Hi all,
I'm building a site for parents/grandparents, etc as an informational "doorway" to autistic adults. I want to make up a "info card" that people can give out when they bump into people that could use the info. I already made up a batch last year just for myself and I have given them out - not bunches, but it's great to have them when I meet someone with a kid or family on the spectrum.
I DON'T want to make money on them. I just want the name of the site I'm building on it, and the name of the blogs it links to so READERS can print it out and share it as well.
I'm not a computer whiz, so I don't know how to make a document that people could just download and print. Do you think a picture of the card, with a link to the email where they can request the Word document to print on their own printable business cards (like they have at staples) would work?
Ideas are appreciated. Thanks!
The cards would be intended for people to share with friends/family/fellow autism parents, or if someone was interested. i'm an autism mom myself, and made up a general card of the sites I found helpful. I've gotten into random conversations with other moms at parks, play areas, etc. who had special needs kiddos, and figured it was faster than writing a bunch of stuff down. There's a lot of clinical info out there, but not a lot of parents are aware of the Autistic bloggers sharing their experiences - and they're amazing.
Totally agree walking up to a random stranger whose kid is having a hard time and "diagnosing" them and giving them a card would be so many kinds of wrong!
If people want info on autism, there is plenty out there. Cards, not sure of your reasoning. Think you are overstepping your boundaries personally.
Go the business card route. You can make your own from stock packets on your home computer and printer, from any office supply store/aisle, similar to making your own labels. Instructions are usually included.
Its kind of like how people pass out their business cards, only what you'll hand out will have information you want them to have on it.
I think your idea might work, but you are asking people to do several things in order to get the cards. Only very motivated people will go through the steps to get them. Could you have a page of the website already prepped with the info in business card format so someone could just print it from there?
You could go to Vistaprint and order some when they have a business card special (like 250 for $10). Then they would have a copy of the card on file in case you want to order more (at a higher price). If there was someone who wanted to have lots of these cards to share as a resource, you could order and ship to them (and might be able to bill them too!) Good luck with your project. There are getting to be more autistic kids who age of of the public school system and their families do need resources especially when they are new to an area.
Are you planning for them to be handed out to people you randomly meet in public who have children that you think are on the spectrum? I know several parents of kids on the spectrum (my kids go to a school that is a cluster site for autism kids). Many of them would be highly offended to have a stranger handing them an information sheet about autism. I had a co-worker at one time whose son at age four looked more like a six or seven year old. He was throwing a tantrum in the grocery store because his grandma wouldn't buy him something. A complete stranger walked up and told his grandma that they should get him tested for autism. I have never seen my co-worker more angry. At the time we worked for an organization that provided job training for adults with disabilities. Many of them were on the spectrum. She couldn't believe that someone would be so brazen to "diagnose" her child based on one incident. I suggest the cards be for families who want to educate others about their own children.
Personally, I'd save an locked/not edit-able .pdf file of the artwork or what's standard (10 cards per page?).
You don't want people making changes--you want it standardized.
(And anyone can open a .pdf file--Word is more wonky, with different versions, etc.)
If you are thinking of making something like business cards, go to vistaprint.com. You can get 250 cards for like $5 or $10. You get to put anything you want on them. Including a picture.
I've used this site for many things. It's easy to use and the quality of the product is great.
Vista Print. Cheapest source out there, you can print on one or 2 sides, you can use any of their templates or design your own within the borders they set so you can see what it looks like before printing. They will print EXACTLY what you type in so have someone else proof it. Twice.
Any quick printer can do business cards as well so talk to your local printer. They can help you design something. Any computer has a business card setting - look under "Labels" sometimes for the format & dimensions. Buying cards from Staples or other office supply store and then printing them on your own computer is easy but you are using up your own ink, which is expensive if you are doing more than a few dozen cards.
