This past week my niece Gaby made after school magnet packs for The Trip Clip. She prints out multiple sheets of pictures, attaches them to adhesive magnet paper, cuts apart the individual magnets, sorts them into groups of 20 using a template I give her, puts them into a plastic sleeve, attaches a label sticker, and seals them closed.
This is an excellent task for Gaby (who has Autism) because it plays to her strengths of precision and pattern matching. Because she does it often, she is completely independent from end to end when she does this task, and it is comfortable and calming for her. Sometimes I intentionally have her make magnets on a day she’s learning something new (which is always stressful for her) so that she’ll know something familiar and easy is coming after she gets through the harder task.
Making the magnet packs is one of the ways that hiring Gaby changed my business for the better. I designed The Trip Clip with the intention of providing the tools for others to make the lists and magnets they need for their kids. I originally made it possible for my customers to design, print, and assemble their own magnets so that their magnets can be fully customized. Many customers take full advantage of this functionality! But a very helpful friend of mine (and avid user of The Trip Clip – thanks Heather!) pointed out that lots of people don’t have the time or the inclination do all that work, and would prefer to be able to buy a pre-determined set of magnets that are ready-to-use. This advice coincided with Gaby starting to work for The Trip Clip, which was fortuitous since I didn’t have the time or the patience to make these magnet packs myself. With Gaby’s help, though, I’ve been able to offer pre-made magnet packs for years, and they’ve been a big hit with my customers. It is super helpful to me that this is a task that Gaby excels at, and enjoys!
100% of the magnet packs I’ve sold have been assembled by Gaby, so if you bought one, you own one of Gaby’s creations!
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