A community group in Sandymount advocating on behalf of autistic and neurodiverse children hopes its work will bring about change on a citywide level.
Neurodiversity Sandymount was founded in recent months by parents of children who have unique needs, including conditions such as autism or dyspraxia. The group, which has partnered with national autism charity AsIAm, aims to bring changes to the local area that will help their children feel more at ease in daily life.
Nessa, a mother who is involved with the project, says that the organisation has submitted a proposal to Dublin City Council with the hope that their efforts can gain wider recognition.
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“The project would essentially be a pilot for the city so that the aims of our group could be further replicated throughout Dublin. It’s to ensure that infrastructures, such as libraries and playgrounds, have a channel in place so that neurodiverse kids can access services equally,” she says.
The group also plans to use its logo, visible on the group’s social media and website, to communicate with local businesses in the Sandymount area. A child wearing a lanyard that displays the logo would enable business owners to make accommodations for neurodiverse families, such as seating them in a quieter part of a restaurant or providing them with an exemption from queuing.
Nessa says that parents involved in the initiative want to change the narrative that currently surrounds neurodiversity. There is still stigma surrounding neurodiverse children in Ireland that prevents families from participating in the same activities that neurotypical children enjoy without difficulty, she says.. Nessa cites hospitality as a particularly inaccessible area.
“We often as families don’t go to restaurants because it’s such an ordeal. If you could go to a restaurant and people realised that the kid having a meltdown is not because they’re ill disciplined, it’s because something has gone wrong and they’re not coping, that would be an important step forward,” she says.
Neurodiversity Sandymount will officially launch through a scheduled public meeting on March 30, just prior to World Autism Day. The session will include guests such as Adam Harris, founder of AsIAm, and Davida Hartman, a prominent child psychologist and author of several books on autism.
The group’s efforts have already had enormous success, with over 20 businesses, such as Tesco in Sandymount and Buju, a local burger joint, pledging their support for more inclusivity on a local level.
However, the group aims to not only make changes to their residential area, but to additionally challenge societal attitudes regarding neurodiversity.
Nessa believes that autism is one of the last taboo disabilities in Ireland and says that discomfort surrounding the topic is common.
“A lot of mums and dads don’t want to admit that their child is autistic because of what that might mean. We want to get away from that line of thinking and talk about it differently, using different language,” she adds.
Neurodiversity Sandymount’ panel meeting is being held at Lansdowne Football Club on March 30 at 7pm.
More information is available via their Twitter page @NSandymount.
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