Dr. Olive Healy:

I will take the first two questions together because they are related. The technology we are building on aims to incorporate evidence-based practices that already exist. There are many solutions for various aspects of the distressed behaviours or the challenges that exist for autistic people. Those solutions, unfortunately, are not widely available, are costly or are too complex for people to learn and implement. Sometimes we see, across professions, education, healthcare or social care and even among families, that they do not know about these evidence-based practices. They may not have been brought to their attention and they may not be aware of them. Sometimes, they are too technical or they are stuck in a journal article that is too difficult to access. This idea of utilising technology within a science implementation framework is very important, and that is where Science Foundation Ireland can help us continue to build on strategies to disseminate these evidence-based practices better in order that they can be utilised by teachers, healthcare professionals and so on.

Empowering parents with these solutions is so important in very early intervention. We often talk about early intervention once diagnosis has been given, but we should provide very early intervention, even while somebody is waiting for a thorough assessment. We have seen from our research that we can make powerful impacts on the developmental trajectory of young children and give their parents skills they can use at home, in the naturalistic setting, out in the community, that are highly effective to improve social and communication and behavioural repertoires. In that way, we can reduce the risk of distressed behaviour, especially when we see it emerging, and ensure it will not escalate.