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Living in the Hunter Valley with his mum, dad, and brother, a 21-year-old Connor thrives in an environment tailored to his needs. Born with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Level 3, an intellectual disability, severe anxiety, Pica, and being nonverbal hasn’t slowed this young man down. He has been able to explore his passions and build a small business doing what he loves.
Aided by his team of dedicated support workers, which he directly employs, Connor finds ways of expressing himself and finding enjoyment in life. On any given day, Connor can be found listening to music on his iPad, which goes everywhere with him, enjoying scenic drives around town, indulging in delicious food, watching a movie when it’s quiet, or mastering the art of bubble blowing (I’ve been told he can do tricks no one else can replicate).
But one of his newer passions has been monumental in his development, one sparked by a simple gift from a team member.
While Connor’s Crafty Creations has been running for a year, it didn’t start overnight. Behind the scenes, Connor’s support team spent years trialling different activities to help find Connor a hobby that could bring him joy and make him a valued member of the community.
Communicating with someone in Connors’ situation is a complex, challenging process. When the team introduced him to new activities, they needed to observe his gestures and sounds to gauge whether he was enjoying any activity or not. Even with the aid of a communication device, it is difficult to understand if it was the activity itself that he enjoyed or just a single aspect of it, not to mention if he wanted to do it again or if once was enough.
This communication also cuts both ways. Verbal communication, complex gestures, and social cues can be hard to understand. So, the process of finding activities for Connor is both time and labour intensive, and it also demands a lot of patience and understanding from his team.
That’s why when a team member gifted Connor a drill set that he engaged with, it was like a lock had snapped open. They noticed that his interactions with the tool and the timber lasted longer, showing he had a keen interest in the activity. Coupled with his making of happy vocal noises and the enjoyment on his face, they had stumbled across a winner of an activity.
Connor showed that he gets deep satisfaction from working with the drill and using wood as a medium. He enjoys the texture of the wood in his hands and the movement and sounds of the drill as it bores into the timber. The sensory pleasure of the smell of the fresh cut wood is also what draws him to the hobby, and blowing away the shavings, revealing the clean holes under the mess, is invigorating for him.
In the beginning, Connor got his bearings with the tool by making planter boxes, pilot holes, and even his own set of dominoes. But this was just the start. He needed to expand his skill set and work on something a little bigger and a bit more interactive.
Connor is a busy man who loves to keep his hands occupied with fun and sturdy fidget toys when he isn’t working away on the drill. These two loves have combined into these creative activity boards, to which Conner attaches a collection of toys and other moving mechanics like bolt locks and lights, representing his passions. These boards also open the door to one of Connors’ long-term goals of being a valued member of his community, selling these boards he makes is what offers him this opportunity.
These activity boards are designed for all ages, for anyone looking for a fun sensory experience, or for those with busy hands who want something to play with. Plans are to donate a few of the boards to local hospitals, childcare centres, and possibly aged care homes for residents with dementia.
Connor and his team first set up stands at a local café, which garnered plenty of positive attention. This led them to set up social media pages to showcase Connors’ work and allow people to place orders for their own boards.
For Connor, time is on his side, and luckily, he’s not short on resources. Some generous people in his community have donated boards to him, which has been amazing. A few of them are a little too heavy to serve as activity boards, so his team is looking at maybe adapting them into an activity table that can be donated to a hospital.
To help expand the business, the team and Connor are also considering branding the boards with a custom wood stamp so that Connor can quite literally leave his mark on them.
Every board you see on his Instagram page is handcrafted with care and passion, and a bucket load of excitement is thrown in for good measure. If you are looking for a unique sensory toy or want to support a local artisan, check out Connors Crafty Creations on Facebook and Instagram.
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