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Autism Europe Congress 2025 – Championing inclusive event design
What: Autism Europe Congress 2025 Where: Royal Dublin Society Delegate numbers: 1,800 Economic impact: € 3.45m
T he 14th Autism-Europe
International Congress, held in Dublin, 11 – 13 September, 2025, marked a significant milestone in inclusive event design. The event was a coordinated and collaborative effort by partners AsIAm, Ireland’ s Autism Charity, Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, who all worked together on an intentional impact project to define and measure the positive impact of the Congress.
Dublin City Council had commited to working with AsIAm with a goal of becoming the world’ s first autism friendly capital city.
Other partners instrumental in delivering what was a truly inclusive event experience were Keynote PCO and the Royal Dublin Society( RDS) venue.
The Congress was well attended, with 1,800 participants, including autistic individuals, families, researchers and professionals from across Europe and beyond.
Co-creation Right from inception, the Autism Europe Congress embodied a profound commitment to co-creation with the autistic community.
The strategy was to place autistic voices at the heart of every stage of planning and delivery – from a majority
autistic scientific committee and speaker line-up, to clear guidelines for all contributors to ensure autism-affirming content. Every element of the event was designed to reflect the lived experiences and expertise of autistic individuals.
The overarching 2025 Congress theme was‘ Quality of Life- Research, Policy and Practice’.
AsIAm was the first autistic-led organisation to host the Autism Europe Congress and the charity partnered with Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, on an intentional impact project to define and measure its positive impact.
Inclusive Event Design was identified as a key priority throughout and in
Above: Two delegates flappausing at the event pursuing this, Fáilte Ireland was able to rely on its already established Inclusive Tourism team – set up in 2024 as part of a major commitment to making Ireland a world-class destination for all visitors, regardless of ability, identity or personal circumstances.
The local organising committee at the Autism Europe Congress 2025 also adopted Fáilte Ireland’ s Business Access Checklists – part of a broader initiative to ensure that all delegates feel genuinely welcome and included at events across the country.
The checklists are designed to help event organisers and venues assess how ready an event is, and to identify practical changes that can be made to enhance the overall accessibility of an event, from pre-travel information, through event communications, and to access around the event and customer service.
Prior to the Autism Europe Congress 2025, delegates were surveyed to gauge previous experiences of attending conferences. This provided valuable insights on the impact of accessibility barriers, as well as pointing to potential solutions. Pre-event, the survey showed that previous experiences showed that::
• 59 % of respondents indicated that a lack of detail had led to feelings of uncertainty and unpredictability.
• 72 % felt that conference hosts / planners had not considered adjustments around sensory overload and difference.
• 65 % felt that they had needed to mask their autistic traits in order to network successfully.
The post-event survey results were also illuminating, showing:
• 73 % of respondents felt that the pre-event visitor information this time reduced uncertainty and unpredictability.
• 71 % felt that the Autism Europe Congress 2025 hosts / planners had considered adjustments around sensory overload and difference.
• The ethos of the Congress reduced the need to mask while attending.
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