# Specialisterne: leveraging the unique skills of Autistics at competitive market terms **URL:** \ **Category:** Lounge\ **Created:** [May 10, 2011, 7:15am UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/specialisterne-leveraging-the-unique-skills-of-autistics-at-competitive-market-terms/50245 "2011-05-10T07:15:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 421
**Author:** ![Visionary7903](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/45deac/32.png) [@Visionary7903](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/Visionary7903)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/specialisterne-leveraging-the-unique-skills-of-autistics-at-competitive-market-terms/50245/421 "2013-09-13T16:47:46Z")
In previous posts, I have mentioned a number of times clothing designed to minimise irritation for individuals suffering from tactile sensitivities, including children on the Autism Spectrum: > [@Specialisterne: leveraging the unique skills of Autistics at competitive market terms](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/specialisterne-leveraging-the-unique-skills-of-autistics-at-competitive-market-terms/50245/141): > > “When I was in elementary school … Scratchy petticoats and wool clothes were like sandpaper against my skin. I still wear my underwear inside out so that the stitching does not rub against me. I wear old, well-washed, soft T-shirts under my new shirts to make them tolerable.” (source: Temple Grandin (2005). Foreward. In Biel, L. & Peske, N. Raising a sensory smart child: The definitive handbook for helping your child with sensory integration issues. Penguin Books, p. ix) Indeed, as I have ment… > [@'Agricultural specialisterne': rural employment revolution for those with Autism](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/agricultural-specialisterne-rural-employment-revolution-for-those-with-autism/50615/342): > > Further to my post on ‘soft clothing’ ([https://pheromonetalk.com/t/specialisterne-leveraging-the-unique-skills-of-autistics-at-competitive-market-terms/50245/141](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/specialisterne-leveraging-the-unique-skills-of-autistics-at-competitive-market-terms/50245/141)) for the sensory sensitivities so common in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, there are also ways to modify clothing to make it more suitable for these individuals. One way of doing this is by washing clothing… Another way of modifying clothing to make it ‘softer’ is via the newly launched product, Undercover Tape. This is a… > [@Specialisterne: leveraging the unique skills of Autistics at competitive market terms](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/specialisterne-leveraging-the-unique-skills-of-autistics-at-competitive-market-terms/50245/309): > > Specialisterne: leveraging the unique skills of Autistics at competitive market t An [earlier post](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/specialisterne-leveraging-the-unique-skills-of-autistics-at-competitive-market-terms/50245/141) focused on clothing designed to minimise irritation. One Sydney-Australia based small business focused on this area is Calming Clothing for kids, owned by Karen McMullan. The clothes look just like any other typical kids’ clothing, but they are more–being specially designed to provide deep pressure input across the day. As I have mentioned before, deep pressure is known as a universal organiser-me… One Santa Fe, New Mexico-based business doing a similar thing is _Teres Kids_. _Teres_ means smooth in Latin, which is a fitting name for a line of clothes so smooth to the touch… > [@](#): > > Clovene Campbell’s mornings with her daughter Kathryn used to be full of tears. Getting the 6-year-old dressed for kindergarten had become nearly impossible. > > “My daughter started complaining that she didn’t like some of her clothes because the seams were bothering her,” said Campbell, 39, of Lexington. “Really, every single morning it was like a huge fight to get to school. She would be screaming, she would tug at her clothes. It was horrible, it was a nightmare.” > > Her daughter had developed a tactile sensitivity, an increased sensitivity to touch. Campbell, a pediatrician in Salem, had seen it before among her patients. “It’s a very common thing,” she said. “If people don’t have kids that have these sensitivities, they don’t appreciate how horrible it is.” > > Tactile sensitivity is a type of sensory processing disorder. According to a study cited by the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation, at least 1 in 20 children are affected by some sort of sensory processing disorder, including tactile sensitivity. It can be common among kids on the autism spectrum, but many with tactile sensitivity are not autistic. > > Campbell hopped online to research clothes without seams. What she found was Teres Kids, a clothing company dedicated to making kids? clothes without tags, seams, zippers, and buttons. She ordered some items, saw her daughter’s delight upon putting them on, and then ordered some more. > > The clothes are made in the USA from 100 percent organic cotton and range in price from $25 to $60. > > “She dresses in like 2 minutes, no problem,” Campbell said of her now 7-year-old daughter. > > Teres Kids founders Alexandra Merlino and Marianne Broughton say it’s those kinds of stories that make their work so rewarding. > > When the women met four years ago at a toddler music class in a Santa Fe church with their 2-year-old daughters, they had no idea their friendly banter would give birth to a company that’s helping children—and parents—around the country. > > They launched Teres Kids in the fall of 2010. Prior to that, Broughton was designing furniture and Merlino created a line of leather goods. Both were looking to start something new. The idea to focus on clothes for kids with sensitivities came from a conversation Merlino had with a friend who is an occupational therapist. > > “She explained how many of these kids there are and how few the resources are,” said Merlino, 44, the company CEO and a former Rhode Island resident who now lives in New Mexico. “We became very passionate about not only creating comfortable clothes, but creating a solution for families and kids.”… Here is a link to a video on _Teres Kids_: [TeresKids1 - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZvbKFwgRP0) (source: [Smooth clothes for sensitive kids - Style - The Boston Globe](http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2013/03/20/smooth-clothes-for-sensitive-kids/Xdjv5lHmFvcEkVgehVOrjJ/story.html)) --- _[View the full topic](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/specialisterne-leveraging-the-unique-skills-of-autistics-at-competitive-market-terms/50245)._