AsIAm, Ireland’s National Autism Charity, has released a series of video guides to help community members across various subjects. Our organization wants to see autistic people get the same chance in education, employment and community participation. While a number of financial and educational supports are available to support autistic people, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of information out there. Our videos aim to provide short, easy-to-understand guides for understanding these supports, their guidelines and how to apply for them.
Educational Supports: Providing a suitable and inclusive school environment remains a challenge for autistic children. However, a number of barriers may prevent this, whether they are academic, environmental or social. Several supports exist to accommodate these difficulties which are explained below.
Financial Supports: Autistic people of all ages and support needs may require various types of financial assistance throughout their lives, but can be difficult to apply for. For instance, parents of children with higher support needs may avail of Domiciliary Care Allowance to assist them but the application for this support is over 20 pages long including a series of personal questions about the child’s support needs and medical report to be filled out by a GP. Once a child reaches 16, they are no longer eligible for DCA and must instead apply for Disability Allowance, a support with a similarly complex application form. Guides to both supports and how to apply are available below.
