Twitter has had a bad rep of late where there’s a rise of right-wing commentators and bullies spewing hate in 140 characters. But, sometimes, Twitter can be a beautiful place as Deborah Price discovered. She recently tweeted a picture of a kid’s dress–a simple A-line one from British retailer NEXT that was released three years ago, asking if people had the same one with them. The reason: her friend’s daughter who suffers from autism needed the same one.
If you’re confused about why the child needed that exact dress, it comes down to her suffering from autism. Autistic children cling to rituals or obsessions in order to maintain some semblance of order in their lives. They often tend to wear the same clothes day in and day out. A few retail companies have launched sensory clothes that help them remain calm and reduce anxiety.
Deborah’s tweet had users looking for possible leads and also DIY suggestions on how to create the same dress. The responses snowballed and even the retailer of the original dress, NEXT, stepped in tweeting that they had ceased making that dress but would check with suppliers to see if they could get this product manufactured again.
Some users also found the same dress on eBay, the links to which they shared with Deborah
But, eventually, someone found the exact same dress, albeit a tad bit large in size for the little girl.
The little girl’s mum, Kate Bell, went on Twitter to thank everyone who helped out.
Deborah thanked everyone for their help, stating “You’re amazing and your mums are pretty amazing too for raising such lovely daughters but mostly you’re great because you’ve made a little girl really happy to continue to be in her favorite dress,” Price wrote, adding a picture of the little girl, Elise in the tweet.
It’s great to see the power of social media, make such a positive impact. We need to realise that by doing some good, we can make the world a better place.
