The Starry Sky Cafe lies within a corporate zone in Xiamen's Jimei district, and is frequented by office workers and residents living nearby. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The project was set up by the Xiamen Disabled Persons' Federation, and is run by the Shangmeng (Xiamen) Holding Group, a company dedicated to providing job opportunities to people with disabilities.

This cafe is located on the Shangmeng Base in the Jimei district, a corporate zone with a canteen and accessible facilities, which is frequented by the company's employees and nearby residents.

The young man's mother says that the work environment is convenient — eight-hour days, five days a week, including a lunch and nap break, and employees can have lunch at the canteen, which puts her mind at ease.

"He is taken good care of there. What matters the most to me is that he is doing what he enjoys, has a stable routine, and is able to realize his own self-worth," she adds.

The cafe employs five baristas with autism, under the daily supervision of a manager and occasional participation of the employees' parents. [Photo provided to China Daily]

According to Chen Jun, director of the Xiamen Disabled Persons' Employment Service Center, a subsidiary of the federation, the cafe's launch and operation has been made possible by a number of players, including the federation, the Shangmeng group, the employees and their families, as well as public engagement.

"After extensive visits to the families of individuals with autism, as well as to companies looking to hire, we took into account the needs of people on the autism spectrum and decided to set up a cafe as a space of employment, because of the structured, standardized operations, and comfortable environment," Chen says.