Arklows First Step Towards Autism-Friendly Town

Arklow took its first step towards becoming an autism-friendly town this week. The first public meeting was held on Wednesday 22nd January in the Arklow Bay Hotel.

Councillor Warren O’Toole who is one of those behind it explained more about the initiative;

“We are on a mission to make our town an Autism Friendly Town with the help of the Irelands National Autism Charity, AsIAm.”

“Creating an inclusive community by removing the barriers that Autistic people and their families face daily, giving everyone the same chance to participate fully and meaningfully in our local Arklow community.”

“This plan will be developed through direct engagement with Autistic people, family members and the wider community to create a plan that will bring about inclusion locally. Autistic voice and input will be key to the success of this project.”

To make this goal possible, Autism Champions will be recruited across the various sectors in the Arklow community. An Autism Champion is a business, sporting organisation, or local group in the community that signs up to take part in the programme.

The first meeting “was a full house with such a wide variety of attendees coming together to discuss something so important, to help Arklow become an autism-friendly town. The whole community was well represented and for that, we are so grateful.”

Councillor O’Toole thanked everyone who came and also everyone who has engaged so far. He went on to say “This initiative is community lead, community-driven and it will be successful with community support”

Clonakilty in Cork became Ireland’s first autism-friendly town back in 2018. According to As I Am, there are at least 3.3% of people in Ireland who are autistic, which equates to more than 169,000 autistic people in Ireland.