A pet shop with a big heart is helping one young special needs man in Brisbane have a bright and independent future.

Rochelle Nitschke purchased the Sunnybank Hills store more than three years ago to create a job for her son Carter.

The 20-year-old works alongside his mum each day helping to serve customers and feeding animals.

Ms Nitschke said because of her son's language difficulties, she knew she would have to do something to enable him to find employment.

"We wanted him to be somewhere he would be happy and we understood that he wouldn't get a mainstream job," she said.

"He wouldn't be able to cope on his own and he would always need assistance."

Ms Nitschke said buying the shop allowed her to work too.

"He would probably be at home playing on a PlayStation or an iPad which would also mean that I would be out of work as I would be there monitoring him," she said.

"We felt we didn't have much of an option so we needed to do something ourselves.

"He was my child, not the school's child or the government's child, so it was up to me to make sure his life was fulfilled and happy."

'He has more of an affinity with animals than with people'

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Ms Nitschke said there was no hesitation when it came to knowing what sort of shop to buy.

"In the last three years of school every work experience job he chose was to do with animals ... either a vet surgery or a kennel," she said.

"He was always telling people that when he grows up he was going to have a pet shop called Carter's Critters.

"It was enviable really that when he finished school we made his dreams come true."

Customers often return to the store because of the relationship they develop with the Nitschke team.

"At the start, Carter was quite nervous as he can't read or write and he gets nervous that people are going to judge him," Ms Nitschke said.

"After people speak to him for a while, [they] notice there is something a little different and you would be surprised how tolerant people become."

A strong future with animals

The proud mother said the animals give her son a unique kind of companionship.

"He has more of an affinity with animals than with people as he doesn't need to be able to speak properly or count," she said.

"You just need unconditional love and the animals prove that to him and he gives it back to them."

Ms Nitschke said she hoped Carter would run the store in the future.

"The whole idea of the shop is to give him work ... we're hoping with time he will be able to become the manager of the shop," she said.

"He will be able to have staff below him that will respect him and do what he asks and that he will control the running of the business.

"There will always be someone in the background for assistance but we want to give him that independence and that future."