As we mark Autism Awareness Day, Dublin is doing more than just joining the conversation — it is actively enacting its three-year roadmap to become the world’s first Autism Friendly Capital. Maeve Gilmore, the Autism-Friendly City Officer for Dublin City, spoke with Dublin Live about the work of the Dublin City Autism Friendly Capital Project delivered in partnership with Dublin City Council and the Irish autism charity AsIAm. Having been appointed in April 2025, Ms Gilmore said it’s been exciting watching the city make major strides for accessibility, inclusivity, and understanding over the past 12 months.
Coming from a background in psychology and student advocacy, Ms Gilmore understands the need to make Dublin more autism friendly and, with April recognised globally as World Autism Month, there’s plenty happening across the capital to promote it. From launching their action plan in the Mansion House on April 16 to the neurodivergent family-friendly festival Sensoria at the end of the month, there’s no shortage of events catered to the needs of Dublin’s Autistic community in the coming weeks.
In 2023, Dublin City Council announced its partnership with AsIAm to adopt the Autism-Friendly Town framework aimed at removing barriers in day-to-day life so that Autistic people have the same chance to live, learn, work and play in their local community. This goal brings Autistic people, family members, local businesses, public services, and voluntary organisations together to co-create a more inclusive city.
With six high-level goals, Ms Gilmore said their aim is to allow Autistic people to have that same chance to participate in society and remove the invisible barriers that many people aren’t even aware exist. By doing more than simply talking about autism, Dublin is actively putting steps in place to make the capital a city where the Autistic community is not only seen, but truly catered for.
Establishing a strong sense of community for Autistic people in Dublin City and championing their advocacy
The Same Chance Report 2025 revealed that 90% of Autistic people feel the general public in Dublin don’t understand enough about autism, 79% felt they don’t have the same chance to be themselves, 78% faced barriers forming friendships, and 40% found public transport to be inaccessible. These findings highlight a great need to champion autism advocacy.
Ms Gilmore explained that establishing a strong sense of community in Dublin city is “the backbone of this plan” and has fed into all of their work. From establishing Autism Friendly Town committees in each of the 11 local electorate areas to the formation of a Steering Committee chaired by the Lord Mayor, there are real bodies being put in place to turn the plan into a reality.
The recruitment and training of 60 Autism Friendly Champions around the city will also go a long way toward providing people with the tools and understanding they need to be the best advocates they can be. Ms Gilmore explained these champions will be spread across businesses, organisations, and the public sector. “Not only does that help Autistic people thrive in society, but it also gives people who haven’t had the opportunity to learn about autism the confidence to support those who may need it,” she said.
Enhance public knowledge and understanding of Autism to combat the rise of misinformation and reduce stigma
The public’s awareness of autism and neurodivergence has grown rapidly in recent years, but with this comes a rise in misinformation and a need to tackle long-standing stigma. That’s why Ms Gilmore believes they have to push beyond ‘awareness’ and move people toward genuine ‘understanding.’
The prevalence of misunderstanding, outdated narratives, or systemic discrimination has remained a challenge for the Autistic community and Ms Gilmore said this is something they are actively pushing against. While the implementation of sensory gardens or dedicated quiet spaces are to be commended, it’s also essential to promote not just the provision of these spaces but an understanding of why they are actually needed.
“The first barrier people face when they talk about autism is sometimes they don’t know what to say,” Ms Gilmore explained. “We want to meet people where they are at,” she said while highlighting their aim of bringing local communities, businesses, and organisations together.
Ms Gilmore said there has been plenty of misinformation around autism, such as the myth of overdiagnosis, which she stressed has been debunked by the National Disability Authority. “Ireland is probably behind when it comes to capturing data around autism,” she said.
While more people may be being diagnosed with autism than ever before, Ms Gilmore explained this is because there’s an increased awareness of it and people are finally gaining the support they need. The data shows that countless undiagnosed Autistic people from previous generations likely went their entire lives without the language to describe their experiences.
