COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 13, 2024

MOTION NO.1

MOTION: Councillor L. Hagin Meade

That South Dublin County Council become an Autism Friendly Community, joining Dublin City and communities nationwide, by signing up to the AsIAm Autism Friendly Community Commitment and creating a 3 year inclusion plan. Full details are available here: https://asiam.ie/autism-friendly-communities-portal/

REPORT:

The AsIAm Autism Friendly Communities initiative works with towns across the country to create a space which is accessible for autistic people to fully take part in their community. It is a journey of constant improvement for an entire community. This is accomplished through several steps taken across the community by Autism Friendly Town Champions.

Firstly an Autism Friendly Town Committee must be created, bringing together representatives from the community. The Town committee will put in place a three-year plan, which sets ambitious goals unique to the community. The three year plan acknowledges that communities will have different contexts and autistic people in these communities may have different priorities.

Secondly the community will require a number of Autism Friendly Champions. These are businesses, public services and voluntary organisations who are making a commitment to becoming autism-friendly.

Finally Autism friendly communities and those who take part are expected to continue the work by running broader education campaigns. By spreading the word about autism accessibility and how to make it possible, change can be introduced at a grassroots level. Ultimately these changes are small and inexpensive but make a huge difference and will aid any person with literacy differences or sensory issues.

South Dublin County Council is very happy to work with and support any local town or village that wishes to engage in this programme, and was the first local authority in the State to become JAM Card© friendly in 2020. The JAM Card© was created by NOW Group, a social enterprise that supports people with learning difficulties and autism into jobs with a future and their service users told them that they would like a way to relay to people that they need a little extra time or patience. JAM stands for Just A Minute. For those with a learning difficulty, autism or any condition where there can be a communication barrier, the JAM Card allows users to relay to others that they may need a little extra time in a simple, effective non-verbal manner. In this way, together with the Council’s longstanding commitment to access and equality, South Dublin County Council is an autistic friendly organisation and the executive together with the elected members work hard to ensure our services are inclusive and fully accessible to disabled people.

SDCC is also a literacy friendly local authority, for example, our current Corporate Plan achieved NALA plain English accreditation and all corporate documents, policies and procedures are plain English, access and equality proofed.

Braille and tactile way finding signage is provided across the County including in County Hall, Civic Offices Clondalkin, South Dublin Libraries and community facilities such as Tallaght Stadium and the community centres.

Evidence of the Council’s deep commitment to access and inclusion for disabled people includes establishment of the South Dublin County Disability Advisory and Consultative Panel, installation of Changing Places toilet facilities in County Hall and North Clondalkin Library, the innovative Jobot’s Access All Areas accessibility game, and delivery of a significant programme of access works across the County, including the Inclusive Playspaces programme that recently featured in the EU Access Cities Awards. 

It should be noted that all of these services and initiatives were initiated and supported by Selina Bonnie, the Council’s Disability Liaison, Access and Equality Officer for over 18 years who sadly passed away earlier this year. The organisation’s commitment to Selina’s legacy is to ensure that these measures will continue to be supported and built upon for future improvements in all matters related to access and equality.