Mayo woman appointed to board of autism charity

MAYO woman Amanda McGuinness has been appointed to the board of directors of national autism charity AsIAm.

The charity is working to create a society in which every autistic person is empowered to reach their own personal potential and fully participate in society.

Amanda, who lives in Mayo Abbey, is an autistic self-advocate, and proud parent to four children, three of whom are autistic. She holds a BA and LLB from NUI Galway and is currently undertaking a masters degree in special and additional learning needs.

Amanda’s lived experience as an autistic individual, her lived experience as a mum to three autistic sons together with her professional experience as an autism consultant and visual supports graphic designer enables her to support and educate parents and professionals seeking to better understand autism.

Her visual mind has been noted professionally as 'exceptional' and it is her visual mind that conceptualises, constructs, and deconstructs into minutiae the fine detail of her educational resources and visual supports.

A columnist with The Connaught Telegraph, Amanda is well-known online for her autism advocacy and parent support, creating and sharing visual supports and educational resources to families of children with additional needs all over the world through her personal Little Puddins blog and her professional platform, The Autism Educator.

At the height of the pandemic, she designed and shared for free online her 'What is the Coronavirus?' social story to support children struggling to understand what was happening and why their world had changed so drastically in an instant. This social story has been translated into multiple languages and various accessible versions.

Amanda said she was 'honoured' to be asked to sit on the AsIAm board and is committed to supporting their vision and bringing her experience to advocate for, educate and empower the autistic community.