Autism Community Support

The Role of the Community Support Team

The role of the community support officer is to provide support to families, individuals and others on matters relating to autism. The role consists of signposting members of the community to relevant services, supports, networks, and information. The organisation will make representations on behalf of families on certain matters once all avenues have been exhausted by individuals. This representation is time-bound and once-off and issue specific. The outcome of said representation can never be guaranteed. Every effort is made to answer all correspondence that comes into AsIAm.

Autism is a broad and diverse community, as a result peoples needs are different. This diversity can at times make it difficult for the community support officer to answer very specific queries unique to an individual, on such occasions we will do our best to answer and signpost accordingly.

Scope of the Community Support Team

We endeavour to provide the autism community with the most accurate, up to date and reliable information across all forms of communication. Any information or guidance provided by the Community Support Officer should not be interpreted as legal or clinical advice.

The Community Support Officers role is there to support families and individuals in the best way possible, it is important to note that the Community Support Officer is not a clinical or health professional and therefore there are restrictions to its reach.

Whilst every effort will be made to provide the utmost professional support and understanding, the Community Support Officer cannot:

Provide a casework/keyworker role

Act as a mediator between disputes

Provide Legal advice

Attend meetings on your behalf

Recommend a specific School

Endorse one health professional or Counsellor over another

How do I contact the Community Support Team?

All communications between the community support officer and the autism community is done through written communication (email), save for exceptional circumstances when a phone call is necessary. Do get in touch, simply fill out the contact form here.

For our Community Support Officer to assist you as best as he/she can, it is important in your correspondence to outline the nature of your query as best as possible, location and to provide all necessary documentation. We expect in the course of correspondence that all members of the autism community will always be respectful and courteous to our community support officer when communicating.

Office Hours

The office hours of the Community Support Officer are 8am to 16:00, Monday to Friday. Responses should not be expected outside of these hours.

Response Time

Due to the high volume of communications the community support officer receives, it can take on average 1 week for a response to be given. During holidays or during annual leave, the response time will be longer.

Community Support Webinars

AsIAm’s Community Support series allowed AsIAm, in association with Supervalu, to organise seminars with expert speakers from the educational and clinical professionals, with perspectives on lived experience from autistic speakers, many of whom were also educational and clinical professionals.

Autism and Sensory Processing

Autism and Carers ft Regina Curley and Catherine Cox

School Avoidance ft Pete Wharmby and Lauren Ann Martin

Autism and Mental Health ft Amy Pearsons and Gillian Fagan

Autism and the Travelling Community ft Kathleen Murphy, Nikki Hughes, Rose Marie Maughan

Autism Friendly Transition to Third Level

Back to School Primary and Secondary

Autism and Managing Change with Jude Morrow

Autism and Life After School: Higher Education with Billy Redmond and Fiona Earley

Autism and Relationships Including Sexuality with Maja Toudal and Kevin McLoughlin

Autism and Life After School: Training and Employment with Des Henry and Peter Brabazon

Autism in Women and Girls: Jess Hendrickx and Gillian Fagan