PERCOLATING OPPORTUNITY

At first glance, the Starry Sky Cafe in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, resembles any typical streetside coffee shop — neat and tidy, with a cozy and soothing ambience, where baristas make coffees of the customers' choosing.

But unlike other cafes, this one serves a unique purpose: It is the site of a pilot program offering employment to young adults with autism. The first of its kind in Xiamen, the Starry Sky Cafe opened to the public on March 27, and currently employs five individuals on the spectrum.

Among them is a recent 23-year-old graduate of the Xiamen Special Education School. Last summer, he received specialized training in coffee, beverage and pastry making, organized by the Xiamen Disabled Persons' Federation, and earlier this year, he underwent additional training focused on coffee making to prepare him to be a barista.

His mother says that although her son lives far from the cafe, he enjoys taking the bus and insists on doing the commute himself, turning down her offer to drive him. She occasionally helps at the cafe, especially during busy periods, but is primarily focused on her own full-time job, and trusts her son to go to work independently.

"Based on my observations and conversations with him, I think he is doing well at the cafe. The interpersonal relationships are simple, the workload is manageable, and the manager knows how to help him," she says.

The project was set up by the Xiamen Disabled Persons' Federation, and is run by the Shangmeng (Xiamen) Holding Group, a company dedicated to providing job opportunities to people with disabilities.

This cafe is located on the Shangmeng Base in the Jimei district, a corporate zone with a canteen and accessible facilities, which is frequented by the company's employees and nearby residents.

The young man's mother says that the work environment is convenient — eight-hour days, five days a week, including a lunch and nap break, and employees can have lunch at the canteen, which puts her mind at ease.

"He is taken good care of there. What matters the most to me is that he is doing what he enjoys, has a stable routine, and is able to realize his own self-worth," she adds.

According to Chen Jun, director of the Xiamen Disabled Persons' Employment Service Center, a subsidiary of the federation, the cafe's launch and operation has been made possible by a number of players, including the federation, the Shangmeng group, the employees and their families, as well as public engagement.

"After extensive visits to the families of individuals with autism, as well as to companies looking to hire, we took into account the needs of people on the autism spectrum and decided to set up a cafe as a space of employment, because of the structured, standardized operations, and comfortable environment," Chen says.

In addition to the five baristas, the cafe has a manager supervising daily operations, and a parent representative visits once or twice a week to help.

"The employees listen to the manager, but communication can be challenging. The parents understand them better, and their involvement at the cafe helps things run smoothly," says Xu Yuhang, Shangmeng's human resources manager, who is overseeing the cafe.

When faced with challenges, parents often have the best understanding of solutions. For example, if an employee is not being diligent, their parents know that they are probably tired or anxious, and encourage them to take a break in a quiet room. They also communicate solutions to the manager.

"For individuals with autism, parents are the best providers of intervention and support. The federation amplifies parental involvement to support the young individuals, and also offers care to the families. This provides the young adults with the most effective assistance for work and skill development," Chen says.

The federation is also planning a series of training sessions for parents, to help them assist their children when it comes to employment, including ways to become more independent and socially involved.

Over the past six months, the five employees have gradually become familiar with the manager and other members involved in the project, including Xu, who says that they now communicate with him more often, and are able to understand one another more easily.

"People with autism live in their own worlds, but when they are making coffee, they pay a lot of attention to measurements and ratios, so the quality is excellent, but it can take them a little longer," Xu says.

This cafe is the prototype for Starry Sky Cafes to come, with a second location in Xiamen now in the planning stage.

According to Xu, cafes like this can be sustainable in the long run, provided they receive support from the government and from socially responsible corporations.

Their success is also linked to the general environment of cities. In Xiamen, for instance, residents are accustomed to inclusive practices, and are willing to support the cause in their own way.

To help people with disabilities find jobs, Xiamen has introduced a range of support measures, including creating incentive mechanisms for companies, establishing district-level and subdistrict-level offices to provide training and employment support, as well as frequent vocational skills assessments, job counseling, and job fairs.

In July, the Xiamen federation hosted another coffee-making training session for individuals with autism, to provide them with the skills they need to work at such cafes.

"The Starry Sky Cafe aims to provide young adults with autism a good job opportunity, enhance their sense of self-worth, and improve their prospects and those of their families through work, so that they are able to achieve personal development while integrating into society," Chen says.