Sweet news story: LEGO

[dr.girlfriend]

I'm such a sap...teared up a little bit so I thought I'd share. A kid with Asperger's saved up for two years for a LEGO train set, but by the time he could afford it it was discontinued. The company dug one up and sent it to him for his birthday.

consumerist.com/2012/12/03/lego-finds-spare-discontinued-set-so-boy-who-saved-up-for-2-years-wouldnt-be-disappointed/

[y4m]

They have the best customer service. I love this story.

[Deleted]

Love.

[takeonyou]

I heart Lego.

[ssmjlm]

That is awesome, what a great company.

[anna7602]

I can't even click through the link because I teared up at your two line description. Go Lego!

[raangoli]

Dec 4, 2012 14:29:01 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

I can't even click through the link because I teared up at your two line description. Go Lego!

This. What a great story!

[CloudBee]

I can't read stories like this when pregnant. I started to sniffle, lol.

[AAM2012]

Such a good story!

[h]

This is so sweet. Given the amount of money we spend on Lego products, I am very glad that they are a nice company.

[BAMFMrsB]

Off to add LEGO sets to my Amazon cart for everyone.

snifffffffffffffle. Damn you, LEGO people for making me all sappy at Christmas time.

[luvmagoldn]

{sniff}.

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

[taylormade]

There is a blog I read, Ethics Alarm, that kinda went off on the parents in this story.

ethicsalarms.com/2012/12/02/the-aspergers-child-the-company-with-a-heart-and-the-cheapskate-parents-a-cynical-ethics-tale/

What do you guys think?

[mie]

Such a great story!

[dr.girlfriend]

Dec 4, 2012 15:11:54 GMT -5 gravytrain225 said:

I don't know much about Asperger's, but if the behavior is how the article talks about with obsessive behavior and such, it was pretty mean of the parents to make him save for two years.

I didn't see the video or read the other article, but...I have a vague recollection from the consumerist article that it was one of his therapy goals to save up for it, in which case it makes sense that the parents wouldn't intervene and just get it for him.

[MadamePresident]

That's a such great story.

[WOT?*]

Dec 4, 2012 15:11:54 GMT -5 gravytrain225 said:

Dec 4, 2012 15:06:55 GMT -5 taylormade said:

There is a blog I read, Ethics Alarm, that kinda went off on the parents in this story.

ethicsalarms.com/2012/12/02/the-aspergers-child-the-company-with-a-heart-and-the-cheapskate-parents-a-cynical-ethics-tale/

What do you guys think?

I'm mixed on it. I watched the video last week, and I did think it was odd the whole thing was recorded. I can't see many parents thinking when getting it in the mail to set up a hidden camera and record the whole thing.

I don't know much about Asperger's, but if the behavior is how the article talks about with obsessive behavior and such, it was pretty mean of the parents to make him save for two years.

On the other hand, $200 is a lot to some parents. For all we know, they are spending their money on treatment and childcare for him. $200 is more than my parents spent on us for Christmas, they would laugh at the thought of buying us a toy for that much.

I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I'll settle with skeptical.

I noticed the package was opened and re-taped closed. He ripped off clear packaging tape. Mom opened it, saw what was inside, and resealed it to let him open it, (probably on his birthday since she said something about "it came a couple days ago" during the taping if I'm not mistaken) while they secretly taped it (so he didn't know anything was happening) for posting since so many others do similar. Which, of course, Lego knows.
He could be high-functioning and saving as a goal is part of "life-skills" for him.

[GailGoldie]

i think it's a nice story - but I'm still annoyed that Legos cost THAT much... they are little plastic molded pieces... and to think a kid has to save that long for a toy makes me sad.

[Deleted]

I love that their letter to him commended him for saving dilligently. And that they've suggested he could maybe work there one day. My mom worked with an autistic boy for three years as his aide and this kind of feedback would have meant the world to that kid.

[Deleted]

My husband responded when I told him about the story "They didn't do that I when I wrote them about Knight's Castle."

He cracks me up. But I don't think he had saved for years, ha!

[jene]

Such a great story, thanks for posting!

[kadams767]

Dec 4, 2012 15:06:55 GMT -5 taylormade said:

There is a blog I read, Ethics Alarm, that kinda went off on the parents in this story.

ethicsalarms.com/2012/12/02/the-aspergers-child-the-company-with-a-heart-and-the-cheapskate-parents-a-cynical-ethics-tale/

What do you guys think?

I think this blogger is kind of douchey for saying this. $100 extra is a lot for some parents and to suggest that they didn't just buy it on eBay because they are assholes is a bit extreme. My parents made me save $100 to buy my own Nintendo when I was a kid, and if that Nintendo suddenly cost $200, well, I would have had to save the extra $100 myself too. Not because they were mean parents, but because I needed clothes and shoes and food too and they couldn't afford to buy me $100 worth of toys on top of it.