Meet Adli Yahya — a father who turned love into purpose.
When his son Luqman, a non-verbal autistic boy, struggled to find a place in a world that often misunderstands neurodiversity, Adli chose to create one.
That choice became the Autism Cafe Project, a heartfelt initiative empowering autistic youth through real-world skills in baking, crafts, and hospitality.
In this inspiring episode, Adli shares the journey of raising Luqman, discovering his unique talents, and building a community that believes in inclusion, dignity, and opportunity.
From the smell of freshly baked cakes to the intricate beauty of handmade crafts, Luqman communicates through creativity — and his story is a reminder that autism is not a limitation, but a different kind of brilliance.
This conversation is about more than parenting — it’s about vision, resilience, and a father’s unwavering belief in his son’s worth.
Tune in for a powerful discussion on acceptance, empowerment, and how small steps can create big change.
#AutismAcceptance #AutismCafeProject #NoWordsJustTalent #NoWordsJustTalent #LuqmanBakes #SinarDaily #ForTheLove #DisabilityInclusion #Fatherhood #InspiringStories
When his son Luqman, a non-verbal autistic boy, struggled to find a place in a world that often misunderstands neurodiversity, Adli chose to create one.
That choice became the Autism Cafe Project, a heartfelt initiative empowering autistic youth through real-world skills in baking, crafts, and hospitality.
In this inspiring episode, Adli shares the journey of raising Luqman, discovering his unique talents, and building a community that believes in inclusion, dignity, and opportunity.
From the smell of freshly baked cakes to the intricate beauty of handmade crafts, Luqman communicates through creativity — and his story is a reminder that autism is not a limitation, but a different kind of brilliance.
This conversation is about more than parenting — it’s about vision, resilience, and a father’s unwavering belief in his son’s worth.
Tune in for a powerful discussion on acceptance, empowerment, and how small steps can create big change.
#AutismAcceptance #AutismCafeProject #NoWordsJustTalent #NoWordsJustTalent #LuqmanBakes #SinarDaily #ForTheLove #DisabilityInclusion #Fatherhood #InspiringStories
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00so April is autism awareness month a time to celebrate neurodiversity and shine a life on
00:15the stories that inspire change today we are honored to speak with a father who turned love
00:20into impact so please welcome mr. Muhammad Agriyah here the founder of the autism cafe project
00:26hi sir how are you I'm fine thank you so much for having us let's start with your story can you take
00:33us back to the beginning your journey as a father to an autistic child so it's 26 years back the
00:41scenario is not as what we have today the awareness is almost zero to me and here I am here I was with
00:52him you know I don't know what I'm dealing with you know you're talking about individual autism for him
00:58he can't speak so I don't understand him why he has to jump on the same spot for hours I don't
01:07understand why he has to run in in circle for hours unable to speak he is very neat person so those
01:16things that which is the characteristic of autism yet I don't know what it is called you know so we
01:23were grappling with the issue of him what is this you know why are you behaving like this so pulling
01:30from that I had I have a very difficult time accepting him as an autistic person until I think at some point
01:41we have internet came in I think it's I think I can't recall what what year was that probably is
01:48about three four years old when he was that internet came you know jarring came in and I was the first
01:54internet provider and that is where I stumbled into a word of autism so it was shattering to me having
02:05because I want a boy which I can play with you know playing football basketball whatever but he
02:11doesn't represent that so there was an issue of acceptance I know and it has been going it was
02:17clouded our journey of father and father and son's relationship for quite number of years there was a
02:27rough patches but at one point I realized I have to accept him as he is there was another journey again
02:33of acceptance yeah all right so maybe you could share like what inspired you to create the autism
02:39key free project and like was there like a defining moment that sparked this idea um well you know I
02:47told you earlier about the acceptance part you know my son look man he is not autism is a spectrum you
02:56know not everybody is in the same cataractics you know they're not that different so my son is unable
03:03to speak he has physical disability issues he has his mental issues intelligent issues so put that in the
03:14basket you know who is going to hire him honest answer nobody will so um post acceptance issue that I was
03:24dealing with him I am so worried that he is unable to live his life as he should be living with you know
03:33um he should live a normal life like us as fullest of disability you know I don't expect him to be a CEO I
03:40don't expect him to be this the executive but I do expect him to live his life to the fullest that's what
03:46I wanted to do in the beginning it was basically getting in his monthly income it was I wanted as I
03:53said I wanted him to live his life to the fullest of disability meaning he's he's working he's supposed to be
03:59working he is supposed to have his friends with him you know he's supposed to jog outside with with
04:05me or with his friends you know living normal like us you know that's what I wanted to do so I foresee as
04:13I said I foresee he's having difficulties of securing a job because he'll be competing with you guys you
04:20know and guess who will win definitely not him you know so I guess I had to take this in charge of myself
04:27to be able to get him to lead his life beautifully and one finally I saw this basically one of the many
04:36things that I came across you know that I saw this 40 years old man with autism spectrum was having
04:47breakfast with his mother by chance I met her in Damansara you know so I asked him because I knew this is
04:56autistic you know characteristic you know you've been living for within for 20 years 26 years you
05:01kind of knew this is an autistic individual so I didn't ask the mother how old he see you and I said 40
