Riverview coffee shop brews up support for Autism Awareness Month

Aaron's Coffee House in Riverview, New Brunswick raises awareness about autism all year round.

At Aaron’s Coffee House in Riverview, N.B., autism awareness isn’t reserved for the month of April.

“The things about Autism Awareness Month that I find a lot of people don’t understand is yes, it is a day, or it is a month, but for a family like us, like you said, it’s year-round. This is something we deal with every single day,” said owner Aaron Nielsen.

For Nielsen and his family, alongside drinks and treats, raising awareness is on the menu 24/7.

“My youngest son Makhi was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. He was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder along with sensory processing,” he said.

With his son at the heart of his shop, Nielsen says it’s really about finding acceptance for everyone.

“The big goal that we have with Aaron’s Coffee House is to get to the point where we can hire and train people with autism to give them an opportunity in life,” he said.

Aaron’s Coffee House is located inside Ergon Thrift, a life centre offering mental health and addiction services to local adults. Nielson says this was another goal of his that has now been taken care of by partnering up.

Nielson says more children are now being diagnosed with autism, making it more important than ever to have awareness and acceptance within our communities.

“We need a lot more people grasping and understanding, number one, what it’s all about and, number two, how to interact with people, because, when you’re on the spectrum you look at things differently and your interaction with individuals is different as well. So the more awareness and acceptance we can get out there, the better it will be for everyone,” he said.

The message of both autism awareness and mental health awareness is one that Nielsen strives to bring forward every single day and it’s one his customers can easily get behind.

Olivia Jones says she comes to the coffee house twice a week.

“I like to support the local business and I like what they stand for,” she said.

“I think it’s a great way to spread awareness on autism and make sure our community accepts everyone.”

In honour of Autism Awareness Month, which is recognized throughout the month of April, Nielsen says they’ve put on a number of specials, including a discount if his customers can tell a funny joke or do a funny dance, and a raffle where 50 per cent of the sales will be donated to the Autism Resource Centre in Riverview. Tickets can be purchased both online and in-person with the draw scheduled to take place on Monday afternoon.

“[It’s] really important for us to get as much awareness and acceptance out there as possible because even though it is 2025, there’s still a lot of people that don’t understand the difference between a person with autism and a person without,” he said.

As for Makhi, he comes to the Coffee House every Saturday. However, even when he’s not there, customers can easily find a way to connect with him.

“A drink that’s on our menu it’s actually called the Makhi. It’s based after my son because one of the only snacks he will eat is chocolate chip cookies, so we created The Makhi which is a frozen chocolate chip cookie mocha, so we have that on the menu year-round,” said Nielsen.

Adding that through conversation, trinkets and advocacy, Aaron’s Coffee House will continue to brew-up awareness and support all year round.

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