The program for
School-Based Allied Health
Supporting autistic students takes more than clinical skill — it takes a shared framework, affirming language, and a deep understanding of what school-wide psychological safety really means.
This training is designed specifically for school-based health professionals — psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and other allied health practitioners working alongside educators and leadership. You’ll gain a clear, practical pathway to shift from a practice grounded in the pathology paradigm to one that brings the values of the neurodiversity paradigm to life — while providing greater clarity and structure to support your role within the school system.
Using the Safe House Framework, you’ll be able to offer targeted, practical support to school teams — helping them move from reactive strategies to proactive, affirming practice that truly supports student wellbeing and learning.
What’s Inside?
This isn’t just theory — it’s a structured, step-by-step training designed to create meaningful shifts in how you support autistic students in school settings.
The program is divided into two self-paced levels
Level One: Foundations in Neurodiversity Affirming Practice
Understand the framework. Shift your lens. Build a strong foundation.
In Level One, you’ll take a deep dive into the Safe House Framework — a clear, structured process for understanding and supporting autistic students through the lens of safety, regulation, and affirmation. This depth of learning gives you the confidence to apply the framework meaningfully in your role and collaborate effectively with educators, families, and teams.
You’ll be guided step-by-step through each stage of the framework, using the Safe House metaphor to bring the learning to life. You’ll learn how to interpret behaviour through a nervous system lens, identify unmet needs, and begin creating environments where safety is genuinely felt — not just assumed. Each stage comes with tools you can start using right away in your practice.
This level is ideal for both early-career and experienced practitioners — offering a structured yet flexible path to embed the neurodiversity paradigm into your work.
It’s also approved by the APS for 8 CPD hours, and meets PSYBA requirements for neurodiversity-related training (Competency 7).
Level Two: From Framework to Practice
Turn knowledge into action. Apply the framework with confidence.
Level Two is where the work becomes deeply practical. This level shows you exactly how to apply the Safe House Framework in your day-to-day clinical work — with students, families, and school teams.
You’ll be guided through how to embed the framework into your existing processes so it becomes a natural, automatic part of how you work. From assessments and goal setting to school meetings and documentation, this level helps you develop habits and systems that align with the neurodiversity paradigm — making affirming practice not just possible, but sustainable.
You’ll also be invited to reflect on your current approach, examine habits shaped by the pathology paradigm, and explore common challenges that come up when working in school systems — all with guidance to help you stay grounded, values-led, and effective in your role. You’ll strengthen your ability to collaborate across teams, adapt the framework to different student needs, and bring greater clarity and confidence to every part of your practice.
This level supports you to take the next step — turning knowledge into confident, consistent action across your clinical work.
It’s approved by the APS for 4 CPD hours, and builds on the foundations of Level One with a clear focus on practical integration and values-aligned implementation.
The Details
What’s Involved?
This training is designed to support real-world practice — flexible, structured, and thoughtfully paced to support deep reflection, skill-building, and sustainable change. Whether you’re fitting learning in between clients or carving out time for focused development, you’ll have everything you need.
On-demand
Move through the content on your schedule. Both levels of the program are 100% self-paced, with lifetime access to all materials. Revisit lessons anytime and go at a rhythm that works for you and your workload. The time commitment is estimated to be 12 hours — though this doesn’t include the ongoing process of implementation, which unfolds gradually as you integrate the framework into your everyday practice.
monthly check-ins
Alongside the self-paced training, you’ll have access to monthly live Connect + Learn sessions — optional group calls where you can dive deeper into key concepts, reflect with aligned colleagues, and care for your own wellbeing as a practitioner doing this work.
community
Join a multidisciplinary network of neurodiversity-affirming clinicians. Share insights, ask questions, and stay connected with others who are committed to values-aligned, harm-reducing practice.
A Unified Approach to Inclusion
When school-based health professionals and educators share a common framework, real inclusion becomes possible.
This school-wide training ensures that your recommendations are more than paperwork. With a shared framework, they become part of how the whole team supports the student — consistently and with intention.
Student support becomes a collaborative, iterative process. It creates a shared language for understanding student needs and a consistent approach to implementing support plans that centre inclusion and long-term wellbeing.
You’ll no longer be working in parallel — you’ll be working together.
Honest Reflections
From people rethinking practice, and reimagining what’s possible.
I’ve truly enjoyed this course. It helped me reflect on specific young people I’m seeking to empower and support, and it gave me new directions to explore. I appreciated the interactive and reflective components — this is an active course, which makes it so much more applicable to real practice!
This course delivered clear, insightful content on neurodiversity and how to apply an affirming approach in practice. It will be a valuable training and resources for all who collaborate with and support autistic humans.
A worthwhile investment for anyone working with autistic young people. It gives a great background about the paradigm shift from ‘old’ thinking to ‘new’ thinking, explains why we need to shift this thinking, and most importantly, shows you how to support young people using this new way of thinking.
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 culture.
join
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 need to wait for your school to get on board.
Whether you work across schools, in private practice, or as the sole allied health professional on site — this training is still for you.
The Safe House Framework® offers deep, values-aligned professional development for anyone working with autistic young people. You’ll gain clarity, tools, and a fresh lens to bring to your work — whether or not your school team is learning alongside you.
