In Milan, just a short walk from the Turro metro stop, there is a shop where you can buy clothing, accessories, and books. A space designed to offer job opportunities to young people on the autism spectrum, giving voice to their desire—and that of their families—to have a place in the world.
AUTelier is a project of DIESIS Association which, since 2010, has been fostering the strengths of adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum, supporting them toward the greatest possible autonomy and participation in the world of work. The association’s first commitment was to train young people with autism with the goal of placing them in companies. Not always, however, has the labor market proved ready for them. From this need arose the idea of creating a place where people could learn and, at the same time, work—respecting each person’s pace and way of being.
In 2023, the association founded a Social Cooperative and opened its first outlet, entirely run by people on the autism spectrum. A workplace where one can train on the job and stay, or train and then take flight toward new experiences.
When I stepped into the atelier—feeling a little intimidated—after my greeting, a voice immediately reached me: “Is this your first time in the shop? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.” Francesco, one of the young people who work in the store, asked me what kind of purchases I wanted to make, what my favorite color was and which one suited me least, whether I preferred one shirt over another. Then I met Paola, the manager, who used a beautiful expression to describe the project: “a circle of sustainability.”
AUTelier is a workplace that is suitable—and adaptable: a place where young people learn to load and unload goods, clean the space, manage the cash register, handle sales and welcome customers, always with the support of an educator. Everything takes place in an environment adapted in both space and time: from the color of the walls to the presence of a room where one can rest the mind when needed, all the way to soundproofing the shop and having no background music. The store sells clothing from brands that share its philosophy—almost all Made in Italy and attentive to environmental sustainability. It is a space that brings together training, work, care, and the future. A future that becomes possible here because work and training restore dignity and autonomy.
Matilde works in the shop as preparation for her next job as a sales assistant in a clothing store. AUTelier has allowed her to feel at ease, to learn in a context that feels safe for her, where she has learned to relate to people and to serve customers while managing the cash register entirely on her own.
“The day I signed the contract was pure joy,” says Dario, speaking on the day he signed his permanent contract. “I went home happy. It was wonderful.” When I asked him what he would like me to write in this article, he replied: “Environmentally, I feel good here—there’s harmony, and socialization is prioritized.”
The perspective of the future emerges through experiencing work that offers dignity, training, experiences, new resources, and autonomy. But above all, through the possibility of seeing beyond—of dreaming. Like Francesco, who, while telling me how happy he is to work in the shop, added that in the future he would like to work in hotels and, why not, “become a football coach who trains by following the rules of chess.” Thank you, Paola, Dario, Matilde, and Francesco: you welcomed me and helped me understand that there really is room for everyone.
