Resource Roundtable: "It's Not Rocket Science"

Recommendations for improving the sensory environments of hospital settings for neurodivergent inpatients

Do you like a theme? I like a theme.

This month’s posts are all loosely linked around the theme of neurodivergent sensory processing…

On sensory overwhelm and becoming a cyborg

The Autism Through Cinema podcast and the 'Phenomena' episode...

…so, for this week’s Resource Roundtable post I wanted to share a resource featuring recommendations for improving the sensory environments of hospital settings for neurodivergent inpatients.

Sam Chown-Ahern - report artwork

I absolutely love this resource. I find really accessible but also incredibly informative. Above all, it was properly co-produced with young autistic people with lived experience of long-term inpatient stays.

The majority of the hard work had already been completed by the time I joined the NDTi as an Associate, but I was able to help bring it all together and it was a real pleasure to be part of. It’s also been fantastic to watch the way it’s influence has rolled out across NHS inpatient care, via the Sensory Friendly Ward Principles and the associated funding.

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So let’s begin with the basics. Hospital environments can be sensory hell for neurodivergent people with sensory processing differences. I know it well.

Sam Chown-Ahern - report artwork

‘It’s Not Rocket Science’ is an in-depth, 133-page resource, addressing the science behind the sensory challenges, offering actionable solutions.

I can’t lie: it’s hefty. But this is because it goes into detail explaining the (upsetting, but important) historical context of the long-term inpatient stays on mental health wards that many autistic people and people with learning disabilities in the UK have endured. It also provides a well-referenced yet accessible introduction to autism and – crucially – the science behind neurodivergent sensory processing differences.

You can download the full ‘It’s Not Rocket Science’ report: here. But if you’re more a skim-reader, here’s a summary of the 10 key recommendations that came out of the report and that formed the basis of the NHS Sensory-friendly ward principles:

Please feel free to download the report, and share with colleagues and friends who might find it useful.

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The structure / a monthly posting map

If you, like me, thrive with predictability - don’t worry, I’ve gotchya:

This is the third week of monthly regular posts.

• This first kind of monthly posts will be a long-form essay, like this. You can read all the essays, here.

• The second monthly post will be an episode from mini-pod / audio note series Echoes from the Neuroverse, where I’ll be reading aloud an article I’ve written elsewhere, or introducing a podcast and sharing a link to the full episode. You listen to these, here.

• Every third week will be a Resource Roundtable post, like this. You can read last month’s post, sharing four short videos made by autistic artists about loneliness, here.

• Every fourth week will be an episode of the Beyond the Abstract mini podcast series – breaking down one piece of academic research on neurodiversity-related topics. You can listen to there, here.