Autism awareness continues to build momentum as Mayo town prepares for official launch

“There’s something magical when a new community comes together to create positive change,” said Maura Kiely, CEO of Leave No Trace Ireland and Chair of Westport Autism Friendly Town (WAFT), the group she established earlier this year with local GP Louise Freeman and other parents and family members of autistic people in the Westport area.

“We are all sharing the same journey, experiencing a sense of a new community that we hadn't known before. It's been incredibly beneficial to have a support group in our local area."

Autism diagnoses are on the rise nationwide. However, the increase in cases has not been reflected in a similar increase in coordination and services, and families and communities are struggling. Many towns across the country, including Westport, are now actively engaging with AsIAm, Ireland’s Autism Charity, to have their towns officially accredited as Autism Friendly in a bid to make the everyday easier for autistic children and adults, and to increase awareness of the benefits of inclusivity to their local areas.

Both Kiely and Freeman have intimate knowledge of living with autism, with Kiely’s son Darragh and Freeman’s daughter Ellie, both age 5, diagnosed when they were 2 years old. They understand the difficulties in getting an early diagnosis, accessing the right information, and navigating follow-up processes. They are also familiar with the isolation that autistic people, particularly children, and their families, experience. The establishment of WAFT in March was a direct response to this isolation, aiming to improve supports in Westport for children and families and improve information sharing.

“I felt there was a disconnect and a gap, not just for Darragh but for us as a family, preventing us from going to local places,” explains Kiely, who met Freeman when their children were attending the same preschool.

Opportunities

“We were looking to the future and wondering how we were going to cope during summer breaks, Easter breaks, especially as the kids got older. There’s more opportunities and activities as children get bigger, but not in our children’s cases, and that felt really sad.” Finding each other, and recognising their shared struggle, inspired hope and action. “We really felt like we could change this. I knew that by coming together we could. It was just a case of people not being connected.”

Connections are multiplying and strengthening not only across Westport, but within Mayo too. Castlebar and Balla started their own journeys to becoming autism friendly some time ago, while Ballina has also launched its Autism Friendly Town group. Another has recently been established in Belmullet. The volume of work taking place locally demonstrates not only the need for more inclusivity within communities, but the power of meitheal in action.

Part of this is WAFT’s close work with local practitioners, businesses, and organisations on training and resources that are already improving everyday life for many in the locality. But perhaps the informal contacts that have grown into friendships, and in time collaborations and activism, have become the most valuable resource of all. “I do think having that respect and understanding and acceptance is just crucial, because it makes you feel less lonely and isolated”, said Freeman of her and her family’s early experience after Ellie’s diagnosis during the COVID lockdowns. “I think we all want to feel like we belong to a community and to have an activity that we can go to that you know is accessible and inclusive helps foster that feeling.”

Westport GAA, Westport United FC, The W Cinema, The Voice Box, Wild West, Westport Family Resource Centre, Westport Town Hall Theatre, and O’Connor’s Super Valu, are amongst those organisations and business that WAFT is currently collaborating with. Portwest also partnered with WAFT in May to celebrate the company’s 120th anniversary, and others have been extending invaluable resources and supports to the group.

Ambition

While WAFT has ambitions to expand its collaborations with local businesses and organisations, these early partnerships are already having a positive impact. “It feels very different now. Darragh is able to go to events in his local community, play sport, and meet other children. It also means the parents are meeting each other and forming friendships, and establishing a safe base where there is no judgement. There’s just nothing like that peer support”, explains Kiely. “I find that really powerful, and it’s lovely to be able to meet up with people who have that shared experience and shared understanding.”

Freeman in particular feels that the trust and safety such a community provides will be of comfort down the line to many locals who have not yet navigated the journey of an autism diagnosis, or feel they are not yet ready to. WAFT can, Freeman hopes, help with the difficulty some parents have in talking about their own experience, as it has for her and her family. “There’s a great camaraderie amongst neurodiverse families for sharing info, and not in an “I told you so” way. It’s more a case of “well, we tried this and it worked for us, so it might work for you.””

Likewise, Kiely explains that WAFT’s role “is as much about helping to connect and publicise the vast work that is already being carried out for neurodiverse community members, with more to come on board.” Freeman describes the group as a way that parents and families “can affect some change that is relevant to us and make changes for our own lives, those of our children, and young adults and their families already in the community. People don’t understand the full scope of how autism can impact on your personal and family life.”

Progress

For Kiely, the progress made so far has reflected the great sense of meithel in the group. “It gives me hope for Darragh's future, offering him a range of experiences and the opportunity to explore different interests and uncover a sense of purpose or passion. This brings me immense joy and happiness.”

Next for WAFT is its official launch in January. The group’s Town Plan – a strategy for the coming years of its Autism Friendly Town accreditation programme - will be launched in tandem. Freeman admits the committee has been overwhelmed by the contributions made to the Town Plan by members of the public during summer time consultations. “When you see the Town Plan and the amazing thoughts, and ideas people have brought forward, it’s even beyond your own imagination. It can be done and everyone’s contribution really helped with forming the plan, and in pushing us on and driving us on to try and achieve all these things.”

Indeed, the encouragement and support already received has opened up huge possibilities for the group and Westport itself. As Freeman notes, “we don’t know yet all we can achieve.”

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For more information on WAFT’s work and its January launch, follow @westportautismfriendlytown on Instagram and Facebook, or call or text Carol Staunton on 086 3443604.