Our Story

Our son was unofficially diagnosed with autism by his speech therapist shortly after turning 2. Let me tell you — our world was rocked. Despite suspecting that he was on the spectrum, we didn’t know what to make of the professional confirmation. What did that mean in terms of long-term care and day-to-day needs? How would we navigate schools? Making friends? How would we help our extended family members understand his diagnosis and needs when we didn’t even know what to do about it ourselves?

So I immediately got to Googling, yearning to understand more about my baby and his condition — a disorder we would later learn that my husband also has.

After over a year’s worth of research, countless discussions with my husband for insight into autism from his perspective, and compiling my personal observations of my son and husband, I was able to gather several products to help our days move a bit more smoothly. We were making do with our son’s speech therapy and had even gotten him enrolled into occupational therapy. The waitlist for an official diagnosis in our city and all nearby ones was close to a year long, leaving me to look for more creative ways to keep our son moving forward and our household intact. I’d noticed a very large gap in products for neurologically diverse people in general, simply because there’s not enough information surrounding day-to-day life and support of these individuals, and I found that to be especially true for autistic people. There was virtually nothing available for adults, and hardly anything past the diagnosis phase for kids. The majority of available information was on neurodiverse people in social settings or in educational environments, which was nice to see… but what about home life?

I started complaining to my mother about this information and product gap, wishing that there were more affordable products and resources available for my son and others with autism, but knowing that they’d be very difficult to find because they’re so specific — my chief complaint was not being able to quickly find socks with grips all the way to the toes because, like many auties, my son walks and runs exclusively on his toes. He would frequently slip when running around on our hardwood floors to self-regulate.

One day, while in the car with my mom and complaining to her – again – about issues I’ve had sourcing very specific things for him, she nonchalantly says, “Well, why don’t you just open up a store and keep everything in one place for everyone else?” She was right. With the sharp rise in autism diagnoses and heightened awareness of neurodiversity, we need a hub to provide products specifically with these amazing and unique individuals in mind.

So, I present to you a compilation of my thoughts, visions, and desire for inclusivity in the form of a store and community forum. I present to you a judgement-free place to browse, advocate, and inform. I present to you my own little contribution to our bright future. I present to you, ‘Tism Things.

Here’s to being the change we want to see.

Alexandra Gregory, Founder and Co-owner