By Kadie Yale

There’s no denying the impact that art and design can have on a person and society. From the moment a child picks up a crayon to draw squiggles of their world, the possibilities open up. But for a 10-year-old boy with autism in Philadelphia, it’s done so much more.

At the age of 5, Santino Stagliano was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum, and like so many others in similar situations, had a difficult time expressing his thoughts and feelings. However, there was one thing Santino understood: dragons.

“He’d communicate through dragons,” explained Lisa Stagliano, his mother. “He would draw them all the time, and his emotions were explained through dragons.” The drawings became Santino’s therapy and a door to being able to better express himself. His anger manifested in fire breathing dragons, his happiness in calm, smiling dragons.

That passion expanded April 2015 as the Staglianos were preparing to attend a wedding in Mexico. Like many on the spectrum, traveling and being in a new place without the comforts of a familiar schedule can be stressful, so his parents encouraged him to make t-shirts as a therapeutic measure.

“I put a photo of his shirt on Facebook saying, ‘Look at Santino doing shirts,’ and added #AutismAwareness, because it was April (Autism Awareness Month),” explained Lisa. “And by the next day, people in the area started commenting, ‘I want to buy one.’ By the time we got back from Mexico two weeks later, there were thousands of orders.” Santino’s Dragons (http://santinosdragon.myshopify.com) was born.

In just a few short months, Santino’s Dragons has gone viral. Shirts have been ordered from all 50 states and 7 countries around the world. Even celebrities like Adam Sandler and Tyler Posey have donned Santino’s shirts to raise awareness for autism.

As orders came pouring in, and the operation was outsourced to a t-shirt printing shop, the Staglianos considered what to do with the profits. “We said we should do something with this, and [Santino] immediately suggested, “Well, why don’t we give the money to the Center for Autism?”

Since then, the company has expanded to become a non-profit, not only donating for the Center for Autism, but creating after school artistic and sports programs for kids on the spectrum. And that’s not all; the Staglianos have high hopes for 2016, setting their sights on opening a “Find Your Dragon” summer camp in Philadelphia in June 2016.

“The biggest issue beyond understanding is a summer program for these kids,” continued Lisa. “They aren’t really accepted a lot of the time when you mix them in with the so-called ‘normal’ kids because they have different ways of thinking, so it’s hard for them. We went to City Hall with a business plan, and they backed us 100%. Hopefully, fingers crossed, by June we’ll have a “Find Your Dragon” summer camp in Philadelphia for these kids. All due to one little boy who drew dragons on shirts.”

I&S's own Kadie Yale, sporting one of the shirts.