Published: 11th October, 2024
Roderic O’ Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, today published Introductory Guidelines to Support the Inclusion of Autistic Children in Early Learning and Care, School-Age Childcare and Childminding Settings.
The Guidelines are for early years educators, school-age childcare practitioners and childminders who are currently working to support the meaningful inclusion of autistic children in early learning and care, school-age childcare and childminding settings.
They form part of a wider suite of universal and targeted supports under the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) which have been designed to ensure children with a disability and additional needs can access and participate in the ECCE programme and early learning and care settings more broadly.
The Guidelines fulfil a commitment in the recently launched National Autism Innovation Strategy, which aims to address the bespoke challenges and barriers facing autistic people and to improve understanding and accommodation of autism within society and across the public system.
Each year 2,735 services benefit from AIM supports.
Read full Press release here: gov.ie – Minister O’Gorman publishes Guidelines Supporting Inclusion for Autistic Children in Early Learning, School & Childcare Settings (www.gov.ie)
