A Favorite Company Takes On My Favorite Cause

Clear stamps are one of my favorite scrapbook toys, and since my first introduction to their products, Technique Tuesday has been one of my favorite manufacturers of them. Now, as well as manufacturing my favorite product, they are also supporting my favorite cause: Autism.

Many in the scrapbook world are already aware that I am the mother of a child with autism. My only surviving child, my daughter Bridget, was diagnosed with the disorder in November 2005. She was two and a half years old at the time of her diagnosis, but deep down we had known something was different about her for a long time.

Although Bridget’s diagnosis was devastating to us, it gave us the opportunity to get her the help that she needed. We have been incredibly fortunate that she has responded beautifully to speech and occupational therapy and to being in a special needs pre-k classroom (thanks in large part to the amazing staff there). The child who barely said a word, wouldn’t make eye contact and exhibited no parental attachment, now looks us in the eye and comes looking for cuddles and kisses or asks for her “cheerios” or “Dora” when she wants to eat or watch a cartoon. She is by no means a normal three year old, but has come a long way with her therapy and with continued treatment will hopefully be able to live a mostly normal life as an adult.

I know that we are lucky. I see her classmates every day who started off with more severe autistic symptoms and who face more challenges. We need to find out why 1 in 150 children in the United States are being born with this disorder in recent years, a 1000% increase over ten years ago and more than are being diagnosed with a host of other high-profile disorders such as AIDS and cancer combined. A recent gene study has implicated possibly a series of as many as 100 chromosomes with copying defects that contribute to autism, which could explain the wide range of symptoms and varying severity of cases of kids with spectrum disorders, and also explain why pinpointing a single cause has been so problematic.

Autism Speaks is an organization founded in 2005 by Bob Wright, the former CEO of NBC Universal, and his wife to raise funds for research, public awareness and family services for people with autism. They were motivated to focus attention and efforts on autism by watching their own grandson’s battle with the disorder. Autism Speaks has quickly gained momentum and focused a lot of attention – and needed funding – on research into the fundamental causes of this neurological epidemic.

April is Autism Awareness Month, and Technique Tuesday announced today that they are joining with the efforts of Autism Speaks for all of 2007 through their new company charitable giving program called “Tuesday’s Child“. The beneficiary for 2007 will be autism research, and to help raise funds, on Apr. 2nd Technique Tuesday is releasing two new products. During 2007, they will donate 50% of the proceeds from those two products to autism research. One of the new products is a stamp set called “Pieces of the Puzzle“, which has an MSRP of $9.99. The other is a tile set that is 12″ square, with an MSRP of $8.99, called Fundamental Pieces. While both of the items are autism-based in their designs, they could definately be used for other uses as well.

I cannot wait to place my order from Technique Tuesday for these items and get some of my favorite company’s products and support autism research at the same time!

In conjunction with the release of the two fundraising products and with April’s Autism Awareness Month, Technique Tuesday is also hosting a special gallery challenge for autism awareness layouts. At the end of the month, judging will determine the layout which best raises autism awareness and a prize of $50 of Technique Tuesday products will be awarded.