Since, setting up Advocacy for Autism, this has been one of the first posts I wanted to create for this blog. One of my intentions for this blog is to bring to light those companies that are doing right by the autism community, and those that need some work. Think of it as a “hit” or “miss” of autism awareness. For this particular post, I see IKEA as being a “hit” in the most positive sense, and making a once challenging situation for my child with autism, right.

Not too long ago, we took our three children to IKEA and knew our first stop would be at the children’s play area, which I believe they call Smaland. Our other two children had been there before several times, but this was the first time that we took our daughter with autism there. She is toilet-trained and can follow the rules of the children’s play area. The only thing she objected to, was the stamp they wanted to place on her hand. Now, many of you who are reading this already know the outcome of this scenario once the stamp came toward her. She screamed, “no stamp” and wanted something else instead (in gymnastics she receives a sticker instead of a stamp). The employees working the play area (front desk) stated that she had to have a stamp to go in and that was the policy. I sadly took her away, not wanting to take on a fight or make a scene at the time, and we went to the cafeteria upstairs instead. Our other two children enjoyed the play area. I felt so bad for our little girl that she could not participate with her typical peers just because she didn’t want a stamp on her hand.

Now the good news….I mulled this over for a couple of days and decided that this wasn’t right and that someone at IKEA in a more senior position should know about it. I contacted the appropriate person, which happened to be a media relations person, and also noticed that one of IKEA’s causes is supporting children with autism. I decided that they should know our story. Almost immediately the media relations person forwarded my email to the customer relations manager at IKEA. She called me (several times) and we finally spoke about what had transpired at her IKEA store. She said how sorry she was and that they have workarounds in place to accommodate children with special needs. I also mentioned how other companies use wristbands and that this might be a better route to go for all children, so everyone is treated equally.

Fast forward….Our next visit to IKEA’s Smaland was a very pleasant experience. We once again took our three children and noticed their policy had changed for the better and they were now issuing wristbands, instead of stamps, to ALL children. Our children went on to play happily, and we were so relieved as parents.

I encourage all parents out there to speak out if they see something that seems unjust to their child with special needs. You might find that if you speak out for your child, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the response you eventually receive in return.