‘We want Trim to become an Autism friendly town’

The determined mum of a young autistic boy says she is a on a mission to make Trim an Autism friendly town.

Melissa Barwell wants a society that is "inclusive for all", an aspiration she has for her six-year-old son Lenny who was diagnosed with Autism at age three.

As part of her efforts to create more awareness Melissa and her sister-in-law Maria Cowap have organised a black tie Charity ball in Trim Castle Hotel on 4th March in support of AsIAm (Ireland’s national Autism Charity).

Melissa is hoping that the ‘Children of the Stars’ Charity Ball is in the first step in making Trim a town that embraces everybody, whatever their ability.

"This cause is very close to our hearts as we have our own little star with autism. We want to contribute and help in any way we can, and all surplus funds raised from the ball will be donated to AsAIm after the event.

"Rory O'Connor from Rory's Stories is the MC for the night and our special guest is social media influencer Jen Hatton.

"Our aim and what we would love to see for the future is for Trim to become an Autism friendly town. We also would love to start our own club which we are in the process of doing at the minute. For us it's all about equal access and equal opportunity for everyone."

The journey has been a challenging one for Melissa also mum to two year old twins, Lyla and Jude but little Lenny is now thriving thanks to support in his school.

"I knew from when he was about eight months that something was a little different, there were some red flags and milestones that he wasn't meeting," she said.

"He didn't have a lot of eye contact, you could go into the room and call him and he would just be transfixed on something, it's like you weren't there. He was very much solo play, he didn't really engage. Then he started lining everything up and getting very particular about certain things and there would be massive meltdowns if anything was askew."

Lenny started play school but struggled during and after lockdowns with the change in routine. "It was a long process that I think anyone knows that has been through Enable Ireland and those kind of services. He started play school but was really struggling. The first year he did really well but then when covid started the gaps with him going in and he struggled because he didn't know what the change in routine was. Then when we went back, his teacher was different, his classroom was different. I couldn't get him to go into school, he wouldn't leave the car, we spent two or three months parked outside."

Lenny moved on to another pre school that was better equipped to care for his needs.

"For six months before he started big school he was like a different child he got all of his needs met by people who were trained SNAs. We learned so much from them and that made a huge difference. He's now in the ASD unit in Kildalkey NS and he is absolutely thriving."

"We get so much from meeting up and getting to talk and interact with other parents and. The kids can be themselves without being judged, that's why I want to try and incorporate something like that here because it's all about inclusion and everyone having equal access to anything and that's really important to me.”