In My Shoes
A whole-class, teacher led social inclusion program for Year 3 and 4 mainstream classrooms.
In My Shoes is a strengths-based program that celebrates difference, builds empathy and strengthens classroom belonging. Designed with a deep understanding of how autistic students experience school, it supports meaningful participation and connectedness for autistic students and their peers — helping classrooms become places where everyone feels understood, valued and included.
What does In My Shoes aim to do?
In My Shoes supports students to:
Develop a deeper understanding of differences in how peers experience autism and school
Build awareness of their own strengths and differences — and recognise these in others
Feel confident recognising when someone needs help, how to offer support, and how to ask for help themselves
Experience stronger feelings of acceptance, respect and belonging in their classroom
Strengthen empathy and increase everyday helping and inclusive behaviours
At its heart, the program is about helping children understand one another — and giving them practical tools to turn that understanding into action.
Why is it called “In My Shoes”?
The program teaches perspective-taking and social problem-solving skills through a simple, practical framework:
LOOK → THINK→ DECIDE
Students learn to:
Notice body clues and contextual cues
Consider what someone else might be thinking or feeling
Decide on a supportive course of action
This gives children a clear and repeatable way to include and support peers in everyday classroom situations.
What’s included?
A structured whole-class program delivered by the classroom teacher
“Ready to go” resources including a manual with lesson plans, interactive worksheets and video resources
Teacher training and implementation guidance
Peer skill-building components
Active parent involvement
Whole-school activity ideas to reinforce learning and culture
In My Shoes is designed to be embedded into everyday classroom practice — not delivered as a one-off or external add-on.
How is it different?
Grounded in scientific theory and evidence
Autism-specific and neurodiversity-affirming
Strengths-based in its approach
Developed in consultation with teachers, allied health professionals, parents, principals and learning support coordinators
Designed for whole-class delivery by teachers (not pull-out models)
Takes a holistic, multi-system approach across classroom, home and school environments
Embedded within curriculum priorities and aligned with general capabilities
It complements existing pastoral care, buddy systems and whole-school wellbeing initiatives while contributing to a positive and inclusive school culture.
In My Shoes was developed as part of my doctoral research and pilot tested in 2021 across several primary schools in Perth, Western Australia.
The findings were very promising. The program was extremely well received by teachers, parents and school leaders. Pilot data provided preliminary evidence suggesting that In My Shoes improves participation and school connectedness for autistic students and their peers.
The pilot also provided valuable feedback that has shaped refinement and future iterations of the program.
Building on this work:
A doctoral student at Northumbria University is currently adapting the program to broaden its scope to all neurodivergent learners and to be culturally appropriate for the UK context.
We are in the process of recruiting a research student in Australia to continue the next phase of development locally.
The next iteration will expand to support a broader range of neurodivergent students.
The long-term goal is to develop a scalable, research-informed inclusion framework that can be implemented widely across schools.
Research and Ongoing Development
Interested in In My Shoes?
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“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower”
Alexander Den Heijer