Mr Bunches' likes these, too -- and also only likes one color.

I didn't write this but wanted to share it.  On The Consumerist today there's a great story about a kid with autism whose parents went through some hard times.  I hope they don't mind my reprinting it:


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Spangler Candy Company Delights Autistic Child, Comforts Struggling Family

December 10, 2012 By Laura Northrup

(Spangler)

At this time of year, Spangler may be best known for their candy canes, but they’re also the company behind cheap, tiny, flavorful Dum Dums lollipops. Normally, these candies come in a large bag of assorted flavors, which the discerning candy-eater will then paw through to find the cream soda-flavored ones. What you may not know is that at the company’s web site, you can find tubs of single flavors. When Rebecca learned this, she ordered up a few for her son, who is autistic and has obsessive-compulsive disorder. A single container of his favorite flavor? Perfect for him. Rebecca wrote to the company to tell them how happy this product made her son. Then they wrote back.

To Whom It Concerns:

I wanted to write an email to show you my gratitude for your products and your service. We have had a difficult time lately. My husband lost his job. My son. Abe, is 10 years old and has Autism. I knew that I would be having major surgery and that it would upset his routine and cause him distress. So I looked around for a small gift for him, just to make him smile, and I stumbled across your site. As you can imagine a child with Autism likes to separate and compartmentalize their world. When I saw that you had your dum dum pops available in separate containers I knew it would be the perfect gift. I ordered him two tubs of the cotton candy flavor, which is his favorite, although he loves them ALL! They arrived today which was great because things got really scary for him. Two days ago I went to the hospital for major surgery on my shoulder, which meant that I couldn’t be home with him for a very extended period of time which makes him nervous.

Then yesterday (day after surgery) I developed an Anaphyalctic Reaction to something they gave me in the hospital and spent another day in the ER on treatments. I nearly died. Today was my first day back at home with my son and thankfully his little gift arrived. I wish that I could have sent you a photo or video of the moment, capture his pure excitement and surprise. He was dancing, something he NEVER does! He of course wants me to order every flavor in the separate tubs, but that will take a while for me do in our present circumstances. I just wanted you to know that you gave my son and myself a great gift. I won’t forget the smile on his little face for a long time to come. Thank you so much for making our day and for making my precious boy have a moment of joy in a time of confusion. I appreciate you and wanted to share our little story. Thank you again!

Sincerely,

Rebecca

Not long afterward, she received this message back:

Dear Rebecca:

Thank you for your e-mail and although we are so sorry for the struggles your family has gone through lately, we are pleased to know that Dum Dums helped to put a smile on Abe’s face! What a delightful sight that must have been, and we can only imagine how much that meant to you.

We are grateful to you for sharing your family’s story and if you don’t’ mind, we will share it with all of our employees and associates here at Spangler Candy Company to help remind them that what we do here every day really does make a difference, especially to Abe!

In the mail we will be sending Abe a Spangler t-shirt as well as some single flavors of Dum Dums. We hope that this package will bring another smile to Abe’s face and that he will continue to enjoy Dum Dums for a long, long time!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from all of us here at Spangler Candy Company.

Here’s a video of Rebecca’s son opening his box of delicious loot from Spangler.

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This is great.  Mr Bunches likes Dum-Dums, too.  He only likes one flavor, and each bag only contains about three suckers of those flavors, so what we have to do is buy two or three or four bags, and then we take the leftovers and give them to people in our office, or the daycare workers that watch the boys while we're at the Health Club, or their teachers.  Or whoever.

People whose kids have special needs learn these secrets, fast.  Recently, Middle Daughter took it upon herself to contact Old Dutch, the company that makes the cheese puffs that Mr F loves so much, to see if we could bulk-order them, as Sweetie often has to go to three or four different stores to get enough bags for the week.  The company provided an address for a wholesaler that will ship them to us.

So I can relate to what this Mom was going through.  And now I think we need to get Mr F an "Old Dutch" T-shirt.