Mr. Adam Harris:

I thank the Chair and the committee for the invitation to attend today. I am the founder and CEO of AsIAm, an organisation working to build a more inclusive Ireland for autistic people. I founded the organisation based on my own experiences growing up with Asperger's syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum. I spent the first three years of my education in a special school, largely because when I was younger there were not autism classes available. As a result, my parents had to choose between sending me to a special school, far away from my local community, or sending me to a mainstream school, where I would not necessarily have the knowledge or support around me to enable me to access the curriculum. That is why I am passionate about ensuring every student who can access mainstream education with the help and support of an autism class has the opportunity to do so.

As an organisation, AsIAm firmly believes that many of the barriers that autistic people face in life come from how the world operates. On a day-to-day-basis, autistic people face barriers in terms of communication, sensory processing, predictability and, sadly, the judgement and attitude of other people. In recent years, Ireland has become much more autism-aware, by which I mean that most people can now point to someone they know who is on the autism spectrum. If not, they can cite numerous examples of autistic characters in popular media and culture. This is probably due to the fact that in recent years we have seen an important shift towards mainstreaming autistic people in school and the wider community. Indeed, according to the NCSE, one in 65 students in our school system now has an autism diagnosis.

It is important, however, that we do not confuse awareness with understanding. There remains a real lack of knowledge on how to support and include autistic people in all aspects of the community. School communities are not immune to this reality. Many autistic people now attend schools which have no formal training in how to support or meet our needs. Often, the way school is structured, the environment it takes place in and the social aspects of school life are not only not designed for autistic people but can be quite overwhelming and stressful, with dire consequences such as school refusal, bullying or mental health challenges.

Every day autistic people work to adapt to these challenging environments, which is why it is so important that the neurotypical, or non-autistic, world meets our community half way. That is why a well-resourced autism class, taught by a suitably skilled and qualified teacher, can play a vital role in ensuring so many autistic students can reach their personal potential and thrive.

I want to recognise the extraordinary work that already happens in many school communities. Indeed, I was fortunate enough to attend two extremely inclusive mainstream schools. The challenge, however, is to ensure that this is a universal experience. We can list many schools that are already doing this, but what is important is we should not have to. This should be something we do not need to comment on because it is really about the most basic indication of a child's right to education.

To that end, I would ask the committee to consider the following recommendations in its deliberations on this matter. Inclusion should not be optional. Naturally we want schools to open autism classes. We believe opening an autism class not only benefits the autism community but enriches a school community as well, as it includes students who think and do differently. Many schools choose to open classes but when no school in a local community is willing to do so, or when a number of families wish to access a particular school, based on family tradition or preference, that school should be obliged to meet that accessibility need, in this case an autism class.

Autistic students should face only the same enrolment processes as neurotypical students. For this to be a reality, it will require the provision of autism classes as some in our community will simply not manage at school without accessing one. We need to support school communities in changing their culture. We often open autism classes, or have autistic students in a school population, but never explore this aspect of diversity with the wider school community. We often create stigma by not discussing it, or by using offensive terms, such as "unit", to refer to an autism class. It is important to educate other students, parents and staff about this aspect of diversity. AsIAm provides workshops to students in second level and our experience is that, when students are equipped with the knowledge of how they can include, they warmly welcome and respond to it.

Quality is as important as quantity. At present, there is a wide variance in the quality of autism classes. Some are staffed by exceptional personnel, with advanced qualifications in autism, while others are staffed by those with little or no knowledge. Some school communities have worked hard to improve the sensory environment, educate their wider school and autism-proof their policies while others have chosen not to do this.

All teachers and special needs assistants assigned to an autism class should receive mandatory appropriate training prior to taking up their position. While this may seem obvious, it is nowhere near the reality today. Many staff do not access any training or are not able to access the courses they require until they take up their post. This is dangerous and puts autistic students at risk. We must ensure that the right supports are in place, sensitive to the needs of individual students. Every autistic student is different. The needs of every student will be totally different, as a result.

Some of the supports autistic students require may need input, training or therapeutic support from qualified clinical professionals such as occupational therapists, speech and language therapists or psychologists. It is important that this expertise is mainstreamed into an education system working to mainstream autistic students. In this regard, we welcome recent developments and policy proposals such as the in-school therapy service pilot

In conclusion, many schools have taken important steps to meaningfully include autistic students but this is far from universal. We must work to ensure that every school plays its part in meeting the needs of autistic students in a high-quality manner.