Autistic boy would only drink from one discontinued sippy cup. The manufacturer searched 4 countries

In 2016, Marc Carter (@OrigGrumpyDad), a father from Devon, England, was getting distressed over a precarious dilemma. Ben, his autistic son, was hospitalized due to dehydration, and the past 24 hours had been difficult for him. All he cared about was getting Ben to drink water, but every time he tried, he failed. The 14-year-old boy wouldn’t sip from anything unless it was his little blue Tommee Tippee sippy cup, a product that stopped being produced 10 years ago. Carter literally shook up the world to get his autistic son the little blue cup, and it resulted in not just one, but hundreds of them, an entire lifetime supply, as detailed in a December 2016 report by PEOPLE.

Attachment to the 'Little Blue Cup'

Carter tried many alternatives to feeding Ben, but he wouldn’t take a sip from anything that wasn’t his little blue cup. “He would rather die,” the dad told PEOPLE. He described that when the hospital put Ben on a drip, he woke up and ripped the pipes. "Ben is severely autistic, and he has a severe learning disability. He's non-verbal, non-communicative, and he doesn't understand that he can use another cup," the father explained to CBC. "We've tried to change him and get Ben to accept something else… but Ben just won't."

On November 14, 2016, Carter shared a tweet with the photos of the cup, urging people to share it if they had one. His tweet garnered 13,000 reposts, 4,300 likes, and hundreds of comments. "At one stage, I think I was getting 50 tweets a minute,” he recalled. Offers started coming from as far as Australia. But most of them were offers of cups that were similar, not the same product, something that Ben didn’t prefer.

Hopes revive

Eventually, Carter’s hopes revived after he received a phone call from the Northumberland-based Tommee Tippee. The manufacturer revealed that they sent staff across different countries and found them in a Chinese factory. After informing Carter, they started reproducing the original product and gave Ben a lifetime supply of 500 sippy cups. The relieved dad shared that the “little blue cup” controls their life, although he will keep on trying to get Ben to drink from a new cup. Carter also used the limelight to bring attention to autism and how “absolutely debilitating it can be,” per ABC News. 

Everyone has their 'Little Blue Cup'

Carter said the “little blue cup” is a metaphor for every autistic person, depicting objects they are attached to, like teddy bears, blankets, or toys. Everybody, Carter explained, has their own version of the cup. “They've all got something they need,” he said. Fast forward to the present day, Carter runs a website called littlebluecup.org, where he helps families find the specific resources they need. “Finding what matters most for the people who need it,” reads the tagline.

The lives of children with autism are slightly different from those of their neurotypical peers. A study published in the NIH documented that “object attachment” is one of the most commonly found interests in 75% of the 237 surveyed children who showed some kind of “restrictive interest.” Attachment to inanimate objects might sound paradoxical, because according to a study published in the journal Autism, nearly half of the autistic individuals have difficulty identifying their own emotions.

The story didn't just benefit Ben

People praised Carter for going public with the issue because it stirred up so many important conversations all at once. @keyarchan professed, “This is like a win-win situation. Not only does this help Ben and his family, but the company gets to help, which is always a good feeling; they also get well-deserved advertising and it raises attention for autism.” @camillemoreau203 echoed, “Not only did Ben get a lifetime supply of his cups, but you've helped raise attention for autism.  This event has sparked many conversations.  Great work, Marc!”

You can follow Marc Carter (@OrigGrumpyDad) on X for updates on his mission.

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