Of the tens of millions of people around the world with autism or down syndrome, only a tiny fraction is in paid employment. But cooking, making drinks and waiting tables is work where people with learning disabilities can shine. John Laurenson takes us to a Café Joyeux (Happy Café) in Paris, one of a fast-growing chain of cafe-restaurants where most of the staff have autism or down syndrome and where the croque monsieur comes with a smile. We also hear from a cafe in Mumbai launched by the mother whose daughter has autism and, in Turkey, the KFCs with a difference. Find out how café work can transform the lives of employees and owners. Presenter/Producer: John Laurenson (Image: Louis, Laura, Anne-France and Arnaud. Credit: BBC)
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I'm in a large, quite chic cafe in what is quite a classy, businessy neighborhood of Paris, not far from the Champs Elysees.
This cafe is one of the most recent openings of a highly successful chain called Cafe Joyeux.
Joyous or happy cafes, I suppose, in English.
There are 21 of them now all over France, but also in Brussels, Lisbon and even since a few weeks ago, New York, employing over 200 people.
What's special about these places is that most of the staff have learning disabilities, some of the more serious forms of autism and down syndrome.
This is the food chain on the BBC World Service.
With me, John Lawrence, and this week in India and Turkey and here in Paris, we'll be hearing why it is a very good idea to have people with learning disabilities making and serving food.
My name is Anne France.
I am 36 and I'm a crew member at the Cafe Joyeux.
I have down syndrome.
It slows me down.
I find it difficult to understand things.