{"id":165970,"date":"2025-11-06T11:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T11:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/165970\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T11:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T11:54:11","slug":"joy-for-dublin-special-school-after-garden-transformed-into-autism-friendly-space-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/165970\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy for Dublin special school after garden transformed into autism-friendly space \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parent Yvonne Nolan says she \u201cknows the difference\u201d the work of the Difference Days organisation has made for students at Saplings Special School in Rathfarnham, Dublin<\/a>. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday of last week, the Difference Days team completed a \u201clife-changing\u201d project at Saplings School, which supports 30 students, aged four to 18, with a primary diagnosis of autism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nolan\u2019s sons, Rory and Dylan, have been attending the school since the age of eight after both received diagnoses of autism at 2\u00bd.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team has created things we never thought were possible,\u201d she said. \u201cWe wanted this to happen and it\u2019s what we wished for and we can\u2019t believe it. It just feels very surreal that it\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the day, they created a zen den \u2013 a free-standing multi-use sensory room \u2013 raised beds and accessible pathways in the school\u2019s garden<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt lets the students live their best life because you\u2019re giving them opportunities to explore larger spaces,\u201d she added. \u201cThey\u2019ve got the zen den where they can regulate; all of that makes a huge difference for them because then they can be in the moment.\u201d <\/p>\n

Founded by Denis O\u2019Reilly, Difference Days facilitates companies organising team-building days with a social purpose. The company provides funding and their employees volunteer labour for projects in the likes of schools, women\u2019s refuge centres and community centres. <\/p>\n

Roman Przewoznik, originally from Poland, has been principal of Saplings School for the past three years after joining the school 10 years ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cEighty per cent of our students are nonverbal. They require additional space and more age-appropriate spaces. So, giving them that space is the best gift we can currently give them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained how it was \u201ca dream for many years to open up this side of the garden\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re feeling truly honoured because Difference Days has come to our school. They are not only giving us all these amazing people to work here, but they are transforming the garden all in one day and we didn\u2019t have to pay for any of this.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe garden is very much at the heart of our school because this is where the children can go and enjoy themselves \u2013 it\u2019s transforming.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the day of the Saplings project, 70 volunteers helped, including O\u2019Reilly and his team, tarmacadam contractor DM Morris, transition year students and some parents. <\/p>\n

Some elements, such as the zen den, were funded by SMBC Aviation Capital. <\/p>\n

The organisation was set up 15 years ago by O\u2019Reilly, from Sandycove. At the time, his wife Angela told him there was no funding to do up the grounds of a centre their son Charlie, who has Down Syndrome, attended. <\/p>\n

Following that, he approached a company he previously set up team bonding activities for and enlisted them to help him with cutting back some foliage, painting and decorating. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the start. We didn\u2019t have a name for it. We just made it happen. And now it\u2019s been going for 15 years and we do around 20 big projects a year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parent Yvonne Nolan says she \u201cknows the difference\u201d the work of the Difference Days organisation has made for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[11357,79,18,19,17,95594],"class_list":{"0":"post-165970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-autism","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-smbc-aviation-capital"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115502623424667263","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}