Castlebar autism programme wins international award

THE autism support programme provided by National Learning Network in Castlebar has won a Leadership Award for ‘innovative practice, supporting people with intellectual disabilities through positive behaviour’ at the 2015 BILD International Positive Behaviour Support Research and Practice Conference in Dublin.

The awards, which are organised by the British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD), celebrate the best in positive behaviour practice both in the UK and internationally.

The Autism Support Programme – the first of its kind in the West of Ireland – is for school leavers in County Mayo who have a diagnosis of autism.

During her winner’s address, Shelley Brady, autism support specialist, National Learning Network, outlined the programme that National Learning Network offers.

“Each person on the programme has an individualised educational programme that is designed to meet their specific needs. We look at their current strengths, needs and interests and we design a person-centred plan for them.  We put a lot of emphasis on each person’s communication needs and social skills.

'We practice these through exercises in the centre and in community-based activities. Vocational skills training is also on offer and we support people to learn the skills they need to be successful in a job.”
 
“All the participants recently received the Independent Living certificate which is based on activities such as making a hot meal, writing a shopping list and going shopping, using a washing machine and other chores.

'Community inclusion is very important and we support people to be active in their local communities. We practice using public transport on their own, being members of local clubs, going to local classes. We also bring the community into the centre. Transition year students from Davitt College, Castlebar, come to the centre once a week for coffee club.”