Today and yesterday we had the pleasure of touring Trinity College, yesterday (6/16) we met with staff members from the Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability which is an international and multidisciplinary research centre which examines key issues in ageing and the life course, informing policy, and debate at the national and local level. They are focused on ensuring people with an intellectual disability experience an active and healthy older age. One thing that really stood out to me was one of the researchers talked about menopause and individuals with intellectual disabilities, she mentioned that during one of her interviews a woman mentioned that she did not know she could reproduce until she was 35 years old. This really emphasizes the importance of providing much more education to individuals with intellectual disabilities. 

Today we met with Owen Baird, an assistant professor in Intellectual Disability and Inclusion, at Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities. We learned about their initiative to promote the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities In education and society, specifically their inclusive higher education program which aims to highlight the full potential of students and to prepare them for employment settings after graduation. We learned about a social model perspective of intellectual disabilities which “believes that people labeled as having a learning difficulty are disabled by society. A person with some form of learning disability will know that everyday activities like work, education, and jobs around the house can be a challenge. The person may experience prejudice from other people who don’t understand about learning disabilities, or feel lonely because they don’t have anyone to talk to about how they are feeling.”

We also had the opportunity to visit the Old Library to see the Book of Kells, which is a 9th century gospel manuscript famous worldwide. 

For our first full day in Dublin, we started off the morning meeting with the Centre for Aging and Intellectual Disability team at Trinity College Dublin. We heard from several lecturers and  graduate students who are conducting research for the Intellectual Disability Supplement to the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging. These researchers provided us with important information on topics including sedentary behaviors, menopause, oral hygiene, and socialization for adults with intellectual disabilities. Many students learned a lot from these faculty and students and have a better understanding on how these issues disproportionately affect those with intellectual disabilities. 

Following our informational session, we were given a guided tour of Trinity College Dublin. Trinity College has a beautiful historical campus and we learned a lot about the history of the college as well as traditions and common student life practices.  We noticed that the library has many accessible services such as assistive technology for those who struggle to read text. Students registered under disability services can qualify for Educational support workers, alternative formatting, and special borrowing privileges for books in the library. The library also offers assistive technology information centers that contain computers with assistive technology. Recently these centers became open for all students to use when they used to only be for students registered under disability services. Our tour guide expressed how many students were happy with this decision and these centers are used often. The library also contained two sensory rooms. Each room was soundproof with all distractions eliminated. Finally the area of the library near the sensory rooms had fidgets for students to use while studying. 

Overall, our time at Trinity College Dublin was very insightful and many of us learned a lot. We learned more about how Ireland assists college students with disabilities and have so far found many similarities between Ireland and the United States in this regard.

Today we had the privilege of visiting Trinity College again to listen to Owen Baird as he talked about a brief history of intellectual disabilities and discussed the programs available for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) at Trinity. He gave a really great talk and allowed us to participate with our own definitions and thoughts as he went, which made the very interesting and collaborative!! One specific part of the brief history that stuck with me was the use of the word “cretin” to define an intellectually disabled person many years ago, which, as mentioned by Owen, came from a French word meaning “incapable of sin”. Owen mentioned that this sort of epitomized the infantilization of people with intellectual disabilities, which I found fascinating. The programs offered for people with intellectual disabilities seem wonderful and, as he mentioned, small enough to ensure that everyone in the program has the best and most educational experience possible. I thought it was incredible that they were able to make so much progress within the school to be able to make a degree available for people with ID, as it is definitely a tough process to make necessary changes like that. 

During our second tour of Trinity College, I noticed that there were several audio guided options for exhibits like the Book of Kells, which I thought was a really great option for people who wanted/needed to have an audio. Overall, it was a great day and really helped me to understand the disability inclusion at Trinity College!! 

Outside of our guided tours, I got to walk through St. Stephen’s park and grab some lunch at Sophie’s! St. Stephen’s was so beautiful and reminded me a lot of Boston Common at home, but with much more plants and trees.

