Zip Up for Special Needs Awareness Campaign
by
Chantai Snellgrove 
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Special Father Richard Kligman says…”Zipper Pulls will help us spread our message of love and inclusion”.
Do people ever stare at your special needs child? They stare at my child. Well, to be honest, they either stare or try to avoid him. My son, Moishy, has Cerebral Palsy and Microcephaly and every time we take him out in public, he gets stared at. We have even seen people go as far as to cross the street to avoid him! It makes me want to yell, “He’s not contagious”!
I often thought about why people stare, or avoid him, and what I realize is that there is a lack of knowledge about what it means to be “special needs”. My position is that if people were more aware, then instead of avoiding him, they would come over and share their smile or just treat them like anyone else.
What the “pink ribbon” represents for breast cancer awareness, I wanted to have an iconic symbol that would become our very own awareness product. My partner, Eli, and I came up with the idea for a “zipper pull” because when you zip something up, you are bringing two sides together and thus “Zip Up For Special Needs” was born. We have created a Kickstarter project to help fund it.
We have brought on some of the largest organizations to join together for this iconic idea including: NDSS, UCP, and Autism Speaks. It is our hope that everyone will join us in spreading our message of love and inclusion.
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