Since 2007, the 2nd of April has been commemorated as World Autism Awareness Day. Its aim was to celebrate those with autism and to raise awareness about the hurdles people with autism face. With the current Covid-19 pandemic, people with autism and their families will likely face even greater challenges due to disruption of routines and managing a lot of new changes in their environment. Covid19 has intensified the obstacles to participation and so greater patience and empathy is required.
What is autism?
Autism is a complex condition that presents itself in different ways for different people. It is a spectrum disorder so it can be severe for some, and mild for others. People with autism may find social situations difficult, such as not understanding social cues or being unable to make eye contact. Autism often affects speech meaning that people with autism might be non-verbal or have difficulty expressing themselves. Routines are particularly important and a lack of routine or break of routine can often lead to distress.
What are the hurdles?
The right to education is one of the UN Rights of the Child and yet one of the hurdles that autistic children and young adults face is access to education. Autism charity AsIAm recently did a survey into how long parents were waiting for a suitable school place to become available. 50% of parents were waiting longer than one year for a school place and some had been waiting over 3 years. 66% of parents had applied to more than four schools and 16% had applied to more than ten with no avail. Likewise, access to employment for people with autism can be difficult. Understanding unwritten social cues about interview and workplace etiquette can be a barrier.
What is The Community Foundation for Ireland doing to support people with autism?
The Community Foundation for Ireland has been supporting autism charities for many years. One of our donor advised funds supported Irish Autism Action in 2009-2010 to reduce the waiting list of children and parents seeking information and appointments around autism. Through the multi-annual funding, the charity was able to assess and diagnose over 100 people each year, enabling the families to find support for their children as early as possible. The earlier autism is diagnosed, the more effective therapy can be in development.
More recently in 2017, the National Pyjama Day Fund, administered by The Community Foundation for Ireland, made a grant to AsIAm to run workshops to train Early Years Educators on how to support children with autism. Educators learnt how to make life easier for children with autism by gaining an understanding of what the world looks and feels like for those children. There was overwhelmingly positive feedback from those involved showing the great need and desire among educators to learn how to support children with autism. One attendee stated, “It was one of the best informed workshops I have been to in a long time”.
Another grant was made in 2019 to further develop this project and increase its reach. AsIAm is going to develop a Continuing Professional Development course on autism for Early Years Specialists and adapt it for a ‘Train the Trainer’ structure. Philanthropy has channelled more than €200,000 towards training educators making a huge difference to young children with autism.
ICARE is an autism charity based in Inishowen that provides support to children and young people in the area. A grant was recently made to them through The Community Foundation for Ireland that has enabled the charity to run a programme of personal skills development to prepare the young people for the world of work. This included numeracy skills, money management and they also set up a shop to sell the products they made in their workshops. Philanthropy has been instrumental for this charity and the people they support, as the families involved are often unable to fundraise because of the strain of looking after children with additional needs.
“The difference this donation has made to these young adults, children, their siblings and parents is unquantifiable.”
Further work to be done:
As there is no cure for autism, there is always the need to support children and families to cope with the additional needs that come with autism. Charities all over the country are supporting people with autism and bringing vital respite to families. Philanthropy has a pivotal role in this by enabling efforts to be scaled up to support as many families as possible. If you would like to find out more information on how you can support causes close to your heart and improve the lives of vulnerable communities visit our Giving section here.