This week’s presentation with Aspect Australia challenged coaches to rethink inclusion, moving beyond the idea that athletes must adapt to sport, toward the belief that sport must adapt to the athlete. Presenters unpacked the social model of disability, explored the “Just-Right Zone” of performance regulation, and shared practical strategies such as quiet spaces, sensory-aware coaching, and predictable session structures. Watch the recording of the presentation below for how you can adjust your coaching and the training environment to help athletes with autism achieve their best.
Coaching Athletes with Autism | Track & Field Insight
Coaching Athletes with Autism
A guide for track and field coaches to create inclusive, empowering environments where every athlete thrives.
In Australia, 1 in 40Recent diagnostic data from Aspect research. people are on the autism spectrum, and up to 90% of disabilities are hidden. Inclusion in athletics shouldn't be seen as a niche, it’s the future of all coaches.
“We’re not asking people to fit in. We’re asking athletics to open up.”
Coaching Insight
For many autistic athletes, sport can be both a passion and a challenge. Crowded warm-up zones, whistles, overlapping announcements,
and unpredictable schedules can all create sensory overload. Yet the track can also be a sanctuary, a place where movement and rhythm
make sense of the world.
Inclusion isn’t just about fairness. It’s about performance readiness.
When athletes feel understood, safe, and calm, their nervous system settles into what psychologists call the
“just-right zone”A state of regulation where learning and performance peak..
That’s where learning, power output, and skill acquisition thrive.
Coach Reflection: Imagine one of your athletes suddenly walks away mid-drill, covers their ears, or avoids eye contact.
Would your first instinct be to discipline and correct the behaviour? Or would it be curiosity to understand the athlete?
Understanding the “why” is the gateway to better coaching.
Quick Check-In 🧠
How confident do you feel supporting autistic athletes right now?
Real-World Example
A Little Athletics coach in Perth noticed one athlete pacing behind the track instead of joining drills.
Instead of calling him out, the coach quietly walked over and asked what felt difficult. The athlete explained that the
starter’s pistol sound caused physical pain. The club introduced visual starts for that lane and the athlete went on
to set a state record in the following season.
Inclusion doesn’t slow performance it accelerates it.
“We used to view disability as the problem that needed to be fixed.
Now, we understand the environment is what must change.”
For decades, sport viewed disability through what’s known as the medical model
the idea that the person needed to adapt, mask, or ‘overcome’ their difference to belong.
As one presenter put it, this was a “deficit-based, can’t-do approach.”
Coaches focused on what athletes couldn’t do, instead of reshaping the sport so everyone could participate.
Today, athletics is embracing the social model of disability:
the belief that the challenge lies not within the athlete, but within the barriers we create sensory, structural, and social.
“We need to work on reducing barriers in the environment in order for disabled people to participate fully.”
Interactive: Two Coaching Worlds
Slide between the two coaching mindsets to explore how your language and decisions shape athlete experience.
Medical ModelSocial Model
Medical Model View:
“The athlete must learn to cope with noise, crowds, or lighting. They need to toughen up.”
Coach Insight:
When we reduce barriers our athlete performance improve.
Adding visual start signals, adjusting warm-up spaces, or providing quiet recovery areas doesn’t ‘lower the bar’.
It lets every athlete step up to it.
Try This Reflection
Which of these statements sounds most like your coaching environment?
A. “We expect everyone to handle the same conditions. That's equality.”
B. “We design sessions to fit different needs. That's equity.”
Moving from a medical to a social model of coaching is not about lowering standards
it’s about unlocking performance through environment design.
A sprinter with sensory sensitivity might excel when warm-ups are predictable and commands are consistent.
A thrower might perform better when given space between attempts to regulate energy.
The difference is not the athlete it’s how you adapt your coaching.
Every athlete operates within a personal “Just-Right Zone”
a nervous-system state where they feel calm, focused, and ready to learn.
As Dr Dan Siegel explains, this is the optimal zone for performance, coordination, and decision-making.
