A South Dublin suburb is aiming to become the most neurodivergent-friendly town in Ireland.
Two years ago, a group of mothers in the Dublin suburb of Sandymount founded Neurodiversity Sandymount to make life easier for children with unique needs, such as those with dyspraxia or autism.
The organization has since become Neurodiversity Ireland and the group hopes that Sandymount can become a template for the rest of Ireland.
Julienne Fox, one of the four founders of the group, told Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show that the group formed to make the local community more inclusive to all.
"We were coming from the perspective of our own children who are all neurodiverse," Fox told Newstalk.
"We wanted a community that would be inclusive to all, that understands their needs as a lot of families in Sandymount have neurodiverse children.
"For us, we thought, ‘Why would we not make our community where we live and our children grow up a lovely place for them to be."
The group has achieved success in Sandymount, successfully lobbying local councilor James Geoghegan to install neurodiverse-friendly car spaces in the town.
Geoghegan told Newstalk that members of the group contacted them about the issue because some of their children are "flight risks".
"So, what they asked me was, ‘Is there any way you could try and get a parking space near our schools and shops that would be dedicated for people who are neurodivergent," Geoghegan told Newstalk.
"There’s nothing in the law that allows us to do that; we have disabled parking spots for those with physical needs to use but there’s nothing for neurodivergent people."
Geoghegan said he persuaded an engineer at Dublin City Council to implement neurodivergent-friendly spaces on a pilot basis, adding that there are now spaces outside a local Tesco supermarket as well as several schools.
"The awareness about neurodiversity in the area has grown just because there are these parking spots."
The group has successfully lobbied for other neurodivergent-friendly features in the town, including a designated shopping hour in the local supermarket when lights are dimmed and noise is reduced. Several local restaurants have also introduced special rooms to cater to people of diverse needs.
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