The idea is to bring out the entrepreneurial skill among autistic youth.
PETALING JAYA: Activists working to help autistic children today launched a bazaar featuring only products made by autistic youth, in a bid to help the community to be independent.
The Autism Youth Bazaar at the Evolve Concept Mall in Ara Damansara features more than 10 different booths selling items made by the autistic youth and their families. The items include cookies, cakes, handicrafts, paintings, jewellery and clothing items.
It was an initiative by the daughter of former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Nori Abdullah, who is behind We Rock The Spectrum (WRTS), and Autism Cafe Project (ACP) founder Mohd Adli Yahya.
Also present today was United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) representative in Malaysia, Marianne Clark-Hattingh.
Nori, who is the wife of Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, hopes those interested to provide opportunities for autistic youth will come forward to work with her organisation.
“We are interested in working with anyone who is looking for the same thing – to help provide opportunities for the autistic youth,” she told FMT.
Adli said they plan to move the bazaar to different locations every month.
“This way, we can reach out and involve more communities.
“We want the autistic youth to work and we want people to come to the bazaar and buy their products. That’s the bread and butter of our financial plan.”
He said many autistic youths had their own talents but could not get jobs.
“Getting jobs is almost impossible for some of them, so instead, we thought they should create their own jobs. Who knows? Perhaps one day, some of them may even become employers.”
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