Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 31 January 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism

Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Rosemary Steen:

The centre does have a view and I am guided by the experts in this regard. The question is how to influence society, positively and broadly, in terms of the acceptance of these children and young adults and their needs. We really need to have that society-level conversation we spoke about earlier in order to create a more accepting environment. I worked on that a lot in my involvement with AsIAm. I was involved in the founding of that charity. It is about a whole societal change around how these children are accepted and treated.

To answer the Deputy's question broadly, one model tries to apply influence from the child out, while the other puts a framework around the school and seeks to apply influence in an inward direction. I will hand over to my colleagues to speak about that in more detail.