Adam Harris (autistic advocate)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adam Harris | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 November 1994[1][2] |
| Occupation | CEO of AsIAm |
| Known for | Founding AsIAm Autism advocacy |
| Spouse |
Daniel O'Driscoll (m. 2025) |
| Relatives | Simon Harris (brother) |
Adam Harris (born November 1994) is the autistic founder and CEO of AsIAm and a disability advocate.
Adam Harris was born to Mary — a Montessori preschool teacher and SNA — and Bart Harris — a taxi driver.[3] His brother is Simon Harris, the former taoiseach of Ireland. He also has a sister named Gemma. He grew up in Greystones, county Wicklow.[1]
From an early age, Harris displayed autistic traits, such as being speech delayed and having poor coordination. His mother — who worked at Harris's preschool — recognised the traits as autism, and he was diagnosed as autistic soon after at age 5.[4] After his diagnosis, he went to a special school in Ballyboden for 3 years.[1]. After returning to Greystones, he went to St. Patrick's national school, completing his schoolwork with the help of an SNA. He went to St. David's secondary school.[1] In 2013, Harris did a year of a social studies degree in University College Dublin, but he dropped out in December in order to focus on AsIAm.[5][6]
AsIAm
Adam Harris founded AsIAm, a charity focused on autism education, support and advocacy, on the 21st of August 2014, at the age of 19.[7] The following November, he won the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Elevator Award for his work on AsIAm, receiving €30,000 in funding.[4] He is the CEO, and runs radio adverts for AsIAm.[1] Harris has stated that AsIAm's mission statement is: "Every person with autism should have the opportunity to reach their own potential and fully participate in society as they are".[5]
In 2016, Harris, as the leader of AsIAm, was involved in the pilot project to make Dublin City University an autism-friendly campus.[8][5]
Advocacy work
Harris is a disability advocate. He has been a member of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission since 2020.[9] He has been on the board of Rethink Ireland since 2022.[citation needed] Harris has been a member of the Autism Europe Council of Administration since 2019.[10] In 2025, he was the chairman and ambassador of the 14th Autism Europe Congress.[11][12]