Lived experience
For Autism Awareness Month, I’m sharing something personal for the first time, my own journey with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder. When I was diagnosed by the NHS last year, I felt a mixture of emotions, I was surprised by some fear, a brief return of old, negative thoughts about being “too different” or “unlovable.” But more importantly, excitement. Excitement because, for the first time, I could speak about a subject I had always felt closely connected to, yet somehow outside of, neurodiversity.
The term neurodiversity can be controversial for some, but for me, it captures the essence of how I experience autism. It’s a difference, sometimes positive, like my keen attention to detail and heightened sensitivity to stimuli, and sometimes challenging, like my discomfort in noisy, brightly lit spaces.
In the UK, 15-20% of the population is neurodivergent, which includes around 700,000 people on the autism spectrum. That’s already millions of people, but the exciting part is that designing spaces with neurodiversity in mind can improve environments for many others as well. After all, it’s not just autistic individuals who can find modern spaces noisy or uncomfortable. The more we learn about the diversity of the human brain, the clearer it becomes that there is no one-size-fits-all experience of the world. As a designer, I believe considering the diverse ways people experience their environment can lead to spaces and products that benefit everyone.
When I created the Hush Pod in 2011, there was nothing like it on the market. It started as an idea born from my own experience, I saw cities getting larger and louder, the seemingly endless proliferation of cameras, the open plan spaces, the echoing easy-clean shiny surfaces, and I physically cringed back. I didn’t have data at the time, I had a strong sense that the lack of quiet spaces was taking a toll on all our well-being. Now, a decade and a half later, the evidence is clear: providing quiet, restful spaces in our environments boosts well-being, productivity, and supports the needs of neurodiverse individuals. Our needs change throughout the day, or even the hour, from open collaborative spaces needed for the big team meeting or social event, to hushed, private spaces where we can collect our thoughts and take a break from overstimulation.
Today, pods like our Hush or Poppi Pod have become standard in modern interiors, a topic I’ve explored further in publications like Dezeen. But for me, the most innovative and powerful design comes when we blend neurodiverse thinking with biophilic design: the idea that nature is essential for human flourishing. Scientific research now backs up what many of us have always felt in our bones: nature’s calming and restorative power is not just a luxury, but a necessity for human flourishing. There is also a fascinating correlation between autism and a deep affinity for nature. I, and others at Huus, are on a mission to make our interiors less hard edged, less machine like, and more human, more soft and more healthy.
This Autism Acceptance Month, I’m proud to be applying for the IBCCES Certified Autism Resource (CAR) designation. A designation that will help me communicate my dedication to what I now know that I always was, and am, a neurodiverse designer designing for neurodiverse needs. It’s been a long journey to reach this point, but also I feel like we are just getting started.
Creating the first Hush Pod in 2011