Navigating the teen years is never easy, but for some, it is harder than others. With over 75 million people globally diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum and over one billion identifying as neurodivergent, support for teenagers who are part of this community is crucial.
Neurodivergent people are three times more likely to encounter mental health issues in their lives, which makes finding your tribe all the more important. This is where Kaboose comes in.
The newly launched social media app Kaboose gives young neurodiverse people a place to find their tribe and develop meaningful friendships with others like themselves with ease and safety. The award-winning app is a game-changer for young people who are on the spectrum and identify as neurodivergent, as it matches them with people of similar age who have the same interests that they can form a bond with and relate to. With Kaboose’s identity verification and consistent monitoring, this secure, supportive online community is changing the lives of thousands of people from all around the world by helping them find friends, mentors, and employers.
Kaboose was founded by Melbourne mother Michelle Ridsdale, who has seen the struggles that her own autistic son has gone through in his teenage years. She witnessed first-hand the difficulties he had at school in finding friendships and maintaining healthy relationships, which has led to ongoing issues with his mental health. She believes that if he had had a tool such as Kaboose to help find friends with who he could relate and feel understood, those formative years would have been much easier to navigate and led to a healthier mindset.
“As a parent of a child with autism, my experience in advocacy and through my volunteer work in autism and disability, I’ve met too many young people struggling to find and make friends,” says Michelle. “Seeing my own son suffer from feelings of loneliness and disconnectedness, I decided to set up a community that could safely facilitate the building of supportive tribes and allows our young people to develop relationships that are meaningful for them as well as supporting their journey into employment.”
Approved by NDIS Australia, it is the aim of Kaboose to improve mental health and connection for neurodivergent young people. Since its soft launch in 2022, the app has seen over 1000 people from countries including Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom join and countless friendships formed. Kaboose was the 2022 winner of the RMIT Tech4Good Spark Festival, and a finalist in the StartUp Vic and Victorian iAwards.
Kaboose is now available from GooglePlay and the App Store.
