Autism Friendly MEA

WAAM 2025   Autism NI Impact Award     Autism Workshops

Jam Card     Employability Guide     Sensory Parks

Quiet Hour     Autism Friendly Museums     Autism Café

MEA proudly supports World Autism Acceptance Month 2025

Council is supporting WAAM by raising awareness of the great partnership work that has been taking place to help create a borough that works for autistic people and their families.     

The Autism Friendly Borough agenda is a truly groundbreaking partnership initiative, where Council is working closely with the Northern Health & Social Care Trust to support public services and businesses across the borough to become Autism Friendly.

At the time of writing, this initiative has been nominated as a finalist of the Local Government Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award category of the NI Local Government Awards 2025. 

As part of ‘Putting People First’, Mid and East Antrim’s Community Plan, Council wants to create a more inclusive community, creating opportunities for autistic individuals and their families to feel welcome, and where businesses make accommodations which are more responsive to their needs.

Over the past few years, we have been on an exciting journey alongside our partner, Northern Health & Social Care Trust, developing an autism initiative to make this a reality.

Autism NI Impact Award Champion

Leisure facilities and visitor attractions owned and operated by Council have been awarded the Autism NI Impact Award.

This Award was developed by Autism NI to support organisations wishing to create a more ‘autism friendly environment’ for their customers.

Autism NI define an autism friendly organisation as one that “strives to ensure every autistic individual feels welcome and comfortable accessing the range of services and facilities offered”.

Our three Leisure Centres, Carnfunnock Country Park, Ballymena’s People’s Park and The Gobbins Visitor Centre at Islandmagee, have all achieved ‘Autism Impact Award’ accreditation.

The Council’s Arts Centres and Museums are currently working towards accreditation.

Following the training programme, positive practical adjustments were made, including the production of online pre-visit guides, new signage, and ‘quiet spaces’ at several venues.

All locations have developed new signage, which includes information, so families know more about what to expect, for example smell and noises at the location, and pre-visitor guides that explain in plain language about the environment, who you are likely to meet, and busy times.

​Resulting from the awareness raising within the teams, Council was successful in a bid for £30,000 from the Department for Communities to upgrade the lighting system at McNeill Theatre to enable Autism-Friendly relaxed performances. 

Autism Champions have also been identified and are located across Council and Trust to support autistic individuals and their families in accessing services.

Our Champions are located within Parks, Museums, and Leisure Services.

They have all received Autism Awareness training and are responsible for ensuring that the services provided by their department are accessible to all.

Autism Champions can be identified by their lanyard.

Workshop to increase understanding of Autism and its challenges

The Autism Team, comprising of Council staff and the Northern Trust staff, are trained to jointly deliver autism awareness training.

Under the guidance of The Northern Area Autism Reference Group (a group of parents/carers and autistic adults), the team have developed a workshop and branding for an Autism-Friendly Borough.

The training, initially delivered within Council locations, has been extended to include external businesses and organisations, who, if successfully complete the training, are awarded badges and certificates to evidence their autism awareness and implementation of autism-friendly changes to their businesses.

The training delivered is adjusted to suit business needs and to date the team have delivered training to a range of public and private sector businesses including Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, Tullyglass Hotel, Ballymena Sainsburys, PSNI, and Libraries NI.

Training has also been delivered to local community organisations who wish to become more inclusive. 

The team are now developing a 'Train for Training' version of the workshop to enable organisations to roll this out across their service.

This is a new and exciting development which will significantly increase an organisation’s ability to meet the needs of our autistic community through a cost effective, accessible training solution, managed by Council and the Northern Trust.

Adoption of the Just A Minute (Jam) Card

We are rolling out JAM Card training across Council with 280 staff members having already completed it.

JAM Card, developed by The NOW Group, allows people with a hidden disability like autism or a communication barrier to tell others they need 'Just A Minute' discreetly and easily.

Employability Guide

We want to enable more autistic people to progress into and within employment by equipping employers with the skills and knowledge to understand their needs.

This resource provides tools for employers to help support autistic people into roles within their workplace.

It aims to help autistic people entering the workplace, to be understood, to reduce anxiety associated with a new role, and enable all candidates to demonstrate their abilities with confidence.

50% of autistic people said that support, understanding or acceptance would be the single biggest thing that would help them into employment. (NAS,2016)

This guide has been developed in partnership with The Northern Area Autism Employability Working Group and The Northern Area Autism Reference Group.

Sensory Parks

The sensory areas at People’s Park and Carnfunnock Country Park were designed by officers in collaboration with Councillors to create spaces away from the main play areas that engage the senses and promote a calming atmosphere.

A variety of equipment suitable for children of all abilities has been installed, alongside new accessible pathways and picnic benches.

The winding walkways guide visitors through the area, while the addition of different types of trees, textures, and musical instruments further enrich the experience.

These sensory areas were funded by the Department for Communities, with £30,000 awarded to each site through their Access and Inclusion Fund to purchase accessible and inclusive equipment, and a £3,000 contribution from Council.

Council’s Parks staff are using the Mae Murray Foundation 'Adapt My Play' Toolkit for help designing the new/refurbished play parks to ensure we are as inclusive as possible.

Quiet Hour at our principal Play Parks

The Autism Friendly team have worked with the Parks and Open Spaces to have a dedicated quiet hour at the following parks: People’s Park in Ballymena, Carnfunnock Country Park and Town Park in Larne, and Marine Gardens playpark in Carrickfergus.

This is a regular slot when machinery will not be used by Council, and we are asking parents to consider this time when planning their visits to the park. 

Quiet hour is:

Wednesday and Sunday 2pm – 3pm

Autism Friendly Museums

Since 2022, Mid-Antrim Museum at The Braid has delivered annual workshops with Autism Support Centre classes at Dunclug Primary School.

These workshops were developed through discussions with the school and with the support of local artists who have delivered activities focussed on wellbeing, using museum collections as inspiration.

Artists visit the class in school before they come to the museum to take part in a bespoke arts activity and see the museum exhibitions.

Most recently pupils have had the chance to draw portraits and make personalised nature books.

Autism Café

We are pleased to host an Autism Café for parents and caregivers of children under 16 (with an autism diagnosis or awaiting assessment) in partnership with the Northern Health & Social Care Trust.  

There are four cafés planned for 2025/26 with all events running from 10am to 12noon, bringing together professionals and organisations who can provide relevant information and support.

There is no need to register in advance, simply drop in on the day. 

The dates are:

Thurs 29 May 2025 - Cookstown Leisure Centre

Wed 8 Oct 2025 - The Braid Arts Centre, Ballymena

Tues 3 Feb 2026 - Mossley Mill, Newtownabbey