THE SAFE HOUSE
Built on Evidence. Informed by Experience.
We believe excellence comes from integration of research, practice, and real lives.
That’s why the Safe House Framework brings together clinical best practice and lived autistic experience to create a model that’s not only effective, but human, responsive, and built for the real world.
Inclusion is too important to leave to guesswork.
The Safe House Framework® is grounded in the belief that evidence and lived experience must work together in service of creating safer, more inclusive schools.
We draw from psychology, education, neuroscience, and autistic scholarship to build a framework that is both research-informed, and real-world ready.
What Informs the Program
Safe House Schools is built on four pillars. Each one reflects a body of evidence and lived wisdom that supports safer, more inclusive school culture—not just in theory, but in daily practice.
Neurodiversity Affirming Practice
This principle reframes autism as a natural expression of human diversity—not a deficit to be fixed. We align with the social model of disability and the neurodiversity paradigm, which centre identity, dignity, and autonomy.
This foundation shifts focus from “managing behaviour” to understanding needs, building environments where autistic students can thrive without masking, shame, or compliance pressure.
Psychological Safety
Drawing on the work of Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson, this pillar recognises psychological safety as essential for community growth, trust, and collaboration.
Safe House Schools applies these principles across leadership, team culture, and classroom dynamics—supporting schools to move from blame and fear to shared responsibility and openness.
Trauma-Informed Education
We recognise that many autistic students carry both personal and systemic trauma—and that traditional behavioural approaches can retraumatise rather than support.
This pillar integrates knowledge of the nervous system, attachment, and co-regulation to foster classrooms where safety is felt, not just spoken about. Educators are supported to shift from control to connection.
Inclusion
Inclusion is not a placement, a program, or a policy—it’s a practice. This pillar centres the idea that belonging must be built into the fabric of school culture, not bolted on.
We support schools to shift from surface-level inclusion toward deep, values-aligned change—where difference is not just accommodated, but integrated and celebrated.
key influences
The Thinking That Shapes Safe House
The Safe House Framework didn’t emerge from a single theory or discipline.
It’s shaped by a wide range of thinkers, researchers, practitioners, and lived experience voices—each offering insight into what it means to create safety, connection, and true inclusion in schools.
Below are some of the key ideas and influences that continue to guide and inform this work.
Neuro-Affirming Practice
These thinkers (and many more) have shaped how we understand autism and other neurodivergence through a lens of identity, dignity, and strength—not deficit:
Dr. Damian Milton – Double Empathy Theory
Nick Walker, PhD – Neurodiversity Paradigm, Neuroqueer Theory
Dr. Luke Beardon – The “Perfect” Framework
Dr. Jac den Houting – Critical autism studies & social model lens
Dr. Devon Price – Unmasking Autism
Kieran Rose – The Autistic Advocate, autistic burnout & identity work
Psychological Safety
This body of work focuses on the interpersonal and systemic conditions that allow people—students and staff alike—to show up authentically, take risks, and learn:
Dr. Amy Edmondson – Psychological Safety, Teaming, Fearless Organizations
Dr. Timothy Clark – The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety
Dr. Brené Brown – Vulnerability, trust, leadership
Relational Trust in Schools – Research from Bryk & Schneider
Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (Dr. Ross Greene) – Solving problems together without power-over approaches
Trauma Informed Education
These educators, psychologists, and models bring deep insight into nervous system regulation, attachment, and the importance of co-regulation in safe classrooms:
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk – The Body Keeps the Score
Dr. Mona Delahooke – Beyond Behaviours
Dr. Kristin Neff – Self-compassion as a regulatory practice
Australian Childhood Foundation – Making Space for Learning
Dr. Stuart Shanker – Self-Reg Framework
Inclusion
These scholars and frameworks expand our understanding of inclusion as a systemic, cultural, and rights-based commitment, not a location or service:
Dr. Michael Giangreco – Authentic inclusive education, critique of pseudo-inclusion
Dr. Thomas Hehir – Equity, access, and inclusive leadership in education
Dr. Shelley Moore – Universal Design for Learning + joyful inclusion
CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) – Universal Design for Learning
Professor Linda Graham – Inclusive education and systemic reform (Australia)
Professor Roger Slee – Disability studies in education, critical inclusion
OECD / UNESCO Policy Guidance – International frameworks on inclusive education
These thinkers and bodies of work have shaped the Safe House Framework in both theory and practice.
We honour their contributions, while continuing to listen, learn, and adapt alongside the real-world experiences of autistic young people, educators, and school communities.
Because building Safe House Schools isn’t about following one model—it’s about bringing together the best of what we know, and applying it with care.
Background
Safe House Schools
Developed by an autistic clinical psychologist committed to embedding neurodiversity-affirming practice in education to improve the mental health and wellbeing of autistic young people.
clinical psychologist
Valli Jones
Safe House Schools was developed by Valli Jones, a clinical psychologist, trainer, and advocate with experience supporting autistic young people across mental health, education, and community settings.
After years of witnessing the disconnect between good intentions and meaningful change, Valli created the Safe House Framework® — a structured, affirming approach to understanding and supporting autistic young people through the lens of safety, regulation, and inclusion.
What began as a clinical tool soon became something more: a recognition that meaningful inclusion requires more than individual shifts—it asks us to refine the culture, systems, and relationships that shape everyday school life.
The Safe House Schools™ program expands the framework into a fully integrated, school-wide approach, supporting educators, allied health professionals, and leadership to work together with a shared language and common values—anchored in psychological safety as a cultural foundation.
Valli’s work bridges evidence and lived experience, theory and practice, always with one goal in mind: to help build schools where autistic students feel safe, understood, and truly included.
