Boy with autism receives beloved primrose markers from strangers

A Bowmanville mother’s online call for help to find primrose-colour markers for her son with autism has been met with an overwhelming outpouring of support.

Living with autism, Stacey Haley’s 12-year old son Will often becomes fixated with specific things.

“(He) isn’t like a typical child where you can kind of just let it go and forget about it,” said Will’s mother Stacey Haley. “He goes to sleep thinking about it and he wakes up thinking about it.”

Lately, Will’s focus has been primrose-colour Crayola markers. Haley says he will not leave the house or go to school without the markers.

“Normally, I kind of choose my battles,” she said. “The marker is an easy one. It’s not an expensive one.”

But Haley -- a mother of three, including Will’s twin brother who also lives with autism -- soon found herself buying hundreds of boxes of assorted markers for just one colour.

Haley turned to Facebook, hoping that a few of her friends would have extra primrose markers they could give away.

But when those friends shared Haley’s story, primrose markers started pouring in from all over North America.

“It got forwarded to teachers who passed it throughout their schools (and) churches that circulated amongst their congregations,” she said.

And it isn’t just individuals who are helping. The post caught the attention of Crayola Canada, the company that makes the markers.

The company says it is sending Will enough primrose markers to keep him colouring for the foreseeable future.

Haley said Will has all the markers he needs and that she has realized “that community is so strong and people are so good and they want to help.”

If any other parents are in need of a non-primrose marker, Haley says her family might be able to help.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Scott Lightfoot