Classrooms, coffee shops and cakes

"It's okay, take it easy," said the man with a smile, as he paid 15 yuan ($2.20) and accepted a large bottle milk at the Wisdom Tree Coffee Shop, even though he had ordered a medium-sized cappuccino.

"Customers in the coffee shop are very nice, they treat the staff with great patience," said Zhu Jiawei, a teacher from Hangzhou Yanglingzi School, Zhejiang province.

The coffee shop is one of three launched by the school, the Hangzhou Disabled Person's Federation and the Shangcheng bureau of civil affairs as part of a program that helps to prepare young people with intellectual disabilities or communication disorders for work.

The school teaches the students, ages 13 to 18, how to make coffee, bake cakes and clean tables, while the coffee shops provide training in the field. So far, about 50 students have worked in them.

Some of the "special staff" need to be accompanied by their parents, or are too nervous to raise their heads when offering menus, but they like their jobs and enjoy working.

Baking intern Feifei finds it stressful to talk to strangers. However, when the 18-year-old makes cakes he's totally relaxed, carefully pouring the batter into cake tins and placing them in order in the oven.

"He likes baking and feels excited about work," his father said. "He's lonely at home, but here he has friends who talk with him and keep him company. We know he's different from other kids. We want him to be happy; that's enough."

The school's graduates can earn 2,000 yuan a month at the cafe.

"What the parents really want is to see their children involved in work and happy. They don't care much about the money," Zhu said.

"The kids have the ability to handle basic work and they perform well. They do have problems with interpersonal communication and mental agility, but that's no excuse to impose prejudices on them. The espressos, lattes, butter cookies and cheese cakes are best-sellers, and are all made by the kids. We don't regard them as disabled, they are just our colleagues."

chengsi@chinadaily.com.cn