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Autistic SPACE

SPACE helps attune to what an autistic person needs

A simple framework for working out together what an autistic person needs. It can be used in all kinds of settings, as something to hold on to and as a shared language. Here you'll find a short explanation, an idea list and a SPACE passport to fill in and take with you.

What is SPACE?

SPACE was developed by Mary Doherty, Sue McCowan and Sebastian Shaw, autistic doctors and researchers with Autistic Doctors International. It was made for healthcare, but it works just as well at school, at work or at home. To be honest, although it was developed to help support autistic people, I see its value for anyone who recognises themselves in the needs below. Personally, I support using it as part of universal design.

SPACE stands for five things you can look at together:

The SPACE framework: the word Autistic as a roof, five pillars (Sensory, Predictability, Acceptance, Communication, Empathy) and a base with three kinds of space (physical, processing, emotional). The same explanation follows below as text.

ADI (Autistic Doctors International) approved

The SPACE framework. The same explanation follows below as text.
  • Sensory needs

    How do you respond to light, sound, smell, taste, touch, temperature or signals from your own body? What is too much, and what do you actually need?

  • Predictability

    Knowing what will happen, where, when and with whom. And what is expected of you.

  • Acceptance

    Room to be yourself, being taken seriously, and care for the words we use about autism.

  • Communication

    Communicating in the way that works for you: speaking, writing, an app or AAC (augmentative and alternative communication), gestures or pictures. Clear language helps everyone.

  • Empathy

    Understanding each other, in both directions. Asking instead of filling in for someone else.

SPACE also means space

Physical

A quiet place, distance, not being touched unexpectedly.

For processing

Time to process information, to think and to make a decision.

Emotional

Feelings are allowed, without a solution being needed straight away.

Everyone is different, and what you need can change. No single adjustment works for every autistic person. SPACE helps you work out together what fits you.

How you can use it

There are two sheets. The idea list is for inspiration; it stays at home. The SPACE passport is the one you fill in and take with you.

  1. Look for inspiration if you like

    Read the idea list and tick what you recognise. You don't have to read all of it.

  2. Fill in your SPACE passport

    Write down in your own words what matters to you. Start with the three most important things. You can do it together with someone.

  3. Take it with you

    To the GP, the hospital, the dentist, school, work or another service. Give it to whoever is helping you, use it as a guide to introduce yourself, or read it together.

  4. Update it whenever you like

    What is true today may be different tomorrow. Feel free to fill in a new passport.

Downloads

To take with you · 1 A4 page, landscape

SPACE passport

A blank sheet to fill in: about you, the five letters of SPACE, and place, time and calm.

Download the passport (PDF, 81 kB)

Printing: choose A4 and actual size (100%). Black and white works too.

Who is it for?

Are you autistic?

Fill in your passport at home, at your own pace. Take it to an appointment. You decide what you share.

Are you a parent or someone close?

Fill it in together, with the person themselves. Ask what's true, and don't fill it in for someone else.

Are you a professional, teacher or employer?

Ask whether someone has a SPACE passport, and read it together. Use SPACE to look at your own setting too: light, sound, waiting time, how you invite people. Put the framework up on the wall.

Sources and makers

  • Doherty M, McCowan S, Shaw SCK. Autistic SPACE: a novel framework for meeting the needs of autistic people in healthcare settings. Br J Hosp Med 2023;84(4). doi:10.12968/hmed.2023.0006
  • Dutch adaptation by Jeroen Dewinter, Alvin van Asselt, Marcia Verhulst, Els Van Beneden and Aileen Doyle, with permission from Autistic Doctors International.
  • Coming soon: our article on SPACE in Autisme Magazine of the Dutch Autism Association (NVA), last issue of 2026 (in Dutch).
  • The SPACE framework is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0: you may share and use it freely, with attribution and not for commercial purposes.