When athletes tip out of this window, they can slide into hyper-arousalFight / Flight response – high stress, sensory overload.
or hypo-arousalFreeze / Shutdown response – low energy, disengagement..
“When athletes are regulated, they can process feedback and enjoy the sport. When they’re not, even simple instructions can feel impossible.”
Visualising Regulation
Drag the marker to see how an athlete’s state can shift and how your coaching tone might adapt.
Hypo (Flat)Just-RightHyper (Overload)
🟢 Athlete is calm, focused, and engaged – ideal learning zone.
Coaching Cue: Regulation isn’t fixed.
The same athlete who’s confident on Monday may struggle Thursday.
Your job is to notice the shift and respond early.
Practical Signs for Track & Field Coaches
Hyper-arousal (Too High): fast breathing, fidgeting, pacing, repeating words, irritability often before competition or after sensory overload.
Hypo-arousal (Too Low): low energy, blank expression, slow reaction time often after long waiting periods or a stressful start.
“Treat a meltdown like a seizure. The person isn’t misbehaving, they’re overwhelmed.”
Meltdowns and shutdowns are physiological responses to overwhelm, not tantrums, not lack of discipline.
They occur when the brain and body are overloaded by sensory input, emotion, or accumulated stress.
During a meltdown, the nervous system enters fight-or-flight mode; during a shutdown, it collapses into freeze or withdrawal.
Neither can be controlled through willpower, and both require safety and recovery time.
How It Might Look on the Track
Meltdown (Hyper-arousal): visible distress such as crying, yelling, pacing, covering ears, or running away.
Some athletes may hit the ground, hit themselves, or seek deep pressure (e.g., squeezing objects or lying down).
Older athletes may attempt to hide it until the overload breaks through.
Shutdown (Hypo-arousal): sudden withdrawal, blank stare, slumped posture, or mutism.
The athlete may appear “checked out” or unresponsive to voice commands a nervous system in temporary shutdown.
Coach Perspective:
Meltdowns can look like defiance to an untrained eye. In reality, they are the body’s way of trying to self-protect.
What you do in the next 30 seconds determines whether trust deepens or disappears.
Scenario Practice 🧩
You’re at a competition. One of your sprinters suddenly crouches behind the blocks, hands over ears, refusing to move. What’s your response?
Coach Actions That Help
Give space and privacy: Crowd attention can worsen distress. Gently guide the group away while staying within view.
Reduce sound and light: Step back from loudspeakers, whistles, or bright zones. Avoid sudden touch unless clearly safe and consented.
Use short, literal phrases: Instead of “You’re okay?”, try “Sit here” or “Drink water?” clear, concrete cues help grounding.
Offer yes/no choices: Open-ended questions can overwhelm. Provide structured options like “Ready to move?” or “Want quiet?”
Help relocate to a quiet space: If available, use a designated calm zone an area with shade, minimal noise, and sensory tools.
Support recovery: After regulation, avoid discussing the event immediately. Let the athlete indicate readiness to talk.
Coaching Insight:
Research shows autistic people recover faster when they can predict and control their environment:contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.
Your empathy in those moments is more powerful than any pep talk or performance cue.
De-escalation Checklist
Reflection for Coaches 🧠
Think of a past coaching moment where an athlete seemed “uncooperative.”
Could it have been a form of dysregulation or sensory overload?
“Many autistic people have a strength in visual processing.”
Communication is more than speech. Around 30% of autistic people are non-speaking, and many more may lose verbal fluency during stress or sensory overload:contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}.
For these athletes, understanding doesn’t disappear, it simply shifts from words to visuals, rhythm, tone, and gesture.
The presenters emphasised that “autistic communication is often stronger when visually supported, particularly when there’s a reduction in the need for processing verbal or written language.”
In athletics, that might mean swapping verbal drills for short visual demonstrations or diagrams, and using calm, consistent language on the field.
