About a year ago, we had what we thought was an amazing idea – there are subscription boxes for everything and everyone – why isn’t there a subscription box for people on the Autism Spectrum?
With the help of our first box designer – Tucker James Collins, our family member and now-recent Neurochemistry graduate from Drexel University – we put together a selection of fidgets, personal care items and unexpected special interests for our first box.
Perhaps calling it a “subscription” was a bit misleading – our intent was to start with a single box and, if the demand were high enough, move on to others.
It’s been slow going, and we’ve seen some interest, which has been enough to keep us moving ahead. But orders came in at a very tiny trickle.
And then something amazing happened.
Someone bought three of them.
Now, while I don’t know the full story about why this customer did that, here’s what I hope happened:
- I hope they gave one to a person on the Autism Spectrum, and I hope there was something in that box that that person found pleasing.
- I hope they kept one for themselves, and found something in the box that they enjoyed, and maybe even opened up for them a new way of seeing the world.
- I hope that they gave one to someone who isn’t on the Autism Spectrum, and that they found something in the box that they enjoyed, and which helped to open their eyes to a new way of seeing and experiencing the world around them.
In our own family, Autism is an everyday part of life. And while that has meant we’ve had to make some adjustments in how we operate as a family, it’s also meant an awakening for all of us to a variety of ways of seeing the world, and experiencing it.
That’s what we hope Try it Aut can do, for you.