Welcome to Our Week Online. This is a bumper edition for the bank holiday – sit back and enjoy. Last week Ireland held local and European elections and another referendum. However, for blind and visually impaired people, voting was cumbersome, time-consuming, and even risky. In the UK, an autistic senior analyst has successfully won a …
Hello, and welcome to Our Week Online. The autism community has made it through another World Autism Month. This Autism Month felt different (or was that just us?). If we put in the work between now and next April, let’s see how far we can go. Latest figures show that over 100,000 people in Ireland …
You may have met Autistic Paddies at our last National Autism Conference last October, the Facebook group for autistic adults aged 18+ from or based in Ireland that’s on the rise. In this blog, group facilitator and moderator Joan McDonald talks us through her own autism diagnosis, her search for community in Ireland, and how …
This week AsIAm launched a new Resource Pack for Primary and Secondary Schools to facilitate understanding and acceptance of autism in the school community during World Autism Month in April. Rebecca Parke, a young person on the autism spectrum, wrote about her autism diagnosis as a girl on the spectrum, her experiences of bullying and …
Transition Year can be an interesting time for people on the autism spectrum. The free curriculum can offer opportunities for growth and self-discovery, whilst the lack of structure can prove difficult for many. Charlie Silke is a Transition Year student on the spectrum, and he’s written about his experiences in Transition Year so far. In …
ADD/ADHD are common co-occuring conditions within the autism community. Sometimes the traits of these conditions can differ starkly, and sometimes they can overlap. Eoin Hickey, a young man on the autism spectrum who has ADHD, writes on his favourite things about having both autism and ADHD. You can read his previous blog on coping mechanisms …
This is Our Week Online. Sit down, why don’t you? A quarter of the disabled population of Ireland live in poverty, and while 42% of applications for disability allowance were rejected in 2018, about 70% of appeals were granted. The Irish Examiner reports on the arduous process of applying and reapplying for disability allowance in …
Here at AsIAm it’s important to us to champion the work of the autistic community. That’s why we are happy to announce that we are supporting the launch of a new picture book Being a True Friend written and illustrated by Rachael Donohoe. The book is aimed at children developing interpersonal skills and offers support in …
Last week AsIAm launched two surveys on the experiences of autistic students in accessing education. Eoin Hickey, a young person on the autism spectrum, explains how autism affects him in his daily life, how teachers can understand students with diagnoses of autism and ADHD, and offers advice for social situations. My name is Eoin Hickey …
Kelli Twomey, a mother of an autistic child, sent us this poem from her child’s perspective, and we think its message of acceptance and inclusion will resonate with many in the autistic community. Read on below! I may seem different, weird or funny, I might even sometimes seem odd. But it’s just that my thoughts …
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