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Autism Cafe Project: Born out of a father's love for his son
The Autism Cafe Project in Damen Mall, Subang, is the brainchild of Mohd Adli Yahya, which also aims to give back to the needy.
“I started this because of my son. It’s the parents’ responsibility to worry about our children.
“I had reached the point where I began wondering what would happen to my son once my wife and I grow old," Adli told Malaysiakini as he expressed one of the greatest fears of parents with autistic children.
“I used to work in the corporate sector. I was in Malaysia Airports for 10 years, and my last position was in Standard Chartered, which I left in December 2016 to start this,” he shared.
Adli started this project after watching his...
MALAYSIANSKINI | A father’s concern for his son’s future prompted a former corporate professional to create a project that strives to provide entrepreneurial opportunities for autistic youth.
The Autism Cafe Project in Damen Mall, Subang, is the brainchild of Mohd Adli Yahya, which also aims to give back to the needy.
“I started this because of my son. It’s the parents’ responsibility to worry about our children.
“I had reached the point where I began wondering what would happen to my son once my wife and I grow old," Adli told Malaysiakini as he expressed one of the greatest fears of parents with autistic children.
“I used to work in the corporate sector. I was in Malaysia Airports for 10 years, and my last position was in Standard Chartered, which I left in December 2016 to start this,” he shared.
Adli started this project after watching his autistic son, Luqman, struggle with his education when he was in school.
“We sent him to government school for three years, but with no results, so I decided to go to school one day to see how the teachers were educating my son.
“I saw the teacher teaching my son, but she was doing it verbally, which is just impossible to do with his short attention span.
“So when we took him out and brought him here, he just learnt so much more, as we implemented visual learning - this is much more efficient for children on the spectrum,” he said.
The project does crowdfunding throughout the week to provide meals for the needy prepared by autistic youth under it.
“Normally, we take those who have finished SPM, so that would be after they turn 18, but we also have younger ones who come in for one or two hours.
“We mostly get children coming in on Fridays to help with our Meal Packs for Strangers programme,” Adli said.
Through the programme, the public can buy as many packs as they want. The boys will then prepare and send them out, he added.
“Usually, people assume the children are the ones who need help, but they are the ones helping able-bodied people like us,” Adli said.
With the food being made by autistic youth, Adli shared the challenge he faced when he had to come up with a menu.
“We started out with five or six dishes, including nasi goreng and nasi ayam, but we realised that the children got easily confused as they are very structured.
“There were occasions where they would put the wrong ingredient into the wrong dish.
“This pushed us to focus on four specific dishes alongside other readymade items such as kuih and curry puffs to simplify it for them,” he added.
The Autism Cafe Project’s menu consists of nasi tomato with ayam masak merah, honey-glazed chicken rice, spaghetti bolognese, and spaghetti carbonara.
Adli’s passion when talking about the project and the autistic youth working there is contagious.
The father of six spoke excitedly about some of the youth who previously worked at the cafe and who have gone on to better jobs.
“We recently collaborated with Chatime in Kota Damansara, and some of the advanced youth ended up working there.
“Autistic youth are not qualified to have insurance, but luckily Chatime has a blanket coverage and provides insurance for all staff so the autistic youth can get better pay.
“This project is not about me, it is about them. If there is a better opportunity for them elsewhere, it is better for them to go, especially if there is better income,” Adli said.
Flexible, creative approach
While the project used to rely on walk-in customers, Adli stated that he had been forced to rethink the approach of the cafe, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When Covid-19 hit, we had just moved to SACC Mall in Shah Alam, so we had no choice but to close shop there, and it left us in a dark position.
“That’s when we realised we had to be creative about how we wanted to move forward, which led us to not rely on walk-in customers anymore.
“Now, we distribute meal packs for the needy and also encourage companies to come in for events here, so this place has turned into more of an event space,” he said.
The cafe has managed to attract companies such as Thermomix, iPay88 and the SEEDLab of Petronas to have company events there.
The cafe does not just serve food. They also sell accessories, including jewellery and tote bags. It also provides a stage for autistic children to showcase their talent.
“We sell jewellery like bead bracelets, which are made by the autistic youth.
“We have a stage here as well. Two brothers who call themselves ‘The Boys’ performed here one day, and a client saw them.
“They ended up performing at the Summit USJ because of that, and they are earning money now,” Adli said.
When asked about the future of the project, Adli stated that he was keen to venture into agricultural farming as he felt it would really help the autistic community.
“We are planning to start an agricultural farm as a part of our ever-growing ecosystem.
“I am pretty confident that we can make this happen by the year-end,” he added.
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