Castlebar earns national recognition for autism inclusion

The town of Castlebar has taken home the Inclusive Events Award at this year’s Autism Friendly Town Awards. Held by AsIAm, Ireland's Autism Charity, the award ceremony took place at the Aisling Hotel in Dublin last week.

The AsIAm Autism Friendly Town Awards is an annual event in which communities across Ireland are awarded for following a series of principles aimed at fostering autism inclusion and empowerment in local communities.

Castlebar town achieved several set targets, including organising and running Autism-friendly events within the community such as Mayo Autism Camp, Sensory Walks, a Resource Autism Fair and a Library Autism Awareness Week. These successful initiatives earned the town the Inclusive Events Award at this year’s ceremony while Maynooth received the overall AsIAm Autism Friendly Town Award 2024.

Speaking about Castlebar’s win, John Page, who is chairperson of the Castlebar Autism Friendly Town committee, said: “Castlebar has made significant strides this year when it comes to making Mayo more inclusive for our autistic community and we’re committed to continuing this journey in the years to come.” All towns who were recognised last week (Sligo’s Autism Friendly Town committee received the Community Engagement award), achieved several key targets set out by AsIAm, including embarking on a three-year charter inclusion plan, staff training and the organising of autism friendly events, among other principles that support acceptance and participation of autistic people in their towns.

“The new principles adopted by each of our winning towns will improve access for autistic people in day-to-day life, create supporting and accepting environments within the community and promote local business and tourism,” remarked Adam Harris, chief executive officer of AsIAm.