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Children with Special Needs Work, Learn at Cafe

South Florida Local 10

Dov Cattan, 11, greets customers at Friendship Circle Cafe.

Brushing up on dealing with others and finding their way around the kitchen are part of the mission of the Friendship Circle Cafe in Deerfield Beach, FL, where almost two-dozen children with Down syndrome or autism spectrum disorders are learning by doing.

Dov Cattan, 11, greets customers at Friendship Circle Cafe. Dov and other children with special needs took orders and serving food for an evening, developing their social and work skills.

“I can see that maturity come out in certain times, and this is definitely one of them,” said Aaron Cattan, Dov’s dad.

Mozart Cafe owner Shimi Avni hosts the monthly event and takes kids into the kitchen to do some cooking.

“Some of them get it faster. Some of them need a little bit more help. But, it’s a lot of patience, and we have the patience for them,” said Avni.

Eighty customers , mostly from Chabad of Parkland, came out to watch the kids learn new skills, and maybe learn something themselves.

“Some of them may look different. Some of them may not know how to communicate; they’re nonverbal. But, they are so beautiful inside, and they’re such special people. They’re the ones who really teach you how to love unconditionally,” said Friendship Circle’s Leah Fischweicher.

“It’s acceptance, and it’s not only doing good for the kids, but doing good for everyone else. It’s human kindness 10 times over,” diner Leah Cohen said.

Besides getting encouragement, the children also keep their tips, and a percent of the night’s business goes back to Friendship Circle.

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8 Comments

  • Nobody

    Nice idea. The problem is high order autism, Asperger’s and PDD NOS autism spectrum issues are really better handled separately from Down Syndrome and more sever autism (like non-verbal), because the kids in the former group don’t want to be associated with such a disability, and often don’t see themselves as disabled in that way. So it would be better to have two separate programs for the two groups.

  • Fc mom

    Nobody you are full of hot air because my son was there and he is non verbal and has chromosome disorder and he did a great. Job. Dov and my son are really close and never once did dov ever feel the way that u mentioned in ur comment . Even if Dovi does not feel “special needs” he hangs out with ari with open arms and ari learns from Dovi . That is why there is such a thing as inclusion. Where special kids are in the same setting as typical. It works! Case in point ari and dov are both in typical gan yisroels this summer.

  • Lea Cattan

    This is surprisingly WONDERFUL!!! I think everyone involved gains. A wonderful circle of giving and receiving. Thank you for organizing it for my grandson.
    Bubby L.

  • Tovah

    It wld be great if they cld expand it to different disablilty group as well. :). I think that this is a super idea b/c everyone can see ppl w/ special needs r just as capable in their own ways. Great training for a successful future!