Guidelines to Support Inclusion of Autistic Children in ELC, SAC and Childminding

From Press Release – 11 October 2024 
Roderic O’ Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, today
published Introductory Guidelines to Support the Inclusion of Autistic Children in Early
Learning and Care, School-Age Childcare and Childminding Settings.

The Guidelines are for early years educators, school-age childcare practitioners and
childminders who are currently working to support the meaningful inclusion of autistic
children in early learning and care, school-age childcare and childminding settings.

They form part of a wider suite of universal and targeted supports under the Access and
Inclusion Model (AIM) which have been designed to ensure children with a disability and
additional needs can access and participate in the ECCE programme and early learning and
care settings more broadly.

The Guidelines fulfil a commitment in the recently launched National Autism Innovation
Strategy, which aims to address the bespoke challenges and barriers facing autistic people
and to improve understanding and accommodation of autism within society and across the
public system.

Please click here to download a copy of the guidelines.