A Groundbreaking Initiative forThe Shine Centre for Autism in Cooperation with it@cork

Message from Denis Collins Chairman it@cork

it@cork is committed to recognising, enhancing and encouraging the spirit of Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) within Ireland. Businesses can help solve social issues using their unique core skills. In support of this strategy, IBM, BNY Mellon, Quinn-Healthcare and it@cork are excited to support The Shine Centre for Autism in the development of the Smarter Senses Project. Shine is a Cork based charity that provides services and programmes for children with autism. I strongly believe that as business leaders, it is critical that we take our corporate social responsibilities seriously. The IT industry should be a primary leader in this space and the Smarter Senses Project is a wonderful example of the good things we can do, it’s a perfect balance of it@cork, industry leaders and technology making a difference where it is greatly needed. This project will positively impact social, educational, academic, IT and commercial interests. It’s a privilege to be part of this effort and I encourage our membership to get involved. “the time is now to become of value”.

The Smarter Senses Proposition:

Eoin Motherway - Bank of New York - Mellon

Einstein once commented “Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value”. The Smarter Senses Program is a cutting edge approach, from multiple contributors, to design and implement a smarter way to meet the challenge of autism with optimal modern day techniques and resources. Autism has a broad spectrum of severity and every point in the spectrum has a different need. However all points share some commonalities that centre on communication skills, behaviour and sensory guidance.
The resources of the Shine Centre are currently effective, focussed but scalable to a new generation of tools to optimise its principles. The use of picture boards and laminated clippings enable children to develop a toolbox of communication techniques to propel them toward flowing verbal communication, command of behaviour tendencies and management of their sensory perceptions. This is not about charity but empowerment. The leaders of the Shine Centre, with its contributors, has devised a three stage program to propel the centre to the best in class globally for enabling children with autism and become a benchmark for other behavioural learning centres and initiatives. What is unique in the proposition is that it is not all about the funding. It’s about participation and acknowledging that the smallest of contributions of finance or resource or human effort all snowball to something momentous.
Later this summer will see the construction of a purpose built and custom designed Sensory Garden that will help access the five sensory windows into the children and help them learn, relax and develop mental, physical and motor skills. Ther is financial contribution from some parties and other parties are contributing resource time of construction, engineering and design experts. A second parallel stream is to harness the best in class technology of touch screen devices, WiFi and computer programming to move the proven teaching principles of the Shine Centre to the next generation of impact and user interface.Our ambition is through contributions of funding, equipment, expertise and man hours, we will transform The Shine Centre into one of the foremost centres for autism in the world through this Autistic Interactive Sensory Programthat will benefit generations of children in years to come.

Finally we continue to develop a long term development tutorial program to cater for all the unique complexities of the autistic spectrum. The thought leadership is in place and we are striving to assess the right educational partners and resources that will conclude the Smarter Senses Value Proposition. There is always a spare seat at the table for an idea, a contribution or influence.
Come and grab it !

An it@cork Member's Perspective:

Cian Kennedy - Head of IT QUINN-healthcare
QUINN-healthcare has been a member of it@Cork since the late 1990s when we opened for business in Fermoy. As part of its 2011 Corporate Social Responsibility programme, it@Cork introduced QUINN-healthcare to the great work being done by the Shine Centre for Autism through the Smarter Senses Project. Shine invited QUINNhealthcare to visit their Centre and during our visit, we saw how touch and sensory stimulation is very important to the children in Shine’s care. Through the Smarter Senses Project, we are working closely with it@cork and the Shine Team.

QUINN-healthcare has committed to introducing touch screen devices, such as i-pads, within the Shine Centre. Introducing this new technology will have an immensely positive affect on the lives of each and every child at Shine. The QUINN-healthcare team is excited that through our ongoing involvement in the Smarter Senses Project, and allied to the strengths of fellow it@Cork members, we will bring this project to fruition and we look forward to supporting future fundraising initiatives for the centre.

About it@cork

it@cork, a leading not-for-profit independent business organization, representing the interests of the IT industry in Ireland. It is a unique blend of executives, multinational representatives, government leaders, public sector representatives, academia, entrepreneurs, legal community representatives and consultants joining together to drive thought leadership, collaboration and global strategic alliances.