Look at the news from Knows reporter Huang Tingting
2021-04-17 09:00
Near the Chengshan Road Station of the Shanghai Metro, there is a café called DreamWorks. As you get closer, a beautiful teenager will open the door of the store for you and enthusiastically guide you.
This young Kun Ge will tell you very sincerely and directly that only when you order, he will update the number of customers you have received in the shop on the small blackboard in front of the counter. We will also introduce you to the small gifts made by the clerks.
Almost every guest will not be impatient with Kungo, but will smile and say that he will definitely consume. But if he interrupts Kun Ge to ask a question, he will try to answer, but he will soon return to his own introduction, as if he is anxious to finish memorizing an article.
This special café, including the noodle shop and car wash next door, is actually the first employment base for mentally handicapped youth in Shanghai in cooperation with Shanghai Pudong Auxiliary Reading School and DreamWorks School. Kun Ge is an autistic teenager who trained and interned here with 19 other children after graduating from school and before entering the society. For them, it was a hard-won job opportunity.
The most popular item in the Dream Workshop is jasmine-flavored coffee handmade by another young clerk, Yin Hao. Order a cup and receive the piano song "Jasmine" played by Yin Hao.
As a teenager with Down syndrome, Yin Hao can play more than 30 piano pieces, is a professional barista, and through three years of hard practice, learned the craft of coffee pulling flowers, is a particularly popular "Hao Hao" in the mouths of customers.
There are more than 10 million people with autism in China. There are natural barriers between this particular group of children and their self-reliant lives. Due to deficiencies in comprehension and cognitive abilities, it is difficult for them to find employment after graduation. However, although people such as autism do differ from ordinary people in interpersonal communication, this does not mean that they are completely unemployed.
For example, the stereotypes and concentration that come with autistic people can make every cup of brewed coffee taste balanced and standard. There are some international advanced experiences that also prove that as long as a sufficiently complete support system is provided, autistic people can be well qualified for the corresponding occupation. And some traits allow them to do their work more carefully and keep them enthusiastic about repetitive work.
Convenience store clerks, baristas, cleaners, tally clerks, etc., are all jobs they are likely to do.
Although children's work is gradually getting on track through harder and longer learning than the average person, they still lack some of the necessary life skills, such as managing their emotions or dealing with unexpected situations. And they need continuous practice and guidance, otherwise the previous practice is likely to regress or even disappear.
So behind these young employees, there are many people who are paying for a long time, including dream workshop owners who provide jobs, trainers who give up high salaries to volunteer, and parents who take turns to help in the store. And the guests who came from afar. The aroma of coffee in the Dream Workshop is full of warmth, bringing a glimmer of hope to these 19 and more special families.
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(Look at the news Knows reporter: Huang Tingting Intern Editor: Tao Yiyi)