AsIAm is delighted to host a workshop series as part of our membership with the Disability Participation and Consultation Network about your rights within the Autistic community and using effective engagement with your community and with policymakers as a tool for advocating for your rights. This is the first of four individual sessions which will take place over 2023. These workshops will be led by Dr. Vivian Rath and Dr. Mary Quirke. The aim of these webinars is to broadly cover the following topics:
- Inform participants about advocacy, activism and lobbying
- Learn about the Irish political system and advocacy within the system
- How tools such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities can support you to advocate for your rights as Autistic people
- Communication work and different ways of organising campaigns
- Identifying and including partners, allies and other stakeholders in campaigns
- Looking after yourself when taking part in campaigns. These webinars will take place online over Zoom
Registration for these events is free. Click here to register
About our Facilitators
Dr Vivian Rath: Vivian is an Adjunct Teaching Fellow in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) School of Education and the Research Officer on the Reasonable Accommodations and Professional Placement project with the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD). His Ph.D, titled the “Social Engagement Experiences of Disabled students in Higher Education in Ireland”, focused on the areas of disabled student social engagement, transitions, voice, belonging and the management of the Equality Diversity and Inclusion agenda. He is an appointee to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Disability Advisory Committee and has a role in monitoring the implementation of the UNCRPD in Ireland and he is also a member of the board of the National Disability Authority. Vivian’s other research interests include ableism across the Higher Education system, supporting disabled people’s civic and political participation, and employment of disabled people.
Mary Quirke: Mary Quirke a qualified career guidance counsellor, currently engaged in private practice (www.careerconfidence.ie) and nearing completion of a PhD in Trinity College Dublin with a research interest in Career Guidance, Universal Design and Disability. Mary’s professional experience includes AHEAD, the HSE, the RehabGroup, and FETAC. Consequently, she has gained a depth of experience of advocacy, policy creation and inclusion which has been further complimented by her active engagement with learners in Ireland, Europe, Japan and Singapore and her work with employers on graduate recruitment and the diversity agenda over the years
