Painting and cooking courses provide children and young people with autism skills which may give them a chance in the workplace in future. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Income sources

Brightly colored paintings by artistically talented children and adults with autism from around the country line the walls of the lobby. Bags, bottles and phone cases printed with the paintings line a shelf.

"We help them sell the paintings and make creative products using their works," studio co-founder Zhou Jing says.

"A big part of the money goes directly to them."

The studio also offers free painting, music and handicraft lessons to people with autism.

It's affiliated with the Beijing Association of Rehabilitation for Children with Autism, an NGO comprised of experts from the Peking University Sixth Hospital and parents of children with autism.

Zhou joined after her son, Duo Duo, was diagnosed in 1998.

She met Li Mu, a Tsinghua University Academy of Arts and Design professor and the father of a child with autism, through the group.

Li's son would scribble with a brush whenever his father painted on a canvas.

He realized children with autism could communicate through art in ways they couldn't otherwise.

They're sometimes nonverbal and live in their own worlds. But they can paint whatever they want without even considering the benefits, he realized.

"This may provide insight into art's essence," Li believes.

"Society should give them more opportunities to be understood."

Li and Zhou founded an annual art exhibition with the association to display works by people with autism in 2008 to promote awareness.

Zhou says greater publicity would help them sell artworks and related products.

"We then could have enough money to cover expenses and reward the painters," she says.