New website to improve life experiences of autistic children and young people
Posted on: 11 June 2020
Academics from the School of Psychology at Trinity have developed a new support website to empower autistic children and young people to reach their personal best.
The new InterAcT (Accomplish & Thrive) website is for parents and professionals working with autistic children and young people with an intellectual or developmental disability. The website was created to bring meaningful supports to children and adolescents who may find changes in their lives difficult to cope with, such as in the current COVID-19 pandemic.
InterAcT’s mission is to help people by providing necessary emergency supports that can be used at home by parents and carers. Although the supports are of particular importance at this time, InterAcT believes that the supports and knowledge provided can continue to help beyond the COVID-19 period.
The wide range of on-line resources aim to build parent knowledge, skill and confidence to support autistic children and young people with an intellectual or developmental disability. The resources will also support professionals on this journey. The website can be found here: https://interact.adaptcentre.ie/
There are approximately 100,000 people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD) in Ireland. The InterAct website will bring practical strategies from clinical and health services settings to those who need them in accessible language, so that families can ‘Accomplish and Thrive’ together. Individuals who are extremely vulnerable and at risk of developing distressed behaviour by being disproportionately affected by the unpredictability of the COVID-19 world, can be supported through necessary emergency supports.
The use of positive psychosocial behavioural supports is the prevailing approach to address difficulties that concern parents. The resources are designed to support parents to select strategies most suited to their family situation and meet their most pressing concerns.
Dr Olive Healy, Associate Professor, School of Psychology, Trinity College, said:
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes and restrictions to children with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The loss of familiar routines, structure and access to comforting places along with any face-to-face supports often has resulted in increased stress and anxiety for many families.
The InterAcT (Accomplish & Thrive) website was created to bring meaningful supports to children and adolescents who may find such changes in their lives difficult to cope with.
Our mission is to help people by providing necessary emergency supports that can be used at home by parents and carers. We believe that the supports and knowledge provided can continue to help beyond the COVID-19 period.
We care passionately about enabling families to Accomplish and Thrive together with the assistance of InterAcT supports.