Plan launched to make Blarney autism friendly

A Cork town has just taken a huge step towards becoming autism friendly thanks to a group of devoted community members.

Yesterday, Wednesday, saw the official launch of Autism Friendly Blarney, a community-led project aiming to raise awareness and provide training in order to improve the lives of autistic people and their families in the area.

Working in association with national autism charity AsIAm, over the next two years, the Autism Friendly Blarney team aims to work with local groups to create social stories, visual aids, and sensory accommodations.

The idea was born when one of the group’s founders put a message in the Muskerry News suggesting the formation of a committee with a goal to have Blarney accredited as an autism friendly town. From there, a group of ten local residents, all with autistic children and some autistic themselves, were brought together in January 2024.

“We picture a world where our children are understood and accepted for who they are and we picture a future where autism is properly understood as a difference and not a deficit,” Autism Friendly Blarney Chairperson, Catherine Hawe told the Cork Independent. Following yesterday’s launch in the Castle Hotel, Blarney, the team will now go about implementing a three year plan to make Blarney an autism friendly town. Year one will see the team continue to educate and train the local community about autism as it rolls out the AsIAm training for Autism Friendly Towns.

The following year will see visual aids put in place throughout the locality such as communication boards in the playgrounds.

In year three, the team will go about implementing accommodations such as quieter times, quiet spaces, and fidget aids.

Ms Hawe said the response so far to the project has been “absolutely fantastic” with many local businesses firmly on board and trying to help in every way they can.

She said the teams isn’t asking for drastic changes in the town, but to implement subtle changes that will greatly improve the lives of autistic people.

“We're not looking for anyone to rip their shop out and redo it,” said Ms Hawe.

The team also plans to create a change log on its website and social media accounts where autistic people will be able to see if there have been any changes made in the town that they might need to prepare themselves for.

Ms Hawe continued: “At the end of the day, change can be very difficult for autistic people. We're looking to improve understanding, improve acceptance and improve some of the accommodations, but we're not looking to make big changes in the area because that would be very stressful.”

There are also plans to work with local support group The Harmony Hub to run suitable activities for autistic children in the town.

Fore more, visit the autismfriendlyblarney.ie website.