Autism Acceptance Festival
DCU, NCI and ATU Sligo are, respectively, the first, second and third HEIs in Ireland to receive AsIAm designation as Autism Friendly HEIs. In 2024, CCT and DkIT both received their designations. NCAD are continuing the work in preparation for application.
In 2026, we six higher education institutes are proud to work together again to host the Autism Acceptance Festival. Now in it's 5th year, the festival hosts a series of public-facing events that centre autistic people and promote autism acceptance.
Learn more about the speakers in this event and find more events in this series by visiting our Festival Hub.
Communication Options for Non-Speaking Autistic People
Time: 1-2pm
Date: Thursday 26th March
Atlanta McGloin, Inclusion Support Tutor at ATU Sligo will MC this panel that looks at two options for non-speaking students: Lámh and Spell2Communicate. Katriona Boland, Lámh user and Home Visitor from NCI’s Early Learning Initiative; a parent who uses Lámh with their child; Adrienne Murphy, a Spell2Communicate parent-practitioner; her young adult son Caoimh Connolly Murphy, a non-speaking speller, and Anna Lechleiter, owner and lead practitioner of PALZ, a Speak 2 Communicate hub in Co. Kildare, will bring share their experience and expertise with the audience. Bios for our panelists can be found at the end of the page.
More information on our panelists
Caoimh Connolly Murphy
In 2005 aged two, nonspeaker Caoimh Connolly Murphy was diagnosed "severely” autistic and intellectually disabled, with little hope of understanding more than very basic language. By age 11, Caoimh’s mother, Adrienne Murphy, perceived his real disability – dyspraxia, or brain-body disconnect. Adrienne spent 18 months teaching Caoimh the purposeful motor movement of pointing accurately at letters on a letterboard. At 12 Caoimh acquired fluent communication, becoming one of Ireland’s first nonspeaking spellers. Through the method S2C (Spelling 2 Communicate), Caoimh writes advocacy, essays and poetry. Caoimh was one of four writers to showcase their work at Neuroconvergence Festival, Dublin, in 2026. An essay by Caoimh, commissioned by autistic writer/editor Niamh Garvey, will be published in an anthology of essays by autistic writers in 2027.
Adrienne Murphy
Adrienne Murphy taught her nonspeaking autistic son, Caoimh, to spell to communicate on letterboards ten years ago when he was 12. One of Ireland’s first nonspeaking spellers, Caoimh's communicative agency has been validated through HSE-financed psychological assessment. Adrienne became one of Ireland's first certified S2C (spelling to communicate) practitioners. She teaches non- and unreliably-speaking dyspraxic people the motor skill to point accurately at letterboards, empowering them to articulate their otherwise locked-in thoughts. Adrienne is also a writer, journalist, and book and magazine editor. Adrienne's work appears regularly in The Irish Times. She is writing a memoir about her autism experience.
Other Autism Acceptance Festival Events
If you are interested in finding out more about our other events, please visit our Festival Hub to check out what is happening.