Hi everyone! I am an adult who has severe ADHD (with a side order of Aspergers) and I am also a special education teacher. One of the interesting things that I experienceis that I tend to think big, and have exciting ideas, and my mind just goes ninety miles an hour. Although I have trouble paying attention to things that bore me, when something interests me it is HARD to stop thinking about it or doing it. Does this remind anyone of their kids? LOL!
So recently I had one of my grand ideas to start a group that sends cheerful mail to kids who are going through hard times. You know how some groups like that already exist to send cards to children with serious illnesses? Well I started thinking that A LOT of kids could use that extra support, not just those with serious health issues. So I whipped up a website and a group site, and Tori Joy’s Smiles was born.
Unlike most of my ideas, this one actually took off! We now have about thirty members, and have mailed about 200 cards (we only started in the end of January.) We even got a donation from Ricki Lake!
We get a lot of requests from parents who have kids with ADHD or Autism spectrum disorders... these kids seem to be frequent targets for bullying, and their parents are just looking for a way to cheer them up and show them that there are kind people in the world. I thought I'd post this here, because some people might have kids who are going through this (being bullied, feeling lonely, etc.)
We send mail to kids who are going through any type of difficult experience, from being bullied at school or having divorcing parents, to having special needs, to being homeless or being the victim of a crime. Parents can enroll their kids using a first name only, if they’d like, or even just an initial. Children’s information is only seen on a secured group site, by approved members who will be sending mail. We just try to send colorful, happy cards, and sometimes small gifts, to let kids know that there are kind people in the world who are rooting for them.
If anyone would like to check out our website, it is called Tori Joy’s Smiles.
- Nicki Tori Joy's Smiles
13 Feb 2013, 10:39 pm
