THE PROGRAM FOR
Educators
Building Belonging
The Safe House Framework® for Educators is a 12-month professional development program that supports teachers and aides to create truly inclusive and neurodiversity-affirming classrooms — where all students, especially autistic students, feel safe, understood, and supported.
It offers a practical, research-informed approach that helps you shift your lens, build your skills, and support your autistic students with confidence.
Belonging Starts Here
Learning
Learn how autistic students experience the classroom differently, what these differences can look like day to day, and how to support them by removing barriers to learning — not adding more.
Behaviour
Understand how the autonomic nervous system shapes behaviour, so you can recognise what’s really driving a student’s actions.
Learn how to reduce overwhelm, anxiety, aggression, and meltdowns by creating environments that feel safe and supportive.
Community
Support your autistic students to feel a genuine sense of belonging within the school community.
Explore practical ways to build peer understanding, strengthen relationships, and create a classroom culture where inclusion is lived, not just stated.
Level One
What will I learn?
From concept to classroom. Build strong foundations for affirming practice.
In Level One, you’ll be introduced to the full Safe House Framework® and guided through each of its 8 stages — from the core ideas that shape it, to how they translate into everyday classroom practice.
You’ll explore the principles behind neurodiversity-affirming education and begin to shift the lens through which you view autistic students and their needs. With real-world examples, reflective questions, and practical tools, you’ll move beyond theory and into confident, compassionate action.
By the end of this level, you’ll not only understand what the Safe House Framework is, but how to start applying it meaningfully in your role — laying the foundation for safer, more connected learning environments.
Level two
Deepening the work
Inclusion as a daily practice.
Level Two invites you to go deeper — into the heart of what it means to be neurodiversity-affirming in practice, not just in principle. This is where the social justice roots of the Safe House Framework® come fully into focus. You’ll examine the broader systems that shape how neurodivergent students are seen, supported, and too often excluded — and begin unlearning the old narratives that no longer serve.
Through a series of focused workshops, you’ll explore the “what,” “why,” and “how” of inclusion: what it really means, why it matters, and practical guidance aroung how to embed it meaningfully into your teaching and classroom culture.
A key part of this work includes learning how to apply Universal Design principles to plan and deliver learning in ways that reduce barriers and support access for all students, not just some. It’s about shifting from reactive to proactive, and designing with diversity in mind from the start.
This level isn’t about surface-level strategies — it’s about sustainable, values-led change. You’ll leave with a deep and applied understanding of your role in building classrooms where every student gets to experience feeling seen, understood, and safe.
Teacher Wellbeing Matters
Because nervous systems talk, and yours leads the classroom.
Throughout the program, you’ll find intentional moments that support your nervous system, not just your students’.
Embedded self-care practices, reflection points, and a dedicated workshop (Nurture & Nourish) are all designed to help you stay resourced, grounded, and well.
This isn’t self-care as an afterthought. It’s part of the work.
When you’re regulated, connected, and supported, everything in the classroom shifts. Students feel it. Relationships deepen. Learning becomes more accessible. Safety becomes something that’s felt — not just talked about.
Your wellbeing isn’t a luxury. It’s a leadership tool. And it’s woven into every layer of the program.
The Details
What’s Involved?
This program is designed to fit into real life — flexible, supportive, and paced in a way that allows for reflection and meaningful change.
The core training is self-paced, so you can learn in your own time, revisit modules as needed, and move through the material at a rhythm that works for you. And with regular support throughout the year, you’ll never be left to figure it out alone.
On Demand
Access the full program whenever it works for you.
You’ll have 6 hours of video content, 45 quiz questions, a range of case studies to bring key concepts to life, and a workbook designed to help you reflect, consolidate your learning, and take meaningful action.
Monthly Check-In
Join our live Connect + Learn sessions each month. These hour-long sessions offer space to reflect, explore a key concept, and take part in simple self-care practices that support your wellbeing and growth.
Community
A private community where you can ask questions, share ideas, and feel supported as you bring this work into your practice — in a way that fits your pace and your role.
School-Wide Learning
Whole-school engagement isn’t just helpful, it’s foundational. When everyone is learning the same language, using the same framework, and moving toward the same goal, real cultural change becomes possible.
This program supports your team to build a consistent, shared approach to supporting neurodivergent students — one that’s grounded in inclusion, respect, and understanding. It creates space for reflection, connection, and ongoing dialogue, so no one is left trying to figure it out alone.
You’ll also explore what it takes to cultivate psychological safety within your staff team. Because the way we work together matters, and change only takes hold in environments where people feel safe to ask questions, make mistakes, and grow. By building that safety into your team culture, you strengthen not only your capacity to support students, but each other as well.
Leading change can feel big, but no one’s doing it alone. School leaders are guided step by step, just like the rest of the team. This isn’t about telling people what to do — it’s about building a culture together.
“This is fantastic. All teachers should do this.”
Head of Inclusion
Getting Started
Ready to bring this work to your school?
Here’s how to take the first step, whatever your role.
Share
Send this Safe House Schools page to your school leadership or wellbeing coordinator so they can explore the program and see how it aligns with your school’s values, goals, and needs.
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Let them know why it matters to you and how it could support your team’s goals around inclusion, wellbeing, and community.
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Schools can enrol a full staff or begin with a smaller team. Support is available for whole-school rollout, and we’re happy to answer any questions your leadership team may have along the way.
You don’t have to wait for your school to begin.
You don’t need a whole school behind you to begin. You can enrol independently and be part of a growing community of educators committed to inclusion and real change.
