Submitted by admin on Wed, 04/11/2018 - 17:59

Diversity and Inclusion

Children and Youth

Health

A father starts a family business to give his autistic son a shot at building an independent future.   
Behind the walls of autism, a father’s love
Behind the walls of autism, a father’s love

When Muhammad Luqman Shariff was finally able to pack a packet of nasi lemak by himself, it was  a milestone for the 19-year-old, and a moment of hope for his parents.

“We always worry about what will happen to Luqman when we are no longer around,” says Mohd Adli Yahya, of his son. “We worry about how he’s going to survive, who’s going to look after him.”

Luqman is autistic and nonverbal — a subset of autism where the person is unable to speak — and Adli knew that Luqman’s chances of finding a job would be slim.

When Luqman was a toddler, his autism was a wall between him and Adli, resulting in a great deal of frustration.
Adli would discipline his son so severely, the episodes haunt him to this day.
Lacking knowledge on autism, he felt helpless when it came to his son.
Though their relationship has improved over time, Adli remains determined to continue making up for his past mistakes with Luqman.
 
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In 2016, Adli, with the support of his wife Nozilan Mohammed, founded Autism Cafe Project to help other parents and the general public learn more about autism through their awareness and outreach programme.
Ultimately, Adli and Nozilan hope for the Project to teach Luqman basic practical skills, and to help secure his future when they are no longer around.
Everyone in the family chips in, with their younger daughter testing out recipes she finds online.
For Luqman, tasks like washing the rice and peeling eggs help to develop his fine motor skills. After six months, Luqman is now able to pack nasi lemak without assistance.
Nozilan runs the catering orders like clockwork, managing purchasing, cooking and syncing with delivery schedules.
To ensure the deliveries meet the schedule, Nozilan often ropes in extended family members.
With his improved motor skills, Luqman has even started helping his mother cook the sambal for their nasi lemak.
Selling nasi lemak at outreach “pop-up” kiosks like this one at Tropicana Medical Centre allows Adli to share more about the Project, and to let the public interact with Luqman and other autistic youth.
When talking to customers, Adli helps Luqman regulate the volume of his voice by letting him feel the vibration from his vocal chords.
Adli and Luqman work on every single catering event and “pop-up” kiosk together.
Spending quality time together has shown Adli how Luqman views the world, and taught him how to communicate with and understand his son better.
To celebrate the end of a successful day, father and son groove to “I Have A Dream” by ABBA. “...if you see them as individuals with potential, that could open up a whole new world for them.” - Mohd Adli Yahya

So in 2016, Adli left his high-flying corporate job to start Autism Cafe Project, a catering business that would provide his son with a safe space to learn skills, and give him the opportunity to achieve a basic level of independence.

A social enterprise, Autism Cafe Project also provides food services training to other autistic youth, and aims to raise awareness on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) amongst the general public.

Most importantly, the Project allowed Adli to spend the quality time he needed with Luqman, to know him better, and to aid him in his development.

Aside from catering, Adli has also opened a cafe and is organising “pop-up” kiosks to sell nasi lemak — a dish of rice cooked in coconut milk and wrapped in banana leaf — to the public, so that Luqman has more opportunities to interact with the public.

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Through these interactions, Adli hopes for better understanding and acceptance of the autism community: “I would wish the public would understand us, the parents, as well as our special needs youth... Do not see them as non-productive people because if you do that there will be no hope for them. But if you see them as individuals with potential, that could open up a whole new world for them.”

Find out more about Autism Cafe Project https://www.facebook.com/Autismcafeproject/ , and support them by helping them get a new set of wheels.

Employment
Disabilities
Skills-based
Special Needs
Mentorship
Family
Social Enterprise
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Photographer
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Autism Cafe Project
Autism Cafe Project is a social enterprise in Malaysia offering catering services while also providing people with autism a chance to pick up employment and social skills. Aside from catering, it also holds talks and takes part in outreach events to raise awareness of autism.
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