SBIA PARTNER PROFILE MUSGRAVE
SuperValu supporting Autism charity AsIAm With the support of long-standing partner SuperValu, Autism charity AsIAm produced an innovative resource to assist children coping with a return to the classroom environment after lockdown
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uperValu began a partnership with Autism charity AsIAm four years ago. Adam Harris, founder and CEO of AsIAm, explains, “Autistic people experience the world in a very different way to people who are not autistic, and that can mean that there’s barriers in day-to-day life doing things like going to the supermarket that most people would take for granted. And SuperValu wanted to try and make this experience easier.” AUTISM AWARE Over 50,000 families in Ireland are living with autism, and SuperValu got on board to support initiatives that would combat the social isolation that can be felt when autistic people face barriers to inclusion, introducing measures in their stores to make them more Autism-friendly—“specific times of the week in which music was reduced or turned off, lighting was lowered, and the environment was kept a little bit calmer”. A desire to bring these learnings in stores out to the wider community led to the Autismfriendly towns initiative, which started in Clonakilty and rolled out across the country, everywhere from Tralee to Castlebar to Lucan. “The last 19 months have been a major challenge for the Autism community,” Harris notes, “because we’ve all lost routine and structure, which is so important for autistic people. And also we’ve seen the closure of vital support services.”
THIS PROGRAMME WAS A MEANS FOR US TO SUPPORT PARENTS, TEACHERS AND SPECIAL NEEDS ASSISTANTS TO WORK WITH YOUNG PEOPLE LAST SUMMER, TO PREPARE FOR THAT REALLY IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM.
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