05:08and the mother is I think the mother is almost 18 so I asked her what is his expertise he doesn't
05:17have any expertise no the mother said nothing zero you know can you imagine if the mother passed away what is
05:24going to happen to him so that strike deep in me like you know I said I said one of the many things
05:29so I decided well I decided I have to take this into my hand I can't leave it to any any anybody you
05:38know either his shadow his doctor that is not their responsibility it's my responsibility so I decided this
05:46is it I have to take this and build his future so I resigned I left my career in 2016 and I started a
05:56little project called the autism cafe project specifically for him but along the way we found
06:02out it has so many positive influence to him but we decided to open up to a small group and yeah we started
06:11off with selling nasi lemak by the roadside and nine years coming nine years here we are we have a
06:18blueprint that I wanted to realize and it is realized yeah I'm happy with that how did your son influence
06:24the values and visions of this giveaway you see as I as I mentioned to you again he is an individual
06:32with autism with low functioning back those days line and to see that he has made it you know he is now
06:41working full-time over the cafe and he is working at uncle roger once a week and three of our boys as
06:48well is working in city tell hotel so sometimes parents saw him working and I explained to him he
06:56wasn't this big poor and they got inspired you know to be honest with you it was heaven and earth you you
07:04know he was totally non-functional those days now he's able to do his on his own he designed bracelet
07:11and he's selling it at uncle roger again he he's earning about 600 ringgit per month from that particular
07:17outlet alone you know not mentioning the other roadshow that we went he earns about 200 per roadshow so he earns
07:25his living now and you know when we asked him to do something to perform tasks last time when you
07:33ask him to clean the plate and he pointed to this one particular plate he only cleans that one but now
07:42when you ask him to clean the plate he will clean everything on the table he will dry it he will actually
07:50put in a proper place so now one instruction actually created multiple action he wasn't that those days you
07:56know he wasn't that so when people saw him you know I mean not the worst case scenario but somewhere
08:03um he is so hopeless those days now look at him so that inspired everyone that we met you know so I'm glad
08:13that he did uh in a way like giving hope to others you know so I think um now those days I saw him as a
08:21liability now he's actually a godsend I'm so happy with it yeah so like do you see a change in now how
08:29Malaysians view autism today compact to when he began oh yeah yeah huge difference you know you know how
08:36we do this when I went to the doctor when I think it was about three years old four years when I went
08:43to the doctor the doctor that's herself doesn't know what is autism only should have probably um late
08:50learners kind of thing no but there was no mention of autism at all but now I think uh the internet
08:56plays it parts wonderfully you know there's tons of emissions there you know I guess um there is a huge
09:03awareness you know I think a flip side one probably hundred percent uh compared to those days you know
09:08and uh though I would say this in urban area in Malaysia especially the awareness is there probably not
09:16hundred percent but I think it's quite huge now but if you're talking about in rural area especially
09:24in the east coast or probably in Sabah Sarawak in the in the in the deeper version or in the rural area
09:30probably that's where works needs to be done on the awareness issues you know uh I've seen cases like
09:38uh this one young uh lady girl lah to be you know we exit being tied up underneath their their house
09:45the kampung house they have stilts you know he was she was being chained and why I know I saw her and
09:50you know I thought I I seriously thought this is autism definitely you know but again again you can't blame the
09:57parents the knowledge was not there so I think uh autism awareness should be ongoing shouldn't stop even
10:05though we have reached a milestone in a way uh of the awareness but it shouldn't stop you might know
10:11I might know but others don't so it shouldn't stop yeah what would you like the puppy to hear
10:17uh to for a better understanding I would say this um you know learn more about autism autism is a spectrum
10:26uh when you see personality putting up their autistic incredible talent of their autistic individual that
10:33doesn't represent what is autism is all about it's a spectrum you might have the one who uh uh has this
10:40highly talented with extraordinary ability like we have Clarence who is fantastic with his skills his
10:49piano skill you know fantastic artist but not all like him and we have cases like the um uh you know
10:57those who has high tantrums like autumn autism family we i think yeah adam autism family yeah yeah i think so
11:05he has this high tantrum high fertility you know whatnot you know but not all represented that
11:11you know uh so the public need to know the whole spectrum of autism that's why we encourage volunteers
11:19whoever it is to come over to our cafe and learn about autism you read you saw on internet and here you
11:26are if you are here you are experiencing another uh spectrum of autism so you have a better understanding
11:33you know reading it you know reading it watching on tv and experiencing it entirely in a different paradigm you know so
11:41we encourage everyone who wants to learn more about autism to come over to the cafe and be our volunteer for that matter
11:47i i think the society again as i said mentioned as i mentioned before the society needs to understand them first you know
11:55if you understand them you know for instance for example if the ceos come over here and he saw their ability
12:05any other organization that he holds you know so that is actually crucial you know as i said experiencing
12:12knowing what is autism is all about that is the key it will be a win-win situation you know good example is
