Bounce for Autism Completes First Phase

When the Bounce for Autism campaign started with the Irish Society for Autism, Trampolines Ireland committed to donating 10 trampolines to special schools across Ireland to help schools to cater to their students needs.

The benefits of access to and daily usage of a trampoline for kids and adults, particularly with autism is well-known and Trampolines Ireland were delighted to play some small part in making trampoline usage in special schools in Ireland a little more accessible.

In fact, the campaign has been so successful and well-received that the Irish Society for Autism have committed to extending the program to an additional 10 schools - the benefitting schools to be announced shortly.

Recent Bounce for Autism Trampoline Donations Include -

1. St. Clare's School, Ennis, Co. Clare

Web: http://www.stclaresschool.ie

We are a Special School with 105 wonderful learners with Moderate GLD, Severe/Profound learning needs and Autism. And while we don't have Autism specific classes per say, we have quite a number of autistic learners in almost every class.

We have a trampoline in the school but it is one of those that require the learner and adult to climb up onto. It is a very popular piece of outdoor equipment as it helps with their posture, muscle strength development and posture. Our learners love being independent within the safe confines of the trampoline and it allows for great social interaction with friends.

A sunken trampoline would bring greater access to the world of trampolining and we have a number of learners who cannot access the current trampoline due to its height. Some staff too can struggle to climb up and/or hoist learners up onto the trampoline. A trampoline that is flush to the ground would bring huge enjoyment and much needed accessibility and would allow for greater inclusivity.

2. St. Bríd’s Special School in Castlebar, Co. Mayo

Website

St. Brid’s is a Special National School located in the centre of Castlebar town. St Brid’s school caters for pupils from 4 to 18 years of age who have a moderate, severe or profound learning disability.

We also cater for pupils who have physical and sensory disabilities, along with pupils with autistic spectrum disorder. Currently we have 5 classes and 28 pupils which will increase to 7 classes and 39 pupils for the next academic year.

Of the current school population approximately 75% have a diagnosis of ASD.

3. St. Ultan's Special School in Navan

We are a Catholic Special School under the patronage of the Bishop of Meath, in Navan Co. Meath for children with varying educational needs. We welcome pupils of all denominations.

At the moment we have 125 pupils enrolled with us from the ages of 4 through to 18. We have 13 class teachers, one resource teacher, and 23 Special Needs Assistants.

At present we have 33 pupils with a diagnosis of ASD throughout our school. As with all additional needs a sensory programme is vital to our pupils, they use our trampoline everyday as part of their sensory plan.

We are very grateful for the opportunity to receive a trampoline, our own one has reached end of life and is a huge part of our daily routine, something we cannot be without.

4. Cnoc Mhuire Senior School

Website

Cnoc Mhuire Senior School was founded in 1978. Presently, we have eight mainstream classes and one Autism Class. Our School is a senior primary school so we have classes from 3rd to 6th.

At the moment we have 177 students, 18 of whom are Autistic. We established our Autism Class in the 2020/2021 school year. Our school has strived to make Autism Awareness a real focus of the school since then. We do our best in terms of integration into mainstream and reverse integration into my classroom.

I give an Autism Awareness talk to all of the classes at the beginning of each school year which has worked well to highlight the strengths that many autistic people can have and the challenges that autistic people often face.

Our neurotypical students have been very supportive and understanding of the needs of some of our neurodiverse students and we love inviting other students into our Autism Class to help out and learn/play together. As a school we've done a lot to ensure that we have enough sensory spaces/chill-out corners etc. to cater to the needs of children who need to regulate themselves in order to learn comfortably.

Our Autistic students in particular would benefit from having a large outdoor trampoline. We are great believers in sensory breaks and when a large mainstream class is proving too much for any of our students, having a trampoline that we could utilise for those students would be transformational.

For the children in our Autism Class a trampoline could easily be incorporated into their sensory diets and I know the day the trampoline arrives their faces will light right up!