[Chocolate machine]
[Merry Christmas chocolates being removed from mould]
[Joseph Carass working]
[Merry Christmas chocolates]
[Ash Shah counting boxes for delivery]
[Shaz and Mona Shah]
Mona Shah (interview): “Pakistan, it’s quite a discriminatory society. And Ash being very sociable, you’ve met him, you know how sociable he is. But when he was younger, he used to do a lot of hand slapping and grimacing because he didn’t have his speech until he was almost six. So he’d just go flapping his hands and run around in the park and the parents would tell their kids to come away because this is a mad person. And the whole thing, mad and mental and all of those terms was not something I wanted him to grow up with because once he understood those terms, it would really affect him negatively.”
[Chocolatier Bruce Hall piping cream into white chocolates]
Mona Shah (interview): “And it was while I was there, I realised that it could be suitable for autistic people because of the processes involved in this quite structured work. And plus it’s quite a sensual experience as well. And you know, it’s the sensory part of it would be really good for autistic people. ”
[Bruce filling moulds with melted white chocolate]
[Joseph Carass cleaning moulds]
Joseph Carass (interview): “And I’m just glad that they’ve been a company that has accepted me because after I left college in 2017, I found it very, very difficult to get a job. I would apply for many, many jobs and I just get turned down. I’m very thankful for the company, you know, They take on autistic people and whatnot, they give them a chance. You know, no other company has ever done that.”
[Joseph Carass popping air bubbles in melted chocolate]
[Machine putting milk chocolate in moulds]
[Air bubble being popped]
Joseph Carass (interview): “So I’m 25 years old now. If I was still 15 years old, I wouldn’t even be making eye contact with you right now. But, you know, look at me now.”
[Bruce Hall pouring melted chocolate into hopper]
[Melted chocolate in pan]
Bruce Hall (interview): “I came here on work experience for school, and it was just a couple days a week or however it goes for work experience. And then as I have gone through sixth form and had more time to work, I’ve been coming here more and more until I’ve finished my college sixth form and I work here full time, five days a week.”
[Workers placing chocolates in the selection boxes]
Shaz Shah (interview): “So, yes, there could be challenges at times because sometimes resisting change, for example. But for a number of years, we now know how to handle any change that is coming through. And the only thing we noticed was that they need a bit of explanation and why this change is happening and everything is fine with them. So there are challenges, but there are workarounds them. So it’s not rigid at all.”
[Christmas selection boxes]
[Workers filling the boxes]
Zoey Clenshaw (interview): “It’s a big difference between working here and working anywhere else is that I actually feel like I’m listened to. So if I say: ‘Hey, I’m having a problem with it’. It doesn’t become a: ‘Oh yeah, we will sort it, whatever. Or yeah, will you go and deal with it or get out it’. It becomes a conversation, it becomes a okay, kind of, so with this help, or can we do this or do you need to go outside for five minutes? Like quite often actually when I’ve been getting stressed, I’m hesitant to go outside and Mona will turn around to me and be like: ‘What are you doing? Go outside, go and have a little walk around for five-ten minutes.”
[Christmas chocolates]
[Chocolates]
[Ash finishing preparing the Christmas selection boxes]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.