Visual Strengths in Action
As one coach in the session noted, “Pictures and modelling tasks really help.”
You can use your body as a visual cue point, model, or gesture instead of stacking words.
Even better, show the movement once, then let the athlete copy.
Demonstrate drills instead of describing every step.
Use whiteboards or icons to represent sprint phases, throwing cues, or warm-up progressions.
Apply colour coding, for example, green for ready, yellow for adjust, red for stop.
Coach Cue:Clarity beats complexity.
The transcript reminded us: “Be literal and context-specific. Tell people what to do rather than what not to do.”:contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}
Instead of “Don’t run”, say “Walk inside.” Instead of “Calm down”, try “Take two slow breaths.”
Rephrase Challenge 🎯
Click a phrase to turn it into an inclusive coaching cue.
When Speech Fades
The presenters explained that when people are under high stress, “communication skills can drop dramatically, and auditory processing slows.”
That means if you keep talking, they may not hear a word, not because they won’t, but because they can’t just yet.
Allow extra processing time even 20–30 seconds before repeating instructions:contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}.
Use consistent key phrases and visual reassurance instead of adding new verbal input.
Coach Tool:Communication Cards can bridge this gap.
They use icons and short prompts for needs like “drink”, “rest”, or “ready”.
These cards can be clipped to a coach lanyard or athlete wristband for quick, quiet communication.
Quick Practice 💬
You’re explaining a new relay drill to an athlete who’s non-verbal and seems anxious.
Choose the best coaching approach:
Signs of Communication Overload
Delayed responses or silence after instruction.
Repeating words or scripts (“echolalia”).
Walking away or looking at the ground when spoken to, often a sign of needing processing time, not disrespect.
Increased stimming (hand flapping, fidgeting) often self-regulation, not distraction.
Coach Reflection:
How often do you allow space, silence, visuals, or gestures instead of filling every pause with words?
“The hidden curriculum is the set of assumed knowledge that isn’t directly taught because it’s considered to be universally known.”
Every track, club, and meet runs on invisible rules and unspoken rituals that most people absorb over time.
The presenters explained that this hidden curriculum can include things like how to behave at presentations, when to warm up, or even when it’s appropriate to speak to officials:contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}.
For neurodivergent athletes, especially those new to the sport, these unstated expectations can create confusion, anxiety, or accidental social missteps.
Examples from Athletics
Standing on the podium. How long to stay, when to smile, when to step down.
Handshake etiquette. When to offer or avoid physical contact.
Where to stand on the warm-up track. Avoiding the inside lane during others’ reps.
When to line up at call-rooms or field events, and how to interact with volunteers.
The presenters reminded coaches: “Some autistic athletes might follow logic over social convention like filling the first empty lane on a train instead of skipping a seat for space.”:contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
What makes perfect sense to one person might puzzle another.
Coach Cue:
Explain the unspoken rules before they become barriers.
The session encouraged coaches to “make invisible expectations visible,” especially around competition flow and social routines:contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.
Guess the Hidden Rule 🎯
Click each card to reveal an unwritten athletics expectation.
🏅 Medal Presentation
Tap to reveal an unwritten rule.
Wait for the official cue to leave the podium, some events play music before exit.
🎽 Warm-Up Track
Tap to reveal an unwritten rule.
Keep the inside lane clear for sprints; use outer lanes for drills or jogging.
🤝 Sportsmanship
Tap to reveal an unwritten rule.
Not everyone wants touch, ask before high-fives or hugs, especially after high-stress events.
⏱ Call-Room Timing
Tap to reveal an unwritten rule.
Arrive early, officials often close check-in 15 min before event start.
Coach Actions That Help
Use visual maps or schedules showing where and when athletes should be.
Model expected behaviour demonstrate, don’t just tell.
De-brief after meets review what surprised or confused athletes.
Normalise questions encourage “Can you explain that?” as confidence, not defiance.
