Autism friendly businesses: Tate's Comics

Well, time for another edition of local businesses who have shown to be friendly to special needs customers in general and to Jason, specifically.  This time the spotlight falls on Tate's Comics+Toys+Videos+More, a place where you can find me every Wednesday.  This has been my comic shop since 1997, when I moved to Broward County, Florida.  My first visit was with Arlene, who was pregnant with Jason at the time.  Jason's first visit in person came just a few weeks after he was born.  The staff at Tate's has seen Jason grow up into a young man, and have always gone out of their way to make Jason feel welcomed in the store.  Jason loves going to the store, especially when he knows he's walking out with something.  Visits to Tate's have often been used as bribes for getting him to behave or to get through an unpleasant experience.

Jason will usually be found doing one of three things in the store.  One is watching one of the three TVs located in the store, playing DVDs or old cartoons.  He will be entranced and totally lose track of time.  Another place is the Transformers section.  He has no problem looking at all of the old figures and calculating how many chores he has to do to earn enough money to buy Astrotrain or Galvatron.

His favorite section, by far though, is the Star Wars section.  Figures, spaceships, lightsabers, you name it, he wants it.  It's always a safe bet to find him checking out what figures they have that he needs.

As great as the merchandise is, what makes Tate's such a great place to go to with Jason is the staff.  From Tate himself, his wife Amanda, his dad Tony, to JoAnn, Anthony (both of them), Nakia, Kathy, Steven, Kreisten, Edwin and Katelyn, there is no shortage of cool people to hang out with and talk to.

The top pic is of Katelyn, Anthony R. and JoAnn, while the bottom one is of Anthony A. and Nakia sitting on Santa's chair in the middle of the store.  Every weekend during the holidays, they have a "substitute" Santa there to take pictures with the kids and ask them what they want for the holidays.  The best part?  It's free!  They have had Spider-Man, Godzilla, Batman and Donkey Kong!  This Friday, from 5-7pm, it will be Yoshi from the Mario Bros. games, and then Saturday from 10am to noon, it's Darth Vader taking the kids holiday requests!  Click on the link in the first paragraph and it will take you to their website, which includes links to the pictures from the previous substitute Santas.

This store has a little bit for everyone.  DVDs, toys, action figures, statues, comics, graphic novels, plushies, t-shirts, wallets, even lightsaber chopsticks!!  The second floor of the store is the Bear and Bird Boutique + Gallery, and two doors down is Tate's Gaming Satellite.  There are links to both at the top and bottom of the main web page, be sure to check them out as well as they have great merchandise and fantastic events all throughout the year.  Tate's has even won the prestigious Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award for best comic shop in the world.  Yes, they beat out comic shops from around the world for that honor.