Meet Brad, an Autistic 25-Year-Old Who Wants to Build Your Furniture

If you’ve ever struggled to put together an IKEA dresser without wanting to commit hara-kiri with a screwdriver (and who hasn’t?), Brad has a solution — let him build it instead. Brad, who lives in Edmonton, Canada, is a 25-year-old with autism. He can’t read or speak, so he uses simple sign language to communicate. And he builds. For years, Brad has been building things — from furniture to model planes to interactive toys and more. It’s what he does best. What most people would consider a maddening and painstaking chore, Brad finds fun and easy. He can understand any diagram or blueprint, especially the wordless ones from IKEA, no matter how complicated. So with the help of his dad, Mark, Brad created a new business, Made by Brad; he’ll build any piece of furniture for you. The point is to instill a sense of accomplishment into Brad, and also to prove that people with disabilities are just as capable and dedicated — perhaps more so — as everyone else.
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