Local autistic man receives postcards from around the world

A Chapin man with autism has gotten a unique view of the world through postcards.

Chapin, S.C. (WOLO) — A Chapin man with autism has gotten a unique view of the world through postcards. For the past year, 21-year-old Christian Bloom has been getting messages from people all over the world.

“We posted pictures of him on Facebook, holding the postcards, and then we had friend after friend after friend say ‘oh does he like postcards? Let me send a postcard,” said Danni Bloom, Christian’s mother.

Christian struggles with being verbal, but has corresponded with people everyday through the postcards he gets in the mail. As of Friday, he had 321.

“He’s not able to think of right to say right on the spot, it takes him a minute to process what’s going on. And that’s why the postcards are awesome, because he receives them, looks at them, and then he can take time to think about what’s going on,” said Danni.

A year ago, a family friend sent a postcard from Canada; spurring a trend that’s taken off on Facebook.

“He just really lights up, absolutely lights up. It’s like turning on his light switch,” said Michael Bloom, Christian’s father.

“His smile brings a smile to everyone else so if I could help with that in any little way, I guess it’s achieved his purpose,” said Meagan Gustyn, the family friend who sent the first postcard.

“It completely brightens his day. And I’m like, wow, there are still good people in the world that are willing to do that. They don’t expect anything in return, they’re just making him happy and making him smile,” said Danni.

The postcards are giving Christian and his family a chance to learn about new places.

“We of course look online and see where it’s coming from, read the message on the back, and then we’ll go over to the map and mark where the postcard has come from,” said Danni.

From Cambodia to Thailand to Australia, Christian now has hundreds of messages from all around the world. On average, he now receives around nine postcards a day. The most he’s ever gotten was 17 in a single day.

“We did not expect this to happen at all, it just sort of happened. It’s like it was meant to happen,” said Danni.

If you would like to send Christian a postcard, please send it to:

Christian Bloom

P.O. Box 761

Chapin, SC 29036-0761