Community Insight
For this community insight, we reflect on what we learned through creating spaces for collective learning, connection, and reflection about housing success for Autistic and other neurodivergent people in Canada.
The Autistic and Neurodivergent Advisory Committee was a 5-member group that helped shape research, learnings, and project resources. The committee was not intended to speak for all Autistic and neurodivergent people. Instead, it was an intentional community space that contributed to a broader national conversation about housing.
Here, we share our process and learnings from the advisory committee meetings.
Context
We held 5 online meetings that focused on process and deepened our attention to safety, difference, and the broader context of housing for Autistic and other neurodivergent people in Canada.
While we are proud of what we learned together, we recognize that more work is needed to support housing success for Autistic and other neurodivergent people in Canada.
We encourage future initiatives to learn from these experiences and meaningfully include community perspectives in their work.
Meeting Summaries
Meeting 1
We set the foundation for the committee and learned that clarity in language, expectations, and activities matters.
Meeting 2
Meeting 3
We explored the importance of autonomy, belonging, and support in housing success. We also discussed how masking* can can shape housing experiences for Autistic people.
*Masking is when Autistic people suppress or camouflage Autistic characteristics to fit into neurotypical environments. It is not always conscious or intentional. While it can help someone navigate certain situations, masking takes a lot of energy, is often exhausting, and can be harmful over time.
Meeting 4
We discussed how inclusion in housing looks different for everyone. We also explored how we can learn from concepts such as Universal Design for Learning and Spoon Theory* to enhance support more neuroinclusive housing experiences.
*Spoon theory is a way of understanding energy and capacity. It uses spoons as a visual way to describe how much energy a person has for daily activities.
Meeting 5
Future Reflections
We encourage you to reflect on some of the questions we explored:
- What helps you feel safe and supported in your living space?
- How can you honour different ways of knowing, sensing, and communicating in your life?
- What would it mean to design housing not just for, but with, neurodivergent people?
Summary of Learnings
Our process was informed by community-based and participatory research practices rooted in social work. We aimed to move beyond tokenistic inclusion* by intentionally engaging Autistic and other neurodivergent people whose lived experience could inform and challenge our assumptions about housing.
We worked to support collective learning and shared growth among community members, researchers, and professionals, recognizing that each brings valuable expertise.
*Tokenistic inclusion is when people are included in a limited or symbolic way, often without meaningful opportunities to influence decisions, contribute fully, or shape outcomes.
The following sections highlight key learnings from 3 areas of our initiative.
Knowledge Sharing
We learned that accessible, flexible, and emotionally safe tools are just as important as content. Our Community Insights, webinars, and ecosystem map were shaped by community guidance to improve accessibility, usability, and transparency.
Applied Research
We learned to focus on meaning-making rather than metrics. Community members reshaped how we understood safety, success, and inclusion in housing, and influenced how we approached research.
Community Outreach
We learned that meaningful engagement must focus on autonomy, relationality, and care. This includes building trust before expecting participation and responding to feedback in an ongoing and thoughtful way.