On Tuesday June 17th, our group from the University of Massachusetts Amherst got the amazing opportunity to visit Trinity College. We started our day hearing from Owen Baird, the assistant professor of intellectual disability and inclusion. My favorite part of his lecture was discussing the ways in which people with intellectual disabilities are “disabled by society” which was a part of a social model perspective of intellectual disability. We had a very informative discussion in which Professor Baird stated that he believed certain prejudices and discriminations are what causes these individuals to be disabled by society such as not having the appropriate accommodations. It was interesting to hear about the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities(TCPID). I enjoyed comparing how their organization is run compared to in the United States. This organization deals with education for people with intellectual disabilities and education about people with intellectual disabilities. Furthermore, the most positive aspect of their organization is that those who are in these programs do actually graduate with a degree from Trinity College whereas in the States that does not happen. 

We also had the pleasure of taking a tour of the campus in which we saw the historic old library. In the past scholars and students did study at the Old Library. Now it is more of a tourist attraction that is very picturesque. This library, compared to the actual working library, was interesting to examine as it allowed for a comparison of the level of accommodation between the two and how society has changed in terms of inclusion and accessibility.

Today we started off the morning by going back to Trinity College for a short lecture about The Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities. We met with assistant professor in intellectual Disability and Inclusion, Owen Baird. In this lecture we learned all about Trinity’s initiatives to promote the inclusion of those with intellectual disabilities in education and society. He shared with us some brief history about people with intellectual disabilities, and then shared with us the opportunities the Trinity Centre offers for those with intellectual disabilities. It was so wonderful to hear that Trinity is working so hard to change the attitudes and prejudice that is typically associated with people with intellectual disabilities and actually want to support and prepare them diverse employment opportunities after they graduate from university.

Afterwards, I went and explored St.Stephans Green Park. Which was not only beautiful, but rich with history. It was lush and honestly a relaxation to just walk through and take in the natural beauty of Ireland.

The last part of the day was dedicated to the Book of Kells. This was the second time I had seen it and it is definitely something I am still trying to gain a deeper understanding of. It truly is so rich in history and absolutely remarkable to be able to see it in person. The fact that an artifact that old is still alive and so well maintained is incredible. Additionally we got to see the Library, which is currently in the process of being restored, so it didn’t look full but it was absolutely breathtaking. The architecture is like something I’ve never seen before and the history is quite literally palpable.

Today on June 16th 2025, as a group we had the pleasure of going to Trinity College to discuss intellectual disability. My favorite discussion was talking about how dental issues can affect people with intellectual disabilities on a large scale. Since I am studying Speech Pathology at UMASS I understand how much having more dental hygiene can affect anyone in terms of communication. To articulate /t d v f/ etc we use our teeth to articulate these sounds. Without our teeth we wouldn’t be able to articulate properly to effectively communicate. This could negatively affect people with intellectual disabilities since as said in the presentation it can limit the want to speak up for themselves.

Additionally, we received a tour of one of the libraries at Trinity College where they offered a sensory room and ear plugs. In my family many people struggle with hearing because of illness or from their job. I was really excited to see the ear plug offerings. This is something my academic department gives away sometimes during World hearing day to help support hearing safety. I was glad to make the connection here in Dublin as well.

While visiting Trinity College, we learned a lot about disabilities in terms of aging and how people with intellectual disabilities are treated differently. For example, Women learn less about their reproductive health, and often find out about it later on in life. Menopause was discussed in the topic of disability, and how women didn’t know what they were going through and couldn’t quite grasp how they were feeling and be able to explain it. It began with heat sweats, mood swings, and difficulty sleeping. Women were feeling these symptoms and becoming anxious which then were shown through acting out. This is just one of the few topics that are not discussed with individuals who have intellectual disabilities. While touring the College, we walked through their library, which ad sensory play rooms for neurodivergent individuals to get a chance to take a break and have the ability to take some time to themselves. They had separation between the books and the students and allowed for quiet hours which would give students with intellectual disabilities to feel more content in their environment if they are uncomfortable by the noise level. I really valued these steps that the University took to ensure those with disabilities feel safe and comfortable at this school. I think the expression “to be seen is to be loved” is such a valuable term when discussing accommodations and proactive steps taken to create the best learning environment for these students with certain needs. Below I have attached an image of the sensory play room, unfortunately it is not occupied at the moment as school is out of session.