Creating Classrooms Where Autistic Learners Can Thrive

Target Audience: This training is suitable for school teachers, SNAs, SET teachers, school leaders, and educational professionals seeking practical, neuroaffirmative approaches to supporting Autistic learners in today's classrooms.

Recording: A recording will be made available to everyone who registers 24 hours after the live event along with a cert of attendance for 3.5hours. 

A Neuroaffirmative Approach to Supporting Autistic Learners in Primary Schools

As understanding of autism continues to evolve, many educators are seeking practical, evidence-informed approaches that move beyond behaviour management and focus instead on creating environments where Autistic learners can feel safe, understood, and able to participate meaningfully in school life.

This engaging and thought-provoking training day, presented by Autistic autism consultant, author and trainer Laura Crowley, explores how nervous system safety, communication, regulation, and belonging form the foundations of successful learning and inclusion for Autistic pupils.

Grounded in current research, lived experience, and over 25 years of professional practice, this training is designed for school teachers, SNAs, SET teachers, school leaders, and anyone supporting Autistic pupils in educational settings.

Session 1 - Safety Before Skills: Why Nervous System Safety Drives Learning and Belonging

Before a child can learn, engage, communicate, or build relationships, they must first feel safe. This session explores autism through a nervous system lens, helping participants understand how sensory processing differences, uncertainty, anxiety, and chronic stress can influence a child's ability to access learning and participate in school life.

Drawing on current research and practical examples from educational settings, Laura will explore how schools can create emotionally and physically safe environments that foster regulation, engagement, resilience, and a genuine sense of belonging.

Participants will explore:

• Autism and the nervous system
• Why behaviour is often a stress response rather than a choice
• The relationship between safety, learning, and participation
• The impact of sensory and environmental factors
• Creating conditions where Autistic learners can thrive

Session 2 - Communication, Regulation and Participation: Practical Supports for Everyday School Life

Once safety is established, communication and regulation become key drivers of participation and success. This practical session explores how Autistic learners experience communication, social interaction, sensory demands, and energy expenditure throughout the school day.

Participants will gain practical strategies to support understanding, reduce cognitive and sensory load, strengthen relationships, and promote regulation across a range of classroom situations.

Participants will explore:

• Communication differences in autism
• The Double Empathy Problem
• Processing time and reducing cognitive load
• Autistic Energy Theory and energy management
• Recognising signs of overwhelm and depletion
• Practical sensory and regulation supports
• Supporting participation without increasing stress or masking

Session 3 - The 3 C's of Autism Support: A Framework for Creating Schools Where Every Child Belongs

The final session brings together the themes of the day through Laura's practical and highly accessible framework for autism good practice: Comfort, Communication and Connection.

Participants will explore how the 3 C's can be used to guide decision-making, classroom practice, support planning, and whole-school approaches to inclusion. This framework provides a practical lens through which educators can evaluate whether a child is experiencing genuine support, rather than simply being present within a classroom.

The session will challenge participants to move beyond compliance and towards creating environments where Autistic learners feel safe, understood, valued, and able to participate authentically.

Participants will explore:

• Comfort: Supporting sensory, emotional, and nervous system safety
• Communication: Creating clarity, understanding, and accessibility
• Connection: Building trust, belonging, and relational safety
• Applying the 3 C's to classroom and school-based challenges
• Moving from inclusion in principle to inclusion in practice
• Creating cultures where Autistic learners can flourish

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this training, participants will:

• Understand the critical role of nervous system safety in learning, wellbeing, and participation.
• Develop a deeper understanding of communication, regulation, and energy management in Autistic learners.
• Gain practical strategies to support participation while reducing stress and overwhelm.
• Understand the impact of sensory, social, and environmental demands on school engagement.
• Learn how to apply the 3 C's framework to everyday educational practice.
• Leave with practical tools to create neuroaffirmative learning environments where Autistic pupils experience genuine belonging and are supported to thrive.

Bio of Presenter

Laura Crowley is an Autistic autism consultant, additional needs sleep consultant, and award-winning advocate with over 25 years’ experience supporting neurodivergent children, teens, and families. A late-identified Autistic woman and parent to an Autistic child, Laura’s work is grounded in both lived experience and professional expertise. She is passionate about promoting neuroaffirmative practice, challenging outdated myths, and creating environments where Autistic people can thrive authentically. Through her consultancy, training, and advocacy, Laura focuses on truth, inclusion, empathy, and equity; helping families, schools, and professionals understand that different is not less, it is human diversity to be embraced.