Live life to the fullest
Flutie Flakes exists to support the foundation Doug and Laurie Flutie started in 1998, after their son Dougie was diagnosed and they found how little help there was for families like theirs.
It began with one family, and a gap where the help should have been
Dougie Flutie was developing like any other toddler until he was three, when he began to lose his language, his motor skills and his ease with the people around him. He was diagnosed with childhood disintegrative disorder, a rare condition on the autism spectrum. He is non-verbal and needs support in daily life. Today he lives in Florida, attends the Scott Center for Autism, and spends his time swimming, riding horses and with his family.
When his parents went looking for help in the late 1990s, they found that services for autistic people and their families barely existed. So they built what was missing. The foundation they started in 1998 — the same year the first box of Flutie Flakes reached a supermarket shelf — now funds programs, grants and direct financial assistance for autistic people and the families who support them.
“To help people and families with autism live life to the fullest.”
The Foundation’s stated mission
Three kinds of help
The Foundation groups everything it funds around three questions: what does an autistic person want to do, what is it costing their family, and is the community around them ready for them?
Helping individuals
Programs built around what someone wants to do, not only what they need.
- STARS of the Spectrum Records
- Spectrum of Sound Choir
- STARS of the Spectrum Golf League
- Flutie Fellows — career and life goals
Helping families
Direct financial assistance for the costs that land on a family and are covered by no one else.
- Joey’s Fund and the Hope Fund
- Kodi Lee Gives Back Grant
- Dick & Judy Hoyt Grant for Inclusion
- Armani Williams Gives Back Grant
- Flutie Watersports Program
- Assistive technology and equipment
Helping communities
Grants and training, so the places autistic people already go are ready for them.
- Autism Community Impact Grant
- Assistive Technology Grants
- Playground communication boards
- The Flourish Fund
- Police and first responder initiatives
The Foundation also runs Run Flutie — Dougie’s Team for Autism, adaptive running, and the annual Flutie 5K.
Two ways to help
Buy a box, or give to the Foundation directly. The cereal is a limited run. The work is not.
