Transforming the Lives of Early Childhood Teachers, Autistic Children and their Families - Findings and Recommendations from an Evaluation of a Programme of Continuing Professional Development

Oct 15, 2026

Addresses the rapid rise of autism prevalence in Ireland and the universal free pre-school uptake, and documents AsIAm’s continuing professional development (CPD) programme delivered to 311 adult learners. The paper evaluates, through a multi-method approach, how the CPD strengthened early childhood teachers’ ability to include and support autistic children in early learning and care. Findings emphasize investment in lifelong learning and the promise of targeted CPD to improve teachers’ professional lives and children’s early experiences, with recommendations for future policy development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Autism prevalence and early intervention

Investment in early childhood education and supports

Professionalisation and education continuum

Background - Teach Me As I Am Programme

Consultation and training design

Programme delivery to teachers

Transforming the Lives of Early Childhood Teachers, Autistic Children and their Families: Findings and Recommendations from an Evaluation of a Programme of Continuing Professional Development emer ring, lisha o’sullivan, suzanne o’keefe, fiona ferris, eugene wall Abstract In response to the exponential growth in the prevalence of autism in Ireland and 95% of all children availing of the universal free pre-school scheme, AsIAm delivered a continuing professional development (CPD) programme, to 311 adult learners. The paper reports on a multi-method evaluation of the impact of the programme on early childhood teachers’ capacity to effectively include and support autistic children. The findings underline the importance of government investment in lifelong learning and the potential of a focused CPD programme to transform both participants’ professional lives and the experiences they provide for the children in early learning and care services. Recommendations for future policy development are also suggested. Keywords: Autism, autistic, inclusion, early learning and care, additional needs, impact, evaluation, continuing professional learning, lifelong learning, professional education continuum, adult education Introduction In accordance with the recently expressed preferences of individuals with autism in claiming their identity, the term autistic child/person is adopted in this article (Sinclair, 2013) . The National Council for Special Education’s (NCSE) policy advice on the importance of supporting autistic children across the education system, was welcomed by the Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton T.D. who noted that:‘education is key to giving every child an equal opportunity in life’ (Bruton, 2016) . The benefits of appropriate education provision for autistic children across the life-span are well-documented and in particular the importance of high-quality early intervention to ensure children and families are supported to achieve optimal outcomes right from the start (Ring et al., 2016; Government of Ireland (GoI), 2018) . At a time when 1 in 65 children in Ireland receive an autism diagnosis, high-quality early intervention remains critical (NCSE, 2016; Ring, Daly and Wall, 2018a). Effectively meeting the needs of autistic children requires teachers to understand the social, communication, inflexibility of thought and behaviours and sensory differences associated with autism (Egan, 2018; Feeney, 2018; Fitzgerald, 2018; Long, 2018; O’Sullivan, 2018; Ring, Daly and Wall 2018b). The Government continues to invest in early childhood education in Ireland through the introduction of the entitlement to two years of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Scheme in 2016 and the implementation of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), aimed at providing both universal and targeted supports for children with additional needs at pre-school level (Inter-Departmental Group (IDG), 2015; AIM, 2018) . In January 2017 the number of children accessing the ECCE scheme surpassed the 100,000 mark for the first time, with 95% of eligible children attending a service under the ECCE scheme (Zappone, 2017) . This increased uptake of ECCE places combined with the increased prevalence in children being assessed as having autism, highlighted an urgent need for increased supports forchildren in early learning and care (ELC) services and their families. Ensuring that early childhood teachers have the requisite knowledge(s), practices and values to confidently support autistic children and their families is therefore imperative (Ring, Daly and Wall, 2018b: Urban etal., 2011) . However, while acknowledging recent government investment, Ireland has been criticised as one of the countries where less than 0.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) is spent on developing ELC provision, in comparison to other countries such as Norway and Sweden, where expenditure is 1.7% of GDP (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Developm

FAQs

What CPD programme did AsIAm deliver, and to whom?

AsIAm delivered a continuing professional development (CPD) programme called the Teach Me As I Am Programme to 311 early childhood teachers.

How was the impact of the CPD programme evaluated?

The programme impact was assessed using a multi-method evaluation focused on early childhood teachers’ capacity to effectively include and support autistic children.

What do the findings emphasize about policy and investment?

The findings underline the importance of government investment in lifelong learning and suggest that a focused CPD programme can transform teachers’ professional lives and the experiences provided to children in early learning and care services.

Oct 15, 2026

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