Something good is cooking: Autistic teens finish baking training
Autistic students pass the final examination of dim sum baking training on Wednesday.
A thrilled Huang Rui waved her hands wildly as she finished baking 20 chocolate cookies in the final examination of a vocational training program for autistic teens.
She celebrated her successful creations alone for a while and then carefully put them on a plate for evaluation by judges.
The 19-year-old was among the first batch of young people with autism who finished their training session offered by a city temple to become professional dim sum chefs.
The eight autistics graduated from the non-profit training session launched by the Jade Buddha Temple's Juequn Culture and Education Foundation on Wednesday.
With the certificates issued by the Shanghai Modern Food Vocational Skills Training Center, they are now eligible to work for local dim sum companies or restaurants.
The vegetarian pastry factory of the temple, which produces popular vegetarian mooncakes and other seasonal snacks, will also offer internships for the graduates.
The products they make will be marketed as the "Starry Dessert" brand. Some of the profits will be donated to help autistic groups.
The program aims to help autistic children find jobs and become more involved in society, Hui Jue, secretary-general of the foundation, the main operator of the program, explained.
One of the trainees checks ingredients of chocolate cookies.
"We encourage more local food companies to recruit the graduates and give them a new chance in life," Hui said.
The foundation signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Food Association on Wednesday to encourage the graduates' recruitment.
The first batch of graduates passed the final examination at the center by making chocolate cookies. They've studied baking for nearly half a year one-to-one with dim sum masters at the center since the program was initiated at the temple late last year.
"Each of them has been able to finish basic dim sum baking without any help from others – from preparation, ingredients mixing to baking," Qian Jinjie, chief master of the program, revealed.
"Their behavior at the final examination has exceeded my expectation," added Qian, a senior trainer at the center and a top-level dim sum master.
She said the autistic students required more patience and they had to take bespoke measures to teach each of them.
A student, for instance, liked singing during lessons. Qian encouraged him to sing his favorite songs and follow the rhythms while baking. Some others liked practicing alone without being bothered by outsiders, she added.
"I just like baking because I can share the biscuits with my mum," Liu Yi, one of the graduates, said simply.
A trainee checks the cookies he baked.
His classmate Feng Xiao has a strong memory; he can remember all the steps and tips immediately.
"They are just easy to get along with and can follow the procedures just like normal students," Feng's master said.
China has more than 10 million autistic patients, most of whom can get employed and be self-reliant through vocational training and studies, according to the foundation.
Additional training sessions will be launched for local autistic youths under the cooperation between the foundation and the training center. A barista training program will be initiated at the center on Friday.
The "Starry Dessert" program has launched vocational training or internship on baking, coffee making and "intangible cultural heritages." A total of 53 autistic students have received over 1,600 hours of training or internship programs.
The temple initially invited a group of autistic children to spend a week in the temple to learn traditional Chinese culture and talk with the monks early last year.
The bashful children were surprisingly accustomed to and soon enough enjoyed the atmosphere and even made friends with the monks, inspiring the temple to launch the training program for them, according to the foundation.
The graduates receive dim sum chef certificates at a local vocational training center.
