Dr. Fiona McCaffrey:

The first part of the service I wish to speak about is the training and advisory service. Since 2010 the centre’s annual business plan has committed to offering 7,000 parental and 7,000 professional training places in Ireland. We have delivered these for the past 13 years resulting in approximately 91,000 professional and parental training places being offered respectively. In addition, every one of these sessions is evaluated. Over the past 13 years, more than 90% of delegates have rated our professional and parental training as "excellent". During this time, the centre has seen an overall uptake rate of approximately 53% for parents and approximately 50% for professionals.

We deliver training for schools in partnership with the NCSE. This includes scheduled training sessions and specific school-based sessions on request. Both organisations operate a joint training application form for schools applying for training. Our training service was subject to independent inspection and evaluation in 2012, 2016 and 2021.

Our research and information service conducts a follow-up on all children referred to our centre and we report on this to the funding Departments. Data from these follow-ups is also used to tailor the training programme, develop online resources and further enhance the LSA service. The centre uses an ongoing action research model so we are continually updating and enhancing our services based on need. The service also conducts specific research for the funding Departments. For example, we recently completed research for the NCSE.

The service supports best practice by sharing practices, North and South, through research bulletins, online resources, and podcasts. The centre has provided five international conferences since 2015, including a fully online conference in April 2021, which was attended by 1,334 people worldwide. The service has a programme of publications and conference delivery that develops the centre as an international site for best practice. Some further examples of the research and its impact include the What Matter Most Survey, which was a survey done with the Irish autism community in 2021 and 2022. It investigated which supportive practices are meaningful and helpful in an educational setting to autistic children and young people across Ireland. The survey was conducted via MCA social media platforms from 29 November 2021 to 29 January 2022, with 833 young autistic people, their families and supportive professionals. This survey found that one third of autistic students and 35% of parents who responded feel their school experience would improve if they were understood better. Nearly half of teachers said they need more training to effectively support autistic children and young people in school. Two thirds of parents think the sensory experiences of the school environment are challenging for their child. Some 72% of parents of autistic children think their child’s emotional well-being is challenged by the school day. More than half of autistic students who responded said the most important and helpful part of school life is having friends.

During Covid, the centre conducted a series of surveys to drive its response resulting in 60 webinars attended by upwards of 18,000 delegates as well as podcasts and supportive videos. I will finish by saying the centre's training and research division consistently has a positive impact for service users. These services are positively evaluated and researched.