Background Irish Progressive Association for Autism/Shine

The Irish Progressive Association for Autism (IPAA) was set up in September 2001 by a handful of concerned parents of Autistic children who we unable to secure appropriate services for their children. Since its establishment the IPAA has campaigned on behalf of hundreds of families in an effort to secure assessments, therapies, services and appropriate education for their children.

Since it's foundation the IPAA has had massive increases in members, many of these families have joined the Association to access the practical supports offered to member families. The IPAA has taken the view that it is simply unacceptable for a family to be told that there is no service available for their child and will work with the family to secure these services or the Association will endeavour to fill the gap left by the state by proving the service itself.

In late 2006 the Board of the IPAA agreed to re-brand the Association's charitable element as "SHINE the autism charity" as it was difficult for the general public to understand who The IPAA were and what we did. The Board felt that the symbol of a sun gave the vision of hope and brightness and the "brighten the future" phrase was what our Association was all about. As a result of the new charitable logo a new website was developed and it is hoped that the IPAA was eventaully apply only to the commercail and corporate element of the Association and SHINE will become the primary name for our support group.


The IPAA/Shine Today:

From that starting point in 2001 with a handful of concerned parents the Shine/IPAA has developed into the Ireland's largest unified Autistic Support Group supporting over 600 families with a membership in excess of 1,200.

The Shine/IPAA have grown because we take on the day to day needs of parents. We address their practical problems and have solved many of them. We work closely with regional ASD teams and have supported them in many areas by financially supported joint ventures, such as appropriate awareness and training schemes for professionals working in the area of autism. We have put services in place that filled a void left by the state in an effort to help our children to get access to vital services at key stages in their development.

The Shine/IPAA is a much changed organisation in 2006 and it offers a lifeline to more and more families who are dealing with an autistic child. The rapid growth in the levels of ASD diagnosis over the last decade have left many gaps in the provision of services and many of these needs are not being met by Central Government. The IPAA is not prepared to wait for service provision to catch up with demand as it is our children who are being adversely affected now. The Shine/IPAA is committed to increasing the services available to autistic children and their families over the coming years to allow all of our children to develop to their full potential.

SHINE/IPAA Early Learning Unit: (ELU)

An example of the Association’s determination to provide services for our members was evident in November 2005 when we opened our first Early Learning Unit for preschool autistic children. The Association had made representations to Government for funding for nearly two years for this unit as we were very aware of the difficulties many of our members were encountering in trying to secure pre-school places for their children. Having waited for nearly two years for a decision from Government, the Board of the SHINE/IPAA decided that the Association was no longer prepared to wait for funding and secured a premises and raised the required funding to open the first unit which now caters for 9 preschool children with plans to expand the numbers over the coming months. This service is vital in preparing autistic children for mainstream school and the one to one teaching they receive can be crucial in the transition to primary school. Since the establishment of this unit the IPAA has been inundated with requests to open similar units across the Munster area and beyond. Our CEO Kieran Kennedy has recently completed negotiations with the Dept of Education & Science on the establishment of an initial 3 Autistic Specific Pre-Schools in the greater Cork/Kerry area with this number set to rise over the coming months to include Limerick & Tipperary. These pre-schools will be based on the blueprint operated by Shine/IPAA and we are delighted that having proven the success of our model the Department of Education has made this commitment.

The SHINE/IPAA also offers the following services to our members:

• 
  Initiatives for Alternative Therapies (AIT)
  We run a one stop advice office for Parents, Teachers and Professionals.
  We have written many advise sheets on topics appropriate to autism.
  We run a 'reference' library' for members and professionals.
  We run monthly parent meetings. Provide a monthly newsletter.
  Set up a website offering information and advice to parents.
  Organise seminars and conferences.
  Run summer camps for autistic children.
  Run Saturday Clubs for autistic children and adolescents.
  Support schools by providing computers, books, software etc to them.
  We have piloted scheme to support 'in house' Special Needs Assistants.

Shine/ IPAA has developed an ambitious Five Year Development Plan to enhance and expand the services we can offer to our member families. Vital to achieving these goals is the generosity of Companies and individuals in making donations to assist the Association in progressing these plans. SHINE/IPAA since it inception has been committed in putting all available financial resources into services for our members and this will not change as the Association adds additional services.

Goals of the Shine/ IPAA Five Year Development Plan.

• Setting up additional autistic specific Pre-Schools.
• Increase supports for autistic children within Primary Schools .
• Establish cooperative venture for increase in respite services.
• Financially support the establishment of 'autistic chair' at UCC.
• Provide Life Skills training schemes for autistic teenagers and adults.
• Oversee the development of assisted employment scheme for autistic persons similar to one operated by Shirley Foundation in U.K.
• Establishment of an Educational Support post to provide and coordinate practical support for SNA's and Teachers in Cork and Cork City areas.
• Establish joint venture/ventures to develop affordable extra speech and language services for autistic children in Munster region.
• Expand existing scheme to enable 'up-skilling' of key personnel working within the autistic area.
• Oversee the development and co operation with Irish Guide Dogs For the Blind regarding 'Assistance Dog programme'.

Board Members:

• Kieran Kennedy

Kieran became the founder member of the association in 2001 when he was unable to secure appropriate services for his Son. Since then he has devoted practically all of his time towards the provision of advise and services to families affected by Autism. Kieran has strong links with the HSE and Dept. of Education.

• Eamon O’Donovan

Eamon, also a founder member, has a daughter affected by Autism and has over 20 years commercial management experience. His primary role in the organization is to ensure the required structures and operations are in place and maintained to provide an efficient service to families.

• Grace O’Callaghan

Grace is a highly qualified teacher of children with Autism and she is the Manager of our Early Learning Unit. Her experience and knowledge of Autism is vast and her presence on the board ensures that the child’s need’s is paramount at all times.

• Paul Mc Guirk

Paul works in community care with the Civil Service and has two children affected by ASD. As Shine is over 90% self funded Paul’s experience is a huge asset to our fund raising campaigns.

• Leona Walsh.

Has a Son affected by Autism and is currently working with children with ASD. Leona is a strong advocate for the provision of services to affected families and has high interest in the Biological aspects of Autism. The experience and knowledge she has gained is an immense benefit to the organization.  

• Kieran Mc Auliffe.

Kieran has been a board member for the past two years with many years experience in Sales Management. He has a Son affected by Asperger Syndrome. Kieran has a strong Marketing influence on our association and has been largely influential in the direction of Shine in recent months.