A coffee shop hires students with autism to give them a sense of fulfilment and help with their therapy.

The Autistic Cafe started as a dessert shop in a tent outside a Buddhist temple in 2011 before moving to a new location in Chiang Rai province.

Aside from making tasty dishes for customers, its main goal is to create jobs for people on the spectrum and help them with therapy.

It has partnered with a special needs school where students can choose to apply to their vacancies with guidance from teachers.

The coffee shop manager said: ‘We started in 2011 and had a tent outside Was Rong Khun temple and only moved here in 2015.

‘This coffee shop is not for profit as we started this to create jobs for the students, so they have the skill to make a living.

‘When we had a shop outside a temple, we made coffee and sold items made by our students.

With the help of teachers, the coffee shop would look into a student's skills and interests before being offered a responsibility in the shop.

The manager added: ‘We will also look into the student's areas of interest as our school has more than 50 career paths to choose from.

‘We check what occupation the student is most interested in and check if they can do it.

‘f they're able to do it, we'd allow them to, but if not, we'll help the student find a suitable career path for themselves.'

Autistic students are also welcome to become part-timers.

The manager added: 'Then we moved here. We give practical lessons to our students.

'This area belongs to the school. There's food, fresh coffee, and items made by our students all in one place. The students rotate and have classes during the day.'

Student Ananya Wantong said she likes helping the most. She said: ‘Hello, my name is Ananya Wantong my nickname is Aoywan.

‘I like making coffee and working at the shop and helping my teacher at the shop.'

Her workmate Aorapan Nalampang is more into customer service. Aorapan said: ‘Hello my name is Aorapan Nalampang. I like making crepes, and I like seeing people.'

One of their veteran barista Pa Saeto has been working at the cafe for seven years.

He said: ‘Hello, my name is Pa Saeto. After I complete [school], the teacher let me work here.

'It's been seven years now. I like doing two things that are making cookies and coffee.'

The term 'ausome' is a play on words 'autism' and 'awesome' which most parents affectionately describe the condition of their children diagnosed to be on the spectrum.