Mr. Adam Harris:

Housing is an area in respect of which we have seen a huge spike in demand and growing concern since the start of the pandemic. We have gone from receiving correspondence on the matter relatively occasionally to receiving it consistently from families that are in quite significant difficulty. When we consider how important the sensory needs of autistic people are, we see that very often they are misunderstood and overlooked. Meeting the sensory needs of an autistic person is as serious as a physical accessibility issue may be for somebody with a different disability. That is not always understood or accepted. During the pandemic, our homes became classrooms, kitchens and social settings all in one place. Many families found that very challenging, particularly those with more than one autistic family member who could have very different sensory needs. Sharing one small space was very challenging for them. What we have found across the country is that a very different approach is taken from county to county. In advocacy work we have done on behalf of community members in some local authority areas, it has been accepted that if a person is not in the right environment, their condition could become progressive. If their needs are not being met, the person will become increasingly distressed and less self-regulated, for example. Some local authorities have accepted that. Others have not. I can follow up with the committee to provide more information on where we have had good experiences. I will talk to the team and revert with that information. It is clear that we need to have a national policy that recognises that autistic people have specific housing needs that should be catered and provided for in each area.

On the issue of employment, it is important to state that I do not think there are specific sectors that should be targeted as such. In fact, there is already a bit of stereotyping that finance, IT are pharmaceuticals are sectors that attract autistic people. It is true that there are autistic people with those skill sets and there are initiatives by some big companies around hiring autistic talent, but, actually, it is about matching the skills of an autistic person to a particular job. In order for us to be able to do that, we need to look at two areas. We need to have a much broader range of employers engaging in the process. For example, we know that there are lot of autistic people with qualifications and interest in the creative arts, such as animation. However, there are not necessarily employment opportunities for autistic people in those sectors. It is really about matching the people to their interests. If we do that, they will thrive. If there is another area of the economy that is especially important, it is the SME sector. Many members of the autistic community cannot travel long distances and need to work locally. We must ensure that there are not just opportunities in Dublin and Cork, but that the SME sector has the confidence and support to hire people in rural towns as well.