Today, Minister O’Gorman published Introductory Guidelines to Support the Inclusion of Autistic Children in Early Learning and Care, School-Age Childcare and Childminding Settings.

The Guidelines are for early years educators, school-age childcare practitioners and childminders who are currently working to support the meaningful inclusion of autistic children in early learning and care, school-age childcare and childminding settings.

The Guidelines fulfil a commitment in the recently launched National Autism Innovation Strategy, which aims to address the bespoke challenges and barriers facing autistic people and to improve understanding and accommodation of autism within society and across the public system.

Each year 2,735 services benefit from AIM supports, which provides supports to ensure children with a disability can access and participate in the ECCE pre-school programme and early learning and care more broadly.

Full press release here; https://brnw.ch/2D421F