Autistic SPACE: a novel framework for meeting the needs of autistic people in healthcare settings

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. three authors of this publication are identified as autistic in the project.

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Doherty, M., McCowan, S., & Shaw, S. C. (2023). Autistic SPACE: a novel framework for meeting the needs of autistic people in healthcare settings. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 84(4), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.12968/hmed.2023.0006

Publication date: 2 Apr 2023 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
3 / 3 (100.0%)
  1. Mary Doherty *
  2. Sue McCowan *
  3. Sebastian C.K. Shaw *

Abstract

Autistic people experience significant health disparities and reduced life expectancy. Barriers to accessing healthcare are associated with adverse health outcomes. Autism training and healthcare professionals' knowledge about autism is variable, and heterogeneity among autistic people leads to additional educational and clinical complexities. Autism remains nebulous for many practitioners, who are unclear about communication differences, access needs or life experiences common to autistic people. Healthcare environments can be challenging for all patients but autistic people may require specific accommodations to allow equitable access. The authors have developed a simple framework which may facilitate equitable clinical services at all points of access and care, using the acronym 'SPACE'. This encompasses five core autistic needs: Sensory needs, Predictability, Acceptance, Communication and Empathy. Three additional domains are represented by physical space, processing space and emotional space. This simple yet memorable framework encompasses commonalities shared by autistic people.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 01:35.

Cited references
37
With a DOI
32
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
5
13 / 37 (35.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
5 / 37 (13.5%)
References with detected author names
37 / 37 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
5
Without a stable identifier
5
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
171
From DOI or external metadata
171
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
85 / 171 (49.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 86 / 171 (50.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
31 / 171 (18.1%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 31 / 85 (36.5%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 22 / 153 (14.4%).
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