{"id":218,"date":"2021-03-21T17:01:06","date_gmt":"2021-03-21T17:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218"},"modified":"2021-03-21T17:13:14","modified_gmt":"2021-03-21T17:13:14","slug":"community-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218","title":{"rendered":"Community Update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201c<em>When we started this journey, I was excited at the prospect of what a difference and positive<\/em><br \/>\n<em>change we could bring to a town for my son, so that he could walk into a shop and staff would be<\/em><br \/>\n<em>educated and understand that he needed some extra help. That he could participate in events,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>sports and social activities that his sisters did so easily<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Aideen Quinn<br \/>\nSAFT Volunteer Coordinator<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Skerries Autism Friendly Town launched in November 2019 under the framework of the AsIam<br \/>\ncharity. We are a steering committee that consists of 11 people, some are parents who have<br \/>\nchildren on the Autism spectrum and others are volunteer members who are advocates for change<br \/>\nand inclusivity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We were inspired to see what Clonakilty has achieved, when they were awarded their accreditation<br \/>\nas the First Autism Friendly Town in Ireland. We believed the framework would work well in any<br \/>\ncommunity with the common goal of building awareness and education, to become a better place<br \/>\nfor those living with autism, so that they can be empowered to play an inclusive part in their own<br \/>\ntown.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">During the four months after our launch we ran a number of events and initiated a number of<br \/>\nprojects, but with Covid and level 5 restrictions we have been unable to push forward with many of<br \/>\nour plans.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Some of the projects include:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li>Running inclusive sports and activities including summer camp programmes.<\/li>\n<li>Liaising with the local council to help provide areas in our community that have sensory<br \/>\nadaptability.<\/li>\n<li>Retail &amp; business training and work experience placements<\/li>\n<li>Healthcare &amp; public service initiatives<\/li>\n<li>Many volunteers came forward including wonderful local SNA\u2019s, teachers and professionals<br \/>\nto help and assist us with programmes and initiatives and support us in events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We as parents absolutely support that education is paramount to our children with some of the<br \/>\nparents on the committee still waiting for services and school places for their children. Others on our<br \/>\ncommittee are involved with educational committees advocating for improvements and change.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We are not there yet, but we would like your help and support in getting there. We all have different<br \/>\nvoices and opinions, but we all have one common goal to make things better. Why not help us with<br \/>\nthis initiative and we can all help to make this town better for our children and their future.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201c<em>We came together as a group to help create a community that helps parents support each other. In<\/em><br \/>\n<em>a world where we ask for kindness for our children, surely we can work together so we can achieve<\/em><br \/>\n<em>better things for our community<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Aideen Quinn<br \/>\nSAFT Volunteer Coordinator<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_218\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"218\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhen we started this journey, I was excited at the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_218\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"218\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Community Update - Skerries Autism Friendly<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Community Update - Skerries Autism Friendly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWhen we started this journey, I was excited at the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Skerries Autism Friendly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-21T17:01:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-21T17:13:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"424\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"284\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shane Finnegan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shane Finnegan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shane Finnegan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4e191602fb0c123a64849b7519acba70\"},\"headline\":\"Community Update\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-21T17:01:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-21T17:13:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218\"},\"wordCount\":437,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218\",\"name\":\"Community Update - Skerries Autism Friendly\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-21T17:01:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-21T17:13:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4e191602fb0c123a64849b7519acba70\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png\",\"width\":424,\"height\":284},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Community Update\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/\",\"name\":\"Skerries Autism Friendly\",\"description\":\"Skerries Autism Friendly\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4e191602fb0c123a64849b7519acba70\",\"name\":\"Shane Finnegan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90a5527340dd0afcab9e6ffd2e57c98d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90a5527340dd0afcab9e6ffd2e57c98d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shane Finnegan\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.skerriesautismfriendly.ie\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Community Update - Skerries Autism Friendly","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Community Update - Skerries Autism Friendly","og_description":"\u201cWhen we started this journey, I was excited at the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218","og_site_name":"Skerries Autism Friendly","article_published_time":"2021-03-21T17:01:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-21T17:13:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":424,"height":284,"url":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Shane Finnegan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shane Finnegan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218"},"author":{"name":"Shane Finnegan","@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4e191602fb0c123a64849b7519acba70"},"headline":"Community Update","datePublished":"2021-03-21T17:01:06+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-21T17:13:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218"},"wordCount":437,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218","url":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218","name":"Community Update - Skerries Autism Friendly","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png","datePublished":"2021-03-21T17:01:06+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-21T17:13:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4e191602fb0c123a64849b7519acba70"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Community-update-pic.png","width":424,"height":284},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?p=218#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Community Update"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#website","url":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/","name":"Skerries Autism Friendly","description":"Skerries Autism Friendly","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4e191602fb0c123a64849b7519acba70","name":"Shane Finnegan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90a5527340dd0afcab9e6ffd2e57c98d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90a5527340dd0afcab9e6ffd2e57c98d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shane Finnegan"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.skerriesautismfriendly.ie"],"url":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226,"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions\/226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skerriesautismfriendly.ie\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}