We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cindy Gelormini. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cindy below.
Cindy, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I always felt a sense of destiny or purpose in my life, but I just wasn’t sure what it was. For many years I was a mom raising 4 kids and didn’t see my life as much different than anyone else’s, except that I was raising a severely autistic son. When he was diagnosed it was one in 10,000 kids being diagnosed, so it was pretty unheard of. But then I watched the number rise to 1 in 500, 1 in 200, 1 in 100, 1 in 75, 1 in 50, and now 1 in 35. I realized a lot more moms are now going to be going through what I went through, but I was way ahead of them in the journey. I have already been through what they are going through. They say your “test is your testimony” and “your mess is your message”. I realized that this is probably going to be my calling and purpose, to help other moms raising autistic kids.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My son Robbie had Severe Autism and he went to a great school for kids with Autism. But when he graduated at 21 all services fell off a cliff. I started a YouTube channel called “Robbie and Me: Autism Reality” to try to advocate for the over 21 Autism Community. I followed Robbie around for 4 years talking about Autism, how much care is needed for the severe population, and how the State of New Jersey needs to get their act in gear before all the younger kids turn 21. I had no idea that in 2017 Robbie would suddenly go to heaven one morning from a seizure in his sleep.
In 2019 I decided to write a children’s book series of 12 stories about a little penguin with Autism in his memory. It was my healing process. Then when the lockdown happened in 2020 I sat at my dining room table and painted all 340 illustrations for the 12 stories. The amazing part, as I looked back, was that I looked at things I had done in my life and how it all came together in that moment. I sing in worship bands at church and went through a period where I used to write songs, and recorded 2 CD’s. Writing the stories in rhyme was just like writing 12 songs. I also used to be a mural artist, and painted many children’s rooms. So painting the illustrations was again just a normal thing for me. The way I thought of all the stories to write was simply by thinking of all the videos I had done on my YouTube channel with Robbie and the things we taught people. I also just thought of stories from when he was a little boy. As I painted the illustrations it was my way of spending time with him.
One day I posted pictures on Facebook of all the illustrations I was working on and a friend who is a teacher said, “I can’t wait to read the stories to my first grade class.” That was a lightbulb moment! I had been imagining the stories being read by families of kids who were newly diagnosed with autism. I never thought of the books being read to neurotypical children in public schools! So I bought a big penguin mascot costume in anticipation of doing events for kids.
The series is called “Robbie’s World and His SPECTRUM of Adventures!” I did a Kickstarter campaign so I could self publish the books and sent the files off to the publisher. They were finished in March, just in time for Autism Awareness Month in April. I was featured on The Today Show on April 2, 2021 for Autism Awareness Day. I did several radio and podcast interviews. But I felt like I was a little out of the loop when it comes to the Autism world, and wanted to catch up. So I started my own podcast on my YouTube channel and began to interview other parents and professionals within the Autism space. Since the book came out during the time when kids were doing school virtually I did a couple virtual school visits. But last year I started doing school assemblies, teaching kids about autism and reading two of the stories, Each story ends with “I love you just the way you are!” so it’s a great message of inclusion and teaching kids how to accept others just the way they are. And the kids LOVE the penguin mascot!
One of goals I had for the book was to make money so I could hold retreats for moms with autistic kids. I know they can feel lonely, isolated and stressed out, and I wanted to help. So in October 2021 I held my first retreat. It turned out great! I asked other autism mom friends to help me out and they did an amazing job. A friend helped me raise a little money and she said if I was going to continue doing retreats I should start a foundation. So I did! I called it Robbie’s World Foundation to keep everything in my son’s name. In January 2025 we will be holding our 4th retreat for moms, and we have also held 2 Beach Bash events for the whole family at Island Beach State Park in August.
We have created a nice little community of families who are now friends and look forward to seeing each other at each event. So my next goal is to open a center where they can come regularly for events. I have learned that after school ends many of these kids get lonely and are looking for friends. I would like to create a space for them to come and do activities and classes and have a place to hang out with each other. Another goal is the get the books animated to try to reach a wider audience, and I would love to have it done by someone on the spectrum. If the center becomes a reality maybe we can hold animation classes and Robbie’s World can be their first project!
For more information about what we do, and to watch videos of our events and the podcast, visit our website RobbiesWorldBook.com
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Creativity- Don’t loose your creativity. Don’t get so bogged down with daily life that you forget to do something creative, whether it’s drawing, cooking or even taking pictures with your phone.
Perseverance- Keep going. The more you work on something the better it gets. I look back at my early murals and can definitely see how my painting skills improved over the years. It’s the same with music, exercise or most things. The longer you keep doing it the better you get at it.
Dream- I have been doing vision boards for the past few years and I frame them and keep them in my office in front of me. I put the books on there, a photo of me on The Today Show, small dreams and big dreams. By keeping them in front of my face it reminds me what my goals are.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
The thing I like least about having a foundation is the fundraising and asking people for money. I am able to do it because I’m passionate about helping these families. But it would be great to have someone on my team that is really good at fundraising and applying for grants!
I’m also not great with computers. That’s why I painted my illustrations. Everyone else creates their illustrations digitally. I would love help with animating the books, and as I mentioned, maybe even have someone teach kids on the autism spectrum how to do it. I think they would love that!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://robbiesworldbook.com
- Instagram: Robbie’s World
- Facebook: Robbie’s World Foundation
- Linkedin: Cindy Gelormini
- Youtube: Robbie’s World
Image Credits
I took all the photos with my phone.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
