Every "customer" of "Love Coffee" is a volunteer and can drink coffee for free, but must communicate with autistic children and even be able to "find trouble."
"The brewing methods of American style and latte are different, and there are several methods of latte art and milk foaming..." On March 30, autism practice at Luoshan Road Comprehensive Service Center for the Elderly, Huamu Street, Pudong New District, Shanghai At the launch ceremony of the base, Xu Yizheng, a 21-year-old autistic patient, excitedly introduced his experience in making coffee. What makes him even more happy is that in the future, he will "work" with his autistic friends in Huamu Street and jointly run this cafe named after love.
On April 1, 2018, Shi Dudaner, a young man born in the 1990s, teamed up with caring people from society to create Shanghai’s first autism social practice base - "Love·Coffee". This place integrates music, charity, love, training and many other elements to help autistic patients like Xu Yizheng learn coffee making skills and service awareness.
Different from ordinary cafes, every "customer" of "Love Coffee" is a volunteer and can drink coffee for free, but must communicate with autistic children and even "find trouble". The purpose is Improve the language, logic, thinking and social barriers of autistic children, allowing them to master skills while continuing to integrate into society.
"When parents grow old, how do autistic patients who have difficulty socializing survive is an urgent problem that needs to be solved." Talking about the original intention of founding "Love·Coffee", Dan'er Ishiwata said. He said that the method of making coffee is simple and easy to learn, and the cup yield is high, so that children with autism can have more time to communicate with volunteers in the cafe.
The first "Love·Coffee" autism practice base is located in the corner of the Youth Activity Center at No. 188 Hanzhong Road, Shanghai. It is open from 1:30 to 3:30 pm every working day. There are currently 13 autistic children working in shifts. Working as baristas and waiters, 5 of them have obtained the international certification SCA junior and intermediate barista certificates.
Xing Jun, the person in charge of the "Love Coffee" practice base, said that the decoration of the cafe of about 200 square meters has a fairy tale feel, with colorful chairs arranged neatly, colorful plaid cloth on the table, and hanging hangings on the walls on both sides. Full of creative annual summaries, work suggestions and drawings for children with autism. Children study and live here, and use it as a tentacle to perceive the workplace and society.
Many parents worry that their children will be emotionally unstable when learning and tasting coffee, making it difficult for them to adapt to the new environment. But unexpectedly, when making coffee, they seemed to have gotten a new toy that they had never touched before. Not only could they patiently listen to the barista explain how to identify coffee beans, brewing methods, and how to recommend coffee to customers, Also take the initiative to think and communicate with teachers.
"Why are there these flavors?" "I smell flowers, apples, lemons" "Ah, why is there the smell of vinegar?" In the coffee skills training class, children with autism were immersed in the aroma of coffee and asked teachers and parents Sharing hand-made coffee has achieved a transformation from passively receiving love to actively giving love. "This is a great progress for autistic children and their families."
Xu Yizheng’s mother had a bad gastrointestinal condition and rarely drank coffee, but when her son handed her the first cup of coffee he made, she was excited and moved. She said it was the "best coffee she's ever had."
In order to ensure the maximum effect of volunteer services, "Love·Coffee" implements a reservation system. Volunteers who drink coffee need to register in advance and receive training in batches. After mastering common emergency problems and coping methods for children with autism, they can then choose a time to enter "Love·Coffee".
Volunteers come from different industries and fields. In addition to daily interactions, they also organize industry-specific volunteer service activities. For example, every Tuesday, young volunteers from the State Grid Shanghai Electric Power Company will regularly arrange themed activities such as "Electricity Classroom" based on the characteristics of the power industry to popularize practical knowledge such as household appliances and emergency measures for power outages to autistic children.
"In the past six years, more than 6,000 volunteers have accompanied autistic children to grow up, and the 'Lonely Cafe' is no longer lonely." Ishiwata Dan'er told reporters that despite the change of venue and the impact of the epidemic, "Love·Coffee" has persisted and expanded to this day. The new innovative model is inseparable from the help of volunteers and caring people.
What is gratifying is that all the children can "recite" the menu proficiently, and are also familiar with the ordering, production and other processes. They talk to the volunteers in one day at "Love·Coffee" more than they talk to their parents at home in a week. Without prior knowledge, it would have been difficult to tell that they were autistic.
The 21-year-old Tiantian has typical characteristics of autism such as stereotyped behavior, language impairment, and social impairment. His parents dare not imagine the future and "can't sleep all night just thinking about it."
But at the "Love Coffee" practice base, Tiantian learned how to serve customers and how to cooperate and communicate with peers. The shell that enveloped him and isolated him from the world was slowly opening. Some volunteers who are familiar with him will care about his progress in cultural courses like old friends and exchange interesting things about his life with him. After long-term training and encouragement, Tiantian can now ride the subway alone.
Behind the growth of Xu Yizheng and Tiantian is the volunteer service path of three generations of Shidu Daner, grandfather Cao Peng, and mother Cao Xiaoxia.
April 2, 2008 was designated as the first "World Autism Day". At that time, conductor Cao Peng and Cao Xiaoxia, who worked in the orchestra, accidentally learned that music has obvious healing effects on autistic children, so they took the lead in establishing the "Angel Friend Salon" charity project to care for autistic children. Use music to help autistic children get out of the self-isolated world.
Under the influence of his grandfather and mother, Ishiwata Danji participated in the project as a volunteer and recorder during his college years. After graduation, Dan'er Ishiwatari decided to officially take over the "baton" of charity and use new ideas to help more autistic patients. In his opinion, his grandfather and mother used music to build a bridge between autistic children and the outside world. The next step is to start from both education and practice, so that autistic children, especially adult patients, can truly integrate into the collective. , gain a foothold in society.
In addition to the "Love·Coffee" public welfare project, Ishiwadaner also took the lead in establishing the "Love Classroom" autism public welfare project, which provides basic education courses and divides small, medium and large classes according to children's cognitive level rather than age. Targeted teaching allows autistic children to learn with dignity and have a colorful life and aesthetics like ordinary children.
In the future, Daner Ishiwata hopes to establish professional schools for autistic patients and nursing communities for autistic patients, and build a voluntary service chain for autistic patients throughout their life cycle.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily trainee reporter Wang Shanshan reporter Chen Fengli Source: China Youth Daily