Dr. Fiona McCaffrey:

We have input into initial teacher training at Mary Immaculate College on the Thurles campus. We have had input into that programme since around 2019. It is a successful programme. We also run continuing professional development, CPD, programmes in partnership with Mary Immaculate College. We run a graduate certificate, a diploma and a master's in autism studies with Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. This programme has proved to be so successful that Mary Immaculate College is studying the partnership model we have to replicate it with other organisations. I wish to come back to one of the observations made around transitions. Transitions from home to school, school to home and all of the transitions in between are critical in the life of the autistic child. At the centre, we provide part-day and full-day training in transitions across the life span for autistic children and young people and their families. If anyone is having issues with transition they can go to our website and access that training. We also have online resources to support transition. As was quite rightly said, it is an important issue that is sometimes overlooked. Even smaller transitions a child can encounter in the school day and cognitive changes between different subjects or changes from different classrooms can be enormous obstacles for lots of autistic children and young people. The centre has quite a few resources to address those issues.