BALTIMORE — Seven-year-old Noah Robinson loves swimming, maps, and directions, and he can tell you the flag of every country.
"And I know every country name,” said Noah.
A few years ago, life for the Robinson family changed when they found out that, at the age of three, Noah was diagnosed with autism.
"He doesn't like change, change was the biggest thing that we noticed that he had issues with. If we drive somewhere he always wanted the GPS on and if you got rerouted, he would just like have a meltdown because he thought you were going the wrong way,” said Joanna Robinson, who is Noah’s mom.
Joanna said he's come a long way with help from ABA therapy.
“Things have been going great they just taught him little calming exercises, they taught us the way to react to certain behaviors and it was a lengthy process but it works, you have to stick with it," Joanna said.
And come October 8, their family will walk in solidarity for the progress Noah has made at the Autism Speaks Walk. It's the third year for team Noah’s Lions.
"The first year we had ten people, last year we had 25,” said Joanna.
And this year they're trying to get even more.
"I just want to get around 50 people to come,” said Noah.
The family also does activities throughout the year that helps them get closer to their goal for the walk. "I did a lemonade stand and I raised about 300 dollars,” said Noah.
Joanna said raising money for the walk is important to them as Autism Speaks is who pointed them in the right direction from the beginning.
"It was right as COVID lockdown happened, so it was hard to start getting services and getting help. Once my friend told us about Autism Speaks it just put us in contact with so many different resources, parent groups where you could ask questions judge free and get a lot of advice and support,” said Joanna.
Now they're encouraging others to join in, because for them it's also about support.
"To connect with others who are going through something similar there's comfort in that. I'm sure there's families out there who might not feel that sense of connection, there's so much good that comes from this,” said Kelly Oxendine, who is Noah's cousin.
If you'd like to join Noah’s Lions in the walk or would like to donate to their team, click here.
