If you are a parent/legal guardian of a child under 18 years of age with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis, you may submit your application for the AutismWish initiative. If eligible, we will make every effort to match your child's wishlist with a Hero who will select an item(s) to gift your child.
Please subscribe to the newsletter by submitting your email below to be notified when the 2021 applications for the AutismWish program re-open. We will also be running special gift drives throughout the year, which will be announced in our newsletter.
Applications for AutismWish's 2020 waitlist are due by December 11th, 2020 at 11:59PM EST. Applications will be closed to the public on December 11th at midnight but will reopen again in 2021. If you would like to be alerted when the next round of applications opens, please subscribe below to receive updates about the program.
***APPLICATIONS FOR 2020 ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED***
AutismWish is a volunteer-led initiative that is flexible to meet the needs of the autistic child (hereby referred to as the ‘Wisher’). The program is designed to improve the Wisher’s quality of life and increase or maintain independence by granting sensory or therapeutic items off of their ASD-tailored Amazon Wishlist. AutismWish aims to match children who may be eligible to have Amazon Wishlist items granted with public charitable gifters or ‘Heroes’. These Heroes select and gift specific sensory or therapeutic items off your autistic child’s list to address his/her specific needs.
Note: Although we aim to match all Wishers with Heroes, it is possible that your child will not be matched immediately if there are not enough Heroes at the time. If this is the case, your child will be placed on a waitlist and will be notified once they are able to be matched with a Hero.
Matches are determined by eligibility and availability of Heroes to gift to your child. There may be cases where a match cannot be made due to no available Heroes at the time. In these cases, your child's list will be kept on a waitlist to be matched with the next available Hero(es). You will be contacted once a match has been made. A Hero may gift as much or as little as they deem appropriate. Multiple Heroes can gift towards a specific child's list or they may opt to gift from a variety of lists. There is no guarantee that your child will be matched with a Hero or gifted, however we will do our best to find a match. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at autismwish@gmail.com .
In order to be considered for the AutismWish program, your child must meet the following criteria:
Please email your child's proof of diagnosis on official letterhead to AutismWish@gmail.com. It must include the following:
Some examples of proof of diagnosis include but are not limited to:
If providing the diagnosis paperwork, you only need to submit the page with the diagnosis as well as the page with your child's name and age. We encourage you to blackout any sensitive information other than those required above prior to sending file. Note: Those who do not submit proof of diagnosis will not be considered for the AutismWish program.
Sample note:
"To Whom It May Concern:
I am the physician who evaluated [CHILD'S FIRST NAME], [DOB: 0/00/0000]. At the time, his/her diagnoses are: [DIAGNOSIS]"