Have you visited AutismFreeZone yet?  You haven’t?!?   Boy are you really missing out!  Why are you missing out?   Because you can get free stuff?   Nope.  Well, you can get free stuff you might need, obviously; but, the reason you’re really missing out is because you can GIVE to others!

Last week I decided to put up a list of supplements I knew I would not be using (unopened and not expired OF COURSE). I figured I might get a taker or two, but didn’t get my hopes up because maybe some people wouldn’t want to risk getting supplements in this manner.

Well, let me tell you, I was wrong! I put up a list of about 10 supplements, and within two days I had six people requesting 7 of the supplements. Each person requesting the supplement offered to pay the shipping costs, which was nice. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that they wouldn’t get the full experience of a FREE zone if they had to pay, so I sent them out and covered the cost.

I think I spent thirteen bucks at the post office, a worthy price for the feeling I had when I dumped the packages on the counter and realized I was helping that many families. I know it’s not helping in a big way, but it’s helping in the only way I can help right now.

I have felt so good for the last few days and I really think it is because of the giving spirit I have bubbling inside me!

This weekend I’m going to try to put up some ABA goodies, add a few more supplements, and some other things I’m hoping someone might find useful or downright need desperately. The giving spirit is infectious, I hope you catch it!

Royce and Randy, thank you!  Thank you for AutismFreeZone, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to help other families.

Our test drive has gone live!

Click the link below and join. Please send us feedback.
This is a testing phase that will help us refine the website.

All items posted and wish-lists are live and active.
Feel free to trade items. This is the real deal!

Thanks!
Randy

We have not advertised nor sought out PR. We've just shared our idea with some of you and you've responded. We will wait to call "the media" until after we launch the website.

So, here is the plan:

On June 1st THE BETA TEST!

If you are not signed up please enter your name and email address in the sign-up form in the right side bar. We will be sending out information about the launch via email really soon.

The site will be launched on June 21, 2008 (assuming nothing goes haywire during the beta-testing).  Why June 21, 2008, you may ask? It's my birthday, the first day of summer, and 21 is my lucky number.
Financial relief for my birthday, could be the best present ever!

A critical part of this community's success will be based on member feedback.Please click on this link and take our latest survey. It will give us important insight as we move forward in our quest to get discounts for our members and advertising to sustain the website.

With gratitude,
Randy

www.AutismFreeZone.com

We will be composing a brief information email for everyone that signed up, that way
you will be up to date on how things are progressing. I wanted to share one of the many responses
we have received. I will post many more in the coming days!

Thank you for your comments and support. The wave is rising and soon we will have our own dedicated marketplace. If you have any ideas for the site or suggestions of companies you frequent please send me an email.  My email address is randy@autismfreezone.com.

This comment is from Jeanne:

"I don't know if you've heard this yet, but WHAT A GREAT IDEA! ;-)  I've signed up and am now going to put a link on my blog for you guys, as well as a write-up and link on The Autism Solution Center's website.

Can't wait for you guys to get up and running!"

So we are now posted at:

www.Autismsolutioncenter.com         Laura  Corby - Founder/CEO
www.Charlieinwonderland.com         Jeanne's Blog

The word is spreading fast..."THE ZONE" is being built,  together we have power and strength.

Thank you for being a part of this grassroots effort,
Randy

We were also contacted by Your Dinner Secret, an amazing company that ships out
GFCF meals all over the country. They have agreed to give our members a 5% discount
on all orders with a special code. Just type in AFZ in the Coupon code box to receive this
discount. You will find a link to their website in the right-hand column of this blog.
Thank you Your Dinner Secret for being the first company on-board to help our
community here at AutismFreeZone!

Our web-poll has been answered by 120 visitors and I am certain that no one is surprised that the
most pressing issue is paying for interventions. We are looking for some suggestions for our next poll.
Let us know what topic you would like and we will add it to the site this week.

Stay tuned...more to come.

Randy

I work in Hollywood, CA.  I am a Creative Director for movie marketing.  My job is to get you to see a movie or watch a television show.  I spent much of my career as a film editor before becoming management a few years back.  Before autism, I saw myself as a pretty successful guy making his way up the ranks from working in a video store in Philly as a teenager to running a department in Hollywood.  Autism has shaken who I am and how I see myself to the core. 

I'm sure that my experience is common to all of us in the autism community.  We need to unite and help each other.  If this blog attracts like-minded people, I will feel empowered and in control when we all know that I am neither (but if I lie a little to myself to help me get through this, who cares...). Surely autism had been the most far reaching event in the history of our family.  We've tried different things that have worked, others that haven't and we still search every evening for the next idea.  Sometimes we are spinning our wheels and other times we've had astounding success which keeps us going.  Everyday is a new adventure.

The next chapter in our journey is the launch of www.AutismFreeZone.com.

You are probably wondering what is www.AutismFreeZone.com?  Here's my idea...

AutismFreeZone is the first community based web-site focused on helping families impacted with autism deal with the financial hardships that have overwhelmed us.  As our economy struggles, so too do we who want nothing more than to fund our kid's diet, school program, interventions and more, yet we are not sure how to do it.  Our family's approach is to just spend the money and deal with the consequences later, "This is our kid, how can we not do everything to help her" is what my wife always says.  I believe it too, but here we are well into the journey and flailing financially.

Autismfreezone will save people money in many ways. The first thing is that there will be no membership fee for autismfreezone.com.

Next, the members will drive our initiatives, such as, which companies and products we need to get discounts from to benefit the largest percentage of members.

Here are some bullet points to help you understand some of our ideas that will manifest more fully with time.

1) A community based, password protected website for families with children on the spectrum.
2) A free-market (a la "Freecycle" for autism), where families can give those things they are done with and get needed items and services from each other for free.
3) Discounts from companies that have products which are needed by the community.
4) A knowledge portal that can be easily navigated.
5) Social networking tools, such as, video posts, podcasts, blogs and chats.
6) Sweepstakes, profit sharing and fund-raising to benefit the member families directly.

We need to have as MANY MEMBERS as possible. Power in numbers! The more people in our group the more incentive for companies, organizations and the government to listen and give us what we need: FINANCIAL RELIEF.

So for now sign-up. We will be sending out emails to keep you updated.

We will do a pre-launch to show you how AutismFreeZone is going to help all of our members save money through the power of community.  This is slated for the end of May.

Please feel free to comment, add your experiences and to help us build a place where all families impacted by autism can join together as we share our journey.

Families, THE TIME IS NOW, people are starting to hear us. We need to unite, for our kids and for our futures.

In my business, we say:

"Its show time!"

Best,

Randy

Be Sure to Check-Out "THE MOM BLOG" Authored by my wife Royce