World Autism Awareness Day 2nd April 2023

What is Autism?

Autism is a complex, invisible condition which a person is born with.

Autism is a developmental condition which means that the way a person communicates, interacts and understands other people, and the world, is different to those who do not have the condition.

It can be described as a “spectrum” which means it impacts different people, in different ways, to differing degrees at different times and in different situations.

Autistic people just think or communicate differently than neurotypical people and these differences are not wrong. While our understanding is progressing and being reconfigured, there is still a long way to go to combat the stigma that autistic people experience.

Learn more here

James McClean Republic of Ireland International player revealed on Tuesday 28th March 2023 that he was diagnosed as being Autistic after noticing traits in himself similar to his daughter, and wanted her to know that he understood and that it won't and should not stop her from achieving her goals and dreams. See here for more

Did you know:

• 4 times more boys are known to be on the Autism Spectrum than girls.
• 1 in every 59 children have been diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum.

Watch the videos below for a brief explanation:

Find out more about Autism and how to get support:

Letterkenny Autism Support Group

https://www.autismlk.com/information-hub

AsIAm Is Ireland’s National Autism Charity

https://asiam.ie/about-autism/

Cara Centre

Cara is a national pan-disability sport organisation providing a collaborative and partnership platform to increase sport and physical activity opportunities for people with disabilities across Ireland. They regularly provide training for coaches giving an under standing of Autism and the delivery in Sport 

https://caracentre.ie/training/

Find details about the Letterkenny Rovers - Football for All programme here.