A clear, lived-experience guide to the Autistic SPACE framework—how sensory needs, predictability, acceptance, communication, and empathy transform care in clinics, hospitals, and classrooms.

• Dr. Mary Doherty — Autistic physician and researcher; lead author of the Autistic SPACE framework for healthcare.

• Elaine McGoldrick — Autistic educator and former special-education teacher; co-author on applying SPACE in schools.

• Host: Michele Van Valey • Producer: Ian Lawton

• What "SPACE" means: Sensory needs • Predictability • Acceptance • Communication • Empathy Plus three supports: Physical space, Processing time, Emotional space.

• Healthcare realities: Barriers to access, why overhead lights, crowded bays, and unexpected touch derail care; simple fixes that work; adaptations for anaesthesia and other specialties.

• School realities: Masking, "fine at school, collapse at home," uniform policies as sensory traps; plan B/C for timetable changes; autonomy over compliance.

• Double empathy: Meeting in the middle by adjusting practitioner/teacher behavior rather than forcing autistic people to mask.

• Mental health and safeguarding: How normalization pressures damage self-concept and increase risk; why teaching autonomy matters.

• Implementation tactics: Small pilots, one issue at a time, consistent staff cues, pausing instead of filling silence, validating first.

• Flip first response: Lead with "You must have a good reason—tell me," then pause.

• Turn down the environment: Single rooms or curtained bays, lights off, quiet corners.

• Build predictability: Visual previews, clear next steps, agreed alternatives when plans change.

• Protect processing time: Ask once; wait; don't rephrase unless needed.

• Autonomy over coercion: Choices (red/blue shoes; partial attendance; blended learning).

• Whole-school/whole-team consistency: Shared one-page SPACE plan that any staff member can follow.

• 00:00 Intro & definitions

• 05:40 Sensory needs and environmental tweaks

• 07:30 Physical, processing, and emotional space

• 12:40 Pausing, silence, and communication differences

• 17:20 School refusal vs. system fit; reducing coercion

• 23:30 Practical school accommodations and plan B/C

• 27:20 Acceptance, identity, and mental health outcomes

• 39:00 Double empathy in action

• 44:40 Adoption paths: clinics, training, staff culture

• 49:20 Closing notes and where SPACE is spreading

• Autistic SPACE framework paper (clinical settings)

• Adaptations for anaesthesia; social care; snow sports

• Lancet essay by Dr. Doherty on sensory overload and meltdown

Recording: Neuroconvergence Podcast Guests: Dr. Mary Doherty, Elaine McGoldrick • Host: Michele Van Valey • Production: Ian Lawton

Brief references to coercion in schools, ABA, and abuse risk.