Challenge

For many neurodivergent people in Thailand, the journey from education into employment ends before it has properly begun. Learners may leave school without practical workplace skills or qualifications that employers recognise, regardless of their abilities.

Employers, meanwhile, may want to become more inclusive but lack confidence in assessing candidates whose education has not followed conventional pathways. Although disability employment quotas exist, compliance alone cannot provide the training, experience and support that turn a job opening into a sustainable career.

Solution

Steps Social Enterprise set out to close this gap with nationally accredited Digital Literacy and Barista Programmes designed around neurodivergent learners and people with disabilities.

Rather than adapting conventional courses after the fact, Steps built accessibility into the learning experience from the beginning. Participants develop practical digital or hospitality skills alongside communication, workplace behaviour, self-advocacy and confidence. Internships and work placements then give them opportunities to apply those skills beyond the classroom.

The programmes follow an inclusive dual-track model. Learners can work towards different outcomes while remaining part of the same learning community and sharing workplace experiences. This allows training to respond to individual needs without separating participants or lowering common standards.

Steps worked with the Thailand Professional Qualification Institute to align the courses with national occupational standards. The result was Thailand’s first TPQI-accredited digital literacy course specifically designed to be accessible to neurodivergent learners, alongside an accredited barista programme.

Crucially, TPQI accredits the courses rather than Steps as the sole provider. Schools, vocational centres and employers can therefore adopt and deliver them, transforming a successful pilot into a model capable of reaching learners across Thailand.

Initial development and delivery were supported by a US$45,000 grant, with total programme costs of approximately US$47,935. Future delivery is funded by adopting institutions, while Steps earns revenue through implementation support, training and inclusion consulting.