarded with people offering me all types of services which I don’t need, so I am prepared for that too. I know that you have to have a product that people really want, so I hope that our book, Motivate Man, will be attractive to many.

Friends and family, and supporters, are great – they give words of support as they are meant to! But unless that converts into orders from people not connected to me, the project will end up being much smaller than it otherwise could be. So I am working hard on growing a community who are interested in backing this and future projects. Kickstarter is not just about raising money – the project helps create interest in the cause, which is to raise awareness for Down syndrome and disability. So if we end up with a larger community, it will be a success.

I have started late on this, so the focus is to be creative and find ways to generate interest. Giveaway competitions, media leads, word of mouth, engaging on Facebook – these are all helping, but there’s not a lot of time left, as you can see from the countdown timer on the left! But it’s going to be fun and I am up for the challenge. With your support we can do this. That’s the power of positivity!

Please join our News-e-Letter for tips and additional info about the book – all those who are in the email group (which is kept private and confidential) when the Kickstarter launches will receive a link to our first (unpublished) book: Elijah and Crumpet – World Famous YouTubers, read by Elijah!

https://elijahandcrumpet.wordpress.com/contact/

Have a great week, all the best, Rob

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Finally on Facebook!

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Well, we did it! We jumped through the burning virtual hoops and worked out how to get a page for Elijah and Crumpet on Facebook. Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/ElijahandCrumpetBooks

Now I am burning up time checking out groups on there, but it’s an amazing platform, so I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in that space.

The history of why we were not already on Facebook is quite simple – when I first tried to open an account with Elijah, he was too young. Then I had two faces in the picture (one being Crumpet), so it was blocked as it went against the guidelines. So the name Elijah and Crumpet was taken … by me! But blocked!!

Last weekend I researched what I needed to do. I finally worked out that I had to open an account with my name, then make a page for Elijah and Crumpet, then I could create a closed group. So that is all now complete and we have 10 likes and a few members. Yay!

So please come on over if you are on Facebook – you get a free entry into the book draw if you join the group! I have already connected with people from all around the world on there and it’s very satisfying to be able to add an encouraging comment for someone in need.

Short one today as it’s late and I have to get on with the edit for our Kickstarter video. 16 days to go until we launch (don’t you love the countdown clock I added on the left! It’s a good motivator for me!)

Have a great day/night! 🙂 Rob

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So Many Amazing People

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Since we started our YouTube channel, I have connected with so many amazing people – some creators on YouTube, some people working in the field of advocacy or disability services, but mainly people with Down syndrome and their families. I wish we had started earlier, since before we put ourselves out there, there were many people doing just that, using social media to advocate and make more people aware.

Why didn’t we start earlier? 3 reasons, really:

Firstly, I didn’t know what I was doing and I didn’t have the time, or I didn’t think I had the time, to learn. I didn’t have Instagram or Twitter and up until a couple of years ago I wasn’t even set up with an account on YouTube! I had no reason to be on social media, I thought life was busy enough.

Secondly, we were absorbed by working with Elijah to give him a normal life. A fully inclusive education and regular activities. Life was busy and being an advocate seemed to be something that other people wanted to do. While we do have friends who have kids with Down syndrome whom we met early on, we were not going to group functions. Again, life seemed busy enough!

Thirdly, the fear of social media and putting Elijah ‘out there’ in the world – a world where trolls abounded and it would only be asking for trouble. Now I know, the reality is that there are hardly any trouble-makers and far more lovely people. So, if I knew back then what I know now, maybe we might have started sooner!

So I commented recently that of all the supportive comments from our 1000 YouTube and 4000 Instagram followers, I have only ever received one nasty comment. Their comment doesn’t deserve to be told – it wasn’t that bad, but was intended to annoy. So I sent a nice comment back thanking them for increasing our views, reported them and blocked them. Job done. It didn’t bother me and it was actually then a talking point about how I had my first negative comment! It was like I had been waiting too long and now I had earned my first Troll badge! I am confident with the processes that Instagram and others have in place, making it quite difficult for those trouble-makers to be annoying for long.

Back to the amazing people, though … so while we are aiming to inspire, educate and entertain, there are so many doing exactly the same, or some of these. I am blown away by the abilities of so many people with Down syndrome whom I have seen on their Instagram accounts – business owners, workers, dancers, models, actors, sportspeople, or just happy kids with their families. It’s great and this in itself does such a lot to advance positive understanding of the condition.

Before social media, we hardly saw people with Down syndrome. Sometimes a group of people on a day out with their care workers. Otherwise with so many being put into institutions in the bad old days, with short life expectancy, it was hardly surprising that there was something of a veil over what Down syndrome was.

I see that veil as having been lifted now and we are all using social media to do this very effectively. When you consider the small percentage still who are on it, things are going to go from good to great. It’s only a matter of time.

The other observation is the international nature of Down syndrome. This is something that I have touched on before. The condition goes across borders, just as being human does, but the bond between families around the world is so much stronger. While in an ideal world, just being human would serve as a strong bond, we kind of stuffed that up some time ago and are trying to make things good again. With Down syndrome, though, plus the connectivity of social media, we are living in the perfect age to work together for a better world future. There is a lot of work to be done, especially with developing countries like China and those in Africa, and especially in the face of genetic testing.

So, what can we do? Well, now is the time to start working on something for 2021 The Year of Down Syndrome. It’s not just for those with or close to Down syndrome, but for everyone. I’m always encouraged when I see people without Down syndrome advocating – like Madi from the Dallas Cowboys, who is putting out stories each day through October to raise awareness. We will be doing our video for her tomorrow, having been asked by Trista the Barista, a lady we met via Instagram (she’s a worker, hence the name, and a hip-hop dancer)(and she has Down syndrome). The more people who develop understanding, the faster society will repair the historical damage that exists. Great opportunities lie ahead!

Have a great day and thanks for following! If you haven’t, please click the follow button on the left and you can also sign up for my email News-e-Letter on the menu bar. Best wishes, Rob