Ms Gilmore pointed out that, historically in Ireland, teachers would force left-handed students to write with their right hand, insisting that their natural inclination was the wrong way of doing things. Now that there’s a better understanding that there’s no such thing as right or wrong when it comes to handwriting, it’s clear that this was the result of misinformation and the same can be said for autism.
Improve Dublin City’s infrastructure to become more inclusive, accessible and safe for Autistic people
The goal of turning Dublin into an autism friendly capital extends to the infrastructure of the city itself and things like visual guides, sensory boxes and break out rooms in public buildings can make life easier for Autistic people. Areas like Drumcondra have already made major strides toward this ambition and was officially recognised as an Autism Friendly Village at the AsIAm Autism Friendly Towns Awards 2025.
From linking with services like Dublin Bus to training accessibility officers, Ms Gilmore said they are taking on board the experiences of the Autistic community and ensuring their needs are “interwoven into our community.” This will help eliminate the “invisible barriers” neurodivergent people face and ultimately will make Dublin more inclusive for everybody.
Last September, Dublin hosted the Autism Europe Congress, which welcomed 2,500 people to the city as academics, advocates, and the Autistic community gathered to foster understanding and inclusivity. With AsIAm being founded by Adam Harris in 2014, Ms Gilmore said it’s been extraordinary to watch them gain an impressive international reach over the past 12 years.
Create a safe and inclusive city that welcomes the Autistic community to visit, live and study in Dublin
One way to make Dublin more safe and inclusive is through the development of a sensory map of the city that can point out public break zones, sensory toolkits and sensory gardens. This is a simple way that Autistic people can plan their days with an awareness that their specific needs will be met.
“Everyone loves to be prepared,” Ms Gilmore said, highlighting that these are offerings that not only make Dublin more inclusive, but tap into the requirements of everybody. The enhancement of sensory accommodations at train stations and transport networks will also make the city a lot easier to travel around.
This means that if someone has a question about getting the DART, Luas, or anything like that, they can have tools that make it really clear what’s required. “It’s addressing the invisible barriers for autistic people – so it’s safety in terms of your safety day to day, but it’s your sense of safety as well,” she said.
Celebrate Dublin’s Autistic community and highlight their strengths to society
Inclusivity extends beyond everyday support as the contribution of Autistic people toward literature, art and music is vast. Ms Gilmore spoke about sitting in on an autism music residency in West Cork and how it really highlighted for her just how much can be done from a cultural perspective.
They aim to work with the Department of Arts to promote autism supports and Ms Gilmore said there are plans for a mural in the city designed by an Autistic artist to entrench their contribution into the fabric of the city itself.
“Whether it’s through Dublin City Council, organisations like Failte Ireland, or Dublin Towns, it’s about combining all that enthusiasm and support,” she said.
Promote inclusive workplaces in Dublin City and strengthen pathways to meaningful employment that Autistic people can access
Many Autistic people have cited difficulties when it comes to working in Dublin and supports will be put in place to address this. Ms Gilmore explained that although DCU became the world’s first designated autism-friendly university, Autistic graduates still face major challenges when those supports are no longer available in the workplace.
“From our own statistics we know that Autistic people are underemployed and we use that choice of words because when they’re graduating out of third level, where they have a lot of support, we have a lot of catch-up to do when it comes to public inclusion in our workplaces.” With employment teams helping with CV building and interview prep, the goal is to strengthen pathways toward meaningful employment.
In a society where people are following a lot of unwritten rules or traversing complicated social expectations, this can be incredibly alienating for an Autistic person who may not necessarily immediately pick up on them. “To quote a young autistic person I was working with, they were talking about unwritten rules and they asked why doesn’t somebody just write down this rule book,” Ms Gilmore said.
In a way, writing that rulebook is exactly what the Dublin City Autism Friendly Capital Project is endeavouring to do. Ms Gilmore said their ambition to turn Dublin into the world’s first autism friendly capital is to extend that “sense of belonging” that everybody longs to experience to everybody and create a city that understands how important it is for a person’s personal wellbeing to feel like they are not only seen, but genuinely understood.
