Autism Acceptance Week
DCU, NCI and ATU Sligo are, respectively, the first, second and third HEIs in Ireland to receive AsIAm designation as Autism Friendly HEIs.
We are delighted to work together to host Autism Acceptance Week 2023, a series of public-facing events to centre autistic people and promote autism acceptance. All events will be online and free to attend.
Learn more about the speakers in this event and find more events in this series by visiting our Autism Friendly Hub.
Supporting Neurodivergent Students in the Classroom
The panel includes Amanda Mc Guinness, AsIAm; Miranda Lee Curry, current NCI student; Dr Marc Fabri, Leeds Beckett University, who will each present their advice to educators and then answer questions, moderated by Dr Leo Casey, Director CELL at NCI.
Amanda will speak about her past experiences of attending University as an undergraduate without supports and accommodations in place and her current positive experiences of attending University to undertake a Masters with supports and accommodations that suit her learning style and strengths as an Autistic individual.
Miranda will share her perspective on what autistic students want an educator to know: who is autistic? and working against your internal biases, and the invisible barriers to education.
Based on his experiences from the Autism&Uni and IMAGE projects, Marc will talk about how best to support young autistic people during the transition from school into third-level education, and then into employment. His talk is particularly relevant to academics, disability advisors and careers advisors working in a university context.
Following their presentations, a panel discussion will be moderated by Dr Leo Casey, Director of the Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning at NCI.
Amanda Mc Guinness is an Autistic Advocate and an Autism & Visual Supports Specialist. She is a Law Graduate currently undertaking a Master of Childhood Speech Language and Communication Needs at University Galway. Amanda is a Training Officer in AsIAm and the creator of the “Auti” character online through her social media littlepuddins.ie, which teaches and educates on Autistic lived experiences. Her areas of specialism include Visual Supports, Autistic Identity & Culture, Autistic Masking, Autistic Communication, and Autistic Lived Experience Education. She has extensive experience supporting Autistic children and their families.
Miranda Curry is a 29-year-old autistic woman currently earning a BA Honours degree in Psychology at NCI. She is originally from Florida, USA, and she moved to Dublin in 2021. Currently, she also works part-time as a Research Intern at the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) at NCI, and she has recently started her work as an Autistic Advocate. Her career aspirations are to work in autism research to improve psychology’s, and therefore society’s, understanding of the autistic mind, to lead to better supports and treatment. As an advocate, she hopes to become a bridge between the research and autistic communities.
Dr Marc Fabri is Reader in Participatory Design at Leeds Beckett University. His research revolves around supporting autistic young people during the key transitions from school into further and higher education, and then into employment. He has led three multinational, European funded projects: Autism&Uni, IMAGE and DesignMyFuture.
Event Details
Time: 1-2.30pm
Date: Wednesday 19th April 2023