Ballina Autism Friendly Town initiative set to be launched

The Ballina Autism Friendly Town initiative in association with AsIAm, Ireland’s national autism charity, will hold its launch event this weekend.

Adam Harris, founder and CEO of AsIAm will be the guest speaker for the event taking place this Sunday in the Great National Hotel. He is a passionate advocate for autism acceptance and understanding and will share his insights and experiences to inspire and inform attendees about the significance and impact that this initiative will have for Ballina.

Attendees will also hear from the Ballina Autism Friendly Town Committee about their plans and how everyone can get involved in making Ballina a more inclusive place for our autistic community.

The Ballina Autism Friendly Town initiative aims to improve accessibility, inclusion and enabling participation for autistic people in every way of community life.

The committee behind the initiative want Ballina to become a more inclusive and supportive environment for Autistic individuals and their families to thrive in by removing the invisible barriers they face on a daily basis.

These invisible barriers can relate to communication, to predictability and control, to the sensory environment and most importantly the judgment and attitude of others.

Since the group began working in the Ballina area, they have supported young autistic children, teenagers, adults and have given them the opportunity to participate and enjoy local events.

Some of the events they worked on included the Ballina Salmon Festival, the Mary Robinson Centre 1.5 Degree Festival and the Ballina Fringe Festival creating autism friendly inclusive aspects for a number of events. This included providing sensory spaces and accessible areas.

The launch will take place this Sunday at 3pm in the Great National Hotel.

For more information about the Autism Friendly Town initiative and the launch please contact ballinaautismfriendlytown@gmail.com.