Last week AsIAm was honoured to welcome Dr. Stephen Shore, noted autistic academic and speaker, to Dublin City. Stephen is a professor at Adelphi University, NY, and was our keynote speaker at Conference 2017. In addition to working with children and speaking about life on the autism spectrum, Stephen is internationally renowned for presentations, consultations and writings on lifespan issues such as education, relationships, employment, advocacy, and disclosure. He’s also the person behind the famous saying in the autistic community, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Here’s what he got up to in Dublin!

Autism Accreditation Panel:

Dr. Shore attended the first meeting of our independent Autism Friendly University Accreditation Panel, recruited from the worlds of autism, education, inclusion, and further afield. As Dublin City University is now an AsIAm accredited Autism Friendly University, we have received much interest in the initiative from other universities and colleges across Ireland and around the world. The application process will open shortly for third level institutions that wish to become AsIAm Approved Autism Friendly and embark on the three-year journey with AsIAm. The application will then be assessed by the accreditation panel, with Dr. Shore as chair.

Inclusive Educational Communities:

On 4th October, Dr. Shore addressed students and lecturers in DCU St Patrick’s Campus on the subject of Inclusive Educational Communities.

Dr. Stephen Shore on the subject of Inclusive Educational Communities @DCU_IoE St Patrick’s campus. Organised as part of DCU’s Autism-Friendly initiative. Great to see so many students in attendance @AsIAmIreland @ellen_rey @MahonyKathryn pic.twitter.com/Y8ABi3HEEt

— DCU School of Inclusive & Special Education (@dcu_incl_spe) October 4, 2018

Following Stephen’s speech he was given a tour of DCU’s new Sensory Pods and the university’s new student centre the “U” at Glasnevin Campus by DCU’s Autism Friendly University Coordinator Dr. Cat Hughes.

Stephen M. Shore #DCU #diversity @AsIAmIreland pic.twitter.com/7lbyZQBbIq

— Andrew O’Kelly (@aokchief) October 4, 2018

After this he met notable DCU people such as President of DCU Professor Brian MacCraith, President of DCU Students’ Union Vito Moloney Burke, Dr Mary Rose Sweeney, who were integral to DCU’s Autism Friendly journey. Stephen gave Prof MacCraith some friendly feedback on his experience at DCU from a sensory point of view.

Delighted to welcome Dr Stephen Shore and the @AsIAmIreland team to DCU today. Stephen gave a fabulous talk on inclusive education. It was wonderful to see our students so engaged on the topic. https://t.co/Ev7NBEzQr6

— DCU Autism-friendly University (@DCUautism) October 4, 2018

We hope the university takes into account this feedback, and the feedback of autistic students attending DCU, going forward in their journey as an Autism Friendly University.

Dr. Shore’s speech will be available online in an excerpted format shortly. We hope to see him in Ireland again soon, where he is always welcome!