Role models and pals on the menu
A CARDIFF cafe is helping to break down barriers by offering a place where people with autism can socialise and build new skills.
Set up by Selena Caemawr, who has lived in Cardiff for 16 years, Aubergine Cafe hopes to inspire other companies to provide a more equitable workforce.
“We’re trying to demonstrate what good practice looks like. Not just for autistic people, when you make a business autistic-friendly you make it people-friendly,” Selena said.
Receiving a diagnosis for autism in the summer of 2016, Selena struggled to hold down jobs for long periods of time due to employers not fully understanding.
“I’d had a number of jobs where they didn’t last long because I struggled with certain things as simple as filling in timesheets on time,” said Selena.
“I was dead good at the complicated stuff, but I found myself having my probation period extended.”
Selena wanted to make sure that all members of the local community feel welcome in the cafe, in Cardiff’s Riverside area. From the wider LGBT+ spectrum to people suffering from anxiety, the space is open to all.
“Basically we wanted a place where people could be all of their identities, unapologetically at the same time,” Selena added.
“It’s really difficult when people aren’t aware about those issues or how to be sensitive about those issues.
“If you can have a workplace and a social place where you can just be yourself, I think people would be so
much happier. I thought in the end ‘let’s start from scratch and do it ourselves’”.
The cafe itself has adjustable lighting and arranged seating areas to cater to people’s needs.
As people with autism sometimes suffer with sensory issues, the cafe operates with an almost silent coffee machine and doesn’t organise cutlery while open.
Aarwn Brown, works at the cafe.
“I’ve been learning the language that’s used in the third sector, organising from
Abertillery, social media and publicity for everything and the running of the cafe,” she said.
“I’ve never had autistic friends until I started at Aubergine, it’s amazing.”
Other employees, such as Onyx Korn, who is originally from Germany, started out as a volunteer at the cafe before being taken on to help out with the financial running of the business.
Having lived in Cardiff for three years now, Onyx has never seen anything like Aubergine before.
“I have already been on courses such as book-keeping and financial management and that will be so useful for me in the future.”
Every Wednesday from 6pm the cafe offers a virtual meet-up for people to socialise and talk openly about topics such as being LGBT+, a person of colour and having a disability.
Hoping to connect like-minded people with each other, Selena hopes that the cafe can provide role models for people going through similar experiences they went through.
“I really want to be the role model that I never had – we want to be a cafe full of those role models.”