Young Perth man with autism rips it up as he finds his business niche

A 21-year-old autistic man from Perth has expanded into his first official business premises after finding his calling in life: professional paper shredding.

Brandon Tomic is nonverbal – he can speak for the purposes of requesting something, but not hold full conversations, and so his mother Simone Tomic asked if she could speak for him in this report.

After Brandon finished school at 18, Simone and her husband Rob wanted him to be able to work like any other adult.

“We wanted him to give back to the community,” Mrs Tomic said. “He needed to be employed but we weren’t sure how.”

Brandon had done work placements in school, but despite his excellent and speedy work, opportunities such as those with the Good Samaritans didn’t offer the one-on-one support he needed.

His parents thought that like any other teenager he might benefit from a ‘gap year’ that he could use to test his strengths and weaknesses and try new things.

He volunteered at Riding for the Disabled, delivered the Melville Times and attended dance and art classes, thanks to NDIS funding that allowed him a support person.

But nothing was quite right. Art classes were a bit of a disaster, and he was the kind of dancer only a mother could love.

By mid-year, the family was struggling for answers. They wanted to find Brandon something he could do well, and independently, and they had two young daughters who needed attention too.

Mrs Tomic remembered how when Brandon was at school he used to like helping teachers do the shredding. And then came her lightbulb moment.

A person who couldn’t read or talk was surely a prime candidate for handling confidential documents, she thought.

They bought a little shredder and printed a flyer saying Brandon would give local homes or businesses a ‘box’ for documents, pick it up full and drop it off empty.

They called friends and family to offer his services and Brandon letterboxed Bibra Lake.

His support worker helped him do the rounds in the morning then left him to do his shredding in the family garage.

Two years on, he has a full-time job serving more than 150 clients across Perth. Many are secretaries glad to offload a boring job, but it’s not boring to Brandon – weekends are when he gets restless.

“He is a gentle giant, a six-foot-two gentle giant who loves life and loves to have fun and is very easy going,” Mrs Tomic said.

"On Mondays he’ll say, ‘work?’ and I’ll say yes, and I’ll ask him who’s the boss, and he’ll say: ‘Me.’"

Brandon recycles some waste to community gardens and pet shops, and up-cycles the rest, making papier-mache gifts, knick-knacks, bowls and seed pods to sell at markets.

His modest proceeds cover equipment upgrades, lunches and business supplies.

Mrs Tomic said having a special needs person coming in once a month was educational for businesspeople and meaningful for Brandon.

“He can say: ‘Hello, I have come to swap your box’,” she said.

“There are a couple of coffee shops who will give him a sausage roll, the people have just been amazingly supportive.”

Now, a 2019 AMP Tomorrow Fund grant has enabled Brandon to expand into ‘Brandon’s Shredding Bunker’ (and let the Tomics finally get their car back into the garage).

Mr and Mrs Tomic plan to use the space to welcome other special needs students, for art, music or yoga classes or work experience.

Eventually they hope to employ other people with disabilities.

“I can’t wait to open these doors,” Mrs Tomic said.