Can the home kitchen become a place to create inclusive moments of exercise and growth for autistic children? The answer is yes and comes from Enzo Pastore and his wife Marianna, parents of Francesco, who will turn six in January: «The first time this idea came to us was when we discovered the Pizzaut project, the first pizzeria managed as autistic kids», tell Francesco’s parents, «from there we felt the desire to organize a crazy Sunday morning outing: Belluno-Milan, round trip in the day, just to taste and touch that reality».
The family thus set to work to set up some cooking workshops at home, to test Francesco’s skills and see if it stimulated him: «Thus the first do-it-yourself workshops were born», continue Enzo and Marianna, «the Our kitchen has finally come to life and an autistic child, with the love of two parents, has shown that he is able to create some simple yet magical dishes. That magic that every family should have. The activities followed one another, we equipped ourselves with containers, ladles and our inseparable wooden worktops, on which we made Apulian focaccia, taralli, biscuits, focaccine, panzerotti, pancakes and fresh pasta».
Francesco’s progress and good advice both in the field of inclusion and cooking are always available on the Facebook group “Francesco and Autism”: «At least once a week we try to give continuity to our project with imagination, so that aligns with Francesco’s abilities», the parents add, «here autism is no longer a weak point, but a strength. Seeing our son’s great achievements serves us parents as a push to always go forward and never give up, but also to dream of a better future for him”.
And that’s not all, because Enzo and Marianna already plan to be able to share the good results obtained with other families in their condition: «Our future vision is to involve other families in a small dedicated family environment, where we can make our dishes». they conclude, «a place of training where one day we can project ourselves into a real commercial activity. There will be many difficulties, but we have our belief, we have our smile and we have the desire to change things with our inclusive cuisine».