Inspired by his younger brother Joel and his challenges with autism, Jose Rodriguez founded Tasium, which has a line of clothing with built-in fidget toys that help people with autism relieve anxiety in a productive manner.

Rodriguez launched Tasium (an anagram of “autism”) in January 2019 when he was involved in The Met School’s entrepreneurship program, E360. He began producing T-shirts with interchangeable fidget toys attached, and in October 2020 he won Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s 15th Annual National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, a type of “Shark Tank” for young entrepreneurs, taking home a $12,000 prize. Read more