Orkid Ideas Information

Orkid Ideas was established in 2012 by friends Clare and Deborah to enable them to design and develop a visual support system inspired by Clare’s son Tomas, who has autism. The initial idea was to create a child-friendly, portable and easy to personalise tool to help children remember what to pack in their bag for school. Using an innovative design gave the system huge versatility and the ability to expand the product range for much wider uses and into other areas of life. TomTag helps children and young people develop coping strategies to manage their day, using structure, organisation and predictability – at home, at school and when out and about. TomTag has a positive effect on behaviour by reducing anxieties and frustrations and making it easier for children to understand, follow and remember what they need to do. TomTag saves time and money for busy parents and teachers as everything’s ready to go and reuseable. Symbols are ready-printed onto water-resistant stickers so there’s no searching for images, printing, laminating or Velcro to worry about. The unique design features colourful, sturdy tags with click-in buttons that are appealing to children, portable, waterproof and can be reused time after time.