12:19this one of many targets that we're looking at uh in creating awareness is actually um private institution
12:28established private institution because you don't know who's who in it there might be a ceo's daughter
12:35that might be her ceo's son you know who one day will actually hold that important position if they knew
12:43this is autism they might have a chance working in that particular organization because you never knew
12:50what who's going to be on the top seat over there you know might be their son might be their daughter
12:55but if they knew earlier what is autism is all about there goes i mean there is a chance that you know
13:01they open up a new policy of recruitment in terms of autism individuals and stuff like so that is that
13:07like do you believe um business in malaysia are doing enough to support neurodiversity if not what more
13:15can be done i guess um organization like uh catering for neurodiversity individuals are not many here
13:26i wish that you know big organization like uh maybank is doing wonderfully with us you know those big
13:34organizations would help us in terms of creating awareness and creating job opportunity for us you
13:40know we don't ask much you know what we wanted is the opportunity and it can be
13:45all kinds of unity though like our boys can make cookies or not give us a place for us to sell we don't ask
13:52you to donate to us but give us a chance give them a chance to actually be a simple entrepreneur
13:59what getting job outside is not to say impossible it's difficult so why don't we create a simple
14:05entrepreneurs out of them give us a table and that's about it you know and if you do that you are
14:10changing their future you are changing his life you are making a future his future more bearable
14:17what are your hopes for the autism carefree project in the next few years like are there any plans to expand
14:23open new branches or start other yeah um we have actually been invited by this one uh institution
14:32to open up a bigger one you know um and uh this is kind of a trial test for us you know when we
14:42started this basically it's just a cafe so cafe is like where they bake and they cook and do their
14:48they make their living basically but we are in a final phase of our our project which is we are
14:56building a group home for them a group home meaning there is a centralized kitchen and there is the place
15:02for them to stay as individual without their parents be independent so uh setting up of this kind of cafe
15:11doesn't take much so i'm hoping that um you know we are hopefully we can expand to uh two other states we
15:20have actually in in in in discussion mode already to open up over there uh two states basically and uh it will
15:30be similar to what we have done because i think we have done i think we make we somehow managed to get this
15:38a success from you know from selling nasi limak beside the road now we have our own um premises here we
15:47have much we must done something right here you know so uh it doesn't take much so it's a small
15:52investment so i'm hoping that it could be duplicated to other other other states that's why i don't want
15:59it to be big you know some parents wanted to do something like us but they don't know how to
16:05do so having a small group as i said it helps in terms of managing the project you know when you
16:11have when you have it big the utmost concern is you must have certain amount of revenue to sustain it
16:18you know where else here we are we don't make much but we are we have been able to sustain ourselves as i
16:25said almost nine years we must have done something right here what mistake would you share with parents
16:30who are just beginning their journey with a child on this um plan you have to plan their future oh okay
16:39so number one you have to accept them as they are you can't change them to be like us you can't but
16:47you can you need to manage them properly so acceptance is the key once you receive that acceptance level you
16:54need to think of their future because they can't a good example is this he can't construct his future
17:02and that responsibility doesn't fall on his teacher doesn't fall on his shadow doesn't fall on the
17:09doctor it falls on the parents so they have a long way to go so you need to plan carefully of where are you
17:17bringing this child when in case you're not around so you need to plan carefully okay sure no worries finally
17:28as a father not just a founder as a father what does success mean to you oh simple those days success to
17:37me is you're getting straight A's and my kids are you have to get straight A's you have to and a success
17:47in terms of while i was working is the numbers you have to have numbers that you must achieve you know but
17:55with him it sort of opened my mind success doesn't mean if you fail you won't be successful forever
18:03success meaning i have managed to actually pull up his talent and make it into a good use success meaning
18:11that he was unable to wash the dishes now he's able to wash the dishes unable to carry out uh instruction
18:21now he's able to carry out instruction he was not happy those days now he's happy that is my measurement of
18:28success now so to my kids i don't do that anymore it this i have the the third one the fourth one
18:37you know she was not as intelligent as the brothers and sisters so i told her it's okay you might not be
18:44academically you know excel in this area but there are areas that you can excel but nevertheless she
18:50excelled very well nowadays so i don't force anyone that's the lesson that i learned from him is that
18:57you know sometimes like i was you know i learned a lot from him you know just watching him very be very
19:04patient he's he's a very patient person he's a very accommodative person he forgives people you know
19:12those are the things that i learned from him i can't get in university so sometimes i just sit down and
19:18i thought to myself hey luqman is the greatest teacher that i came across so i'm happy that is really wonderful
19:27thank you so much mr atby for your honesty courage and for showing us that love when channeled into
19:33purpose can build something truly powerful the autism cafe project is more than a cafe is definitely a
19:39movement so and we are honored to share your story for this autism awareness part thank you so much
19:57you