This is my first blog post, and the first one on StimSensory.
I started StimSensory recently (almost a week ago at the time of writing). The idea for StimSensory started when I was 16 and trying to buy stim toys for my birthday. One of my special interests is Autism Spectrum Disorders (and Psychology in general), and I’d started trying to see my own Asperger’s as a positive thing. I’m lucky to have amazing parents who have always supported me and helped me with various aspects of the condition. They helped me look for stim toys, but even our combined effort couldn’t find any affordable stim toys for adults or teenagers.
In the end, we ended up ordering from an awesome, US based stim toy shop, but the shipping and custom duty charges meant it wasn’t really ‘affordable’, and the long wait times (for delivery and to get through customs) meant it wasn’t a valid option for regular purchases.
I was frustrated with this. Why didn’t the UK have an autistic run shop with affordable stim toys? Why were they all aimed at children, rather than the adults those children grow up to be? Why did they not cater to a range of senses, rather than focusing on just one sense and calling it a day? And most importantly, why did the other companies charge such high prices when so many autistic people are unemployed and have little disposable income?
I figured, no one else was doing this, so why don’t I?
And thus StimSensory was born.