Why cafe culture can brew up opportunities for Chinese workers with learning disabilities
- Supporters of sheltered employment schemes say businesses and government have big role to play as coffee shop training format catches on
- One company owner calls for more self-reliance to strengthen commercial culture
Each day, staff at the Dream Workshop cafe on Chengshan Road in Shanghai record the number of customers they serve on a blackboard behind the cashier’s counter.
On Monday, a month after the cafe opened, that number hit 4,000. That might not be big for some businesses, but it was a milestone for the Dream Workshop staff, most of whom have a disability.
“It’s my first job. I am happy to work here,” said Wan Chupeng, who has Williams syndrome, a developmental disorder. His manual dexterity is poor, but as the cleaner of the shop, Wan easily remembers that certain cloths must be used in certain places.
Wan and six colleagues – all aged about 19 – are graduates of the Shanghai Pudong New Area Special School. Dream Workshop employees are people with conditions such as Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy or autism.
The cafe, launched by the school, is the first of its kind in Shanghai and the latest in a network across China that offers work and support to people with learning disabilities.
According to census data taken in 2010, 12 million Chinese citizens had learning disabilities. Industry insiders said supply of sheltered employment programmes was short, and the survival of such projects was a big concern.