This year Clonard College partnered with the I CAN NETWORK to strengthen the community understanding of autism and neurodiversity and to empowering autistic young people to have an ”I CAN” attitude.
I CAN was founded by Chris Varney 7 years ago. We were fortunate to have Chris present to staff and the Year 7 and 8 students about his own journey and the wonderful organisation he now leads. Ten brave students joined the I CAN weekly mentoring session over 8 sessions and they celebrated positives and practiced gratitude, worked together to create and have fun and learnt practical ways to manage stress, friendships and much more.
I CAN Network’s knowledge of autistic young people, schools and mentoring practice enables them to achieve widespread influence across the landscape of children’s rights and inclusive education and employment. We are pleased to have a second mentoring group being offered in Term 3.
“I enjoyed working as a team and learning about stress through the image of the stress jar. I also liked that it was a quieter space than the classroom”
“I really enjoyed getting to know people I wouldn’t normally talk to and learning more social skills”