Transcript Reminder:
“Best practice is to explain to each other what the typical cultural expectations might be in a place like athletics.”:contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}
Coach Reflection 🧠
Think of a time an athlete got in trouble for a ‘common-sense’ rule they didn’t know.
What could you clarify next time before it becomes an issue?
“A great culture of inclusion is evident in a lot of athletics through visible values, clear expectations, and leadership that allows everyone to belong without needing to change who they are.”
A culture of inclusion goes beyond access. It’s about belonging ensuring athletes, parents, and volunteers feel valued for who they are, not how well they fit.
The presenters explained that inclusion lives in the small things: clear communication, predictable routines, name tags, and visible affirmations of diversity.
When those cues are missing, neurodivergent athletes often spend more energy trying to navigate social space than improving performance.
What Inclusion Looks Like in Athletics
First Nations recognition: Begin meets with Acknowledgement of Country and share local seasonal calendars. e.g. “Yam Daisy season” instead of “Spring.”
Pride visibility: Partnerships like Pride in Sport and Proud to Play demonstrate that athletics welcomes LGBTQIA+ communities.
Hidden Disability Sunflower: Recognising this simple symbol tells athletes, “We see you, and you don’t have to explain.”
Accessible signage and clear language: Label zones, post call-room maps, and avoid jargon such as “marshalling” without context.
Transcript Insight:
“Even as simple as wearing a name tag can make a big difference for people feeling welcome and that they belong.”:contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
Explore Inclusion Ideas 💡
Click on each tile to reveal a real-world inclusion action you can apply in your coaching environment.
🎧 Sensory Inclusion
Tap to reveal idea
Create a quiet zone or “recovery tent” with soft lighting and headphones for athletes needing sensory breaks.
🌻 Hidden Disability Awareness
Tap to reveal idea
Display the Hidden Disability Sunflower symbol on volunteer badges and at check-in desks.
🧭 Clear Navigation
Tap to reveal idea
Use colour-coded maps and arrows around venues so athletes can navigate independently.
🗣 Inclusive Language
Tap to reveal idea
Replace terms like “normal group” with “main field group” and celebrate all event types equally.
Coach Actions That Build Belonging
Model inclusion: greet every athlete by name and respect pronouns.
Empower voice: ask athletes, “What helps you perform best?”
Design predictability: post warm-up orders and event changes early.
Reflect diversity: showcase athletes of all backgrounds in club media and signage.
Build inclusive leadership: include neurodivergent and disabled voices in planning committees.
Coach Cue: Inclusion doesn’t mean lowering the bar. It means raising the floor so everyone can stand on it.
Coach Reflection 🧠
Which of these inclusive practices could you introduce at your next meet or training session?
“Providing information beforehand is statistically proven to reduce anxiety and overwhelm in the moment.”
Preparation isn’t just logistics, it’s emotional safety.
For autistic athletes, knowing what to expect helps regulate the nervous system long before the starter’s gun fires.
Predictability builds trust and allows athletes to focus on performance, not uncertainty.
As the presenters noted, *“When athletes can prepare and predict, they feel calm, ready, and confident.”*
Why It Matters
In athletics, last-minute schedule changes, new environments, and sensory unpredictability can trigger stress responses.
Coaches can counter this by offering clear visual and written preparation tools ahead of time:
Visual Stories: photo-based guides showing what the venue looks like, where to warm up, and what happens first.
Coach Profiles: short introductions with photos and key info about each coach, “I like calm communication and will always give a thumbs up when it’s your turn.”
Predictable Routines: consistent warm-up sequences and transition cues (“two more reps, then rest”).
Transcript Example:
“Visual stories go through the process from start to finish so people can access that at their leisure before an event and prepare themselves.”:contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
Coach Simulation 🧠
You're preparing your squad for a new venue next weekend. What would best support your athletes?
Coach Actions That Build Predictability
Share early: send visual guides or schedules 2–3 days before training or competition.
Post on noticeboards: display maps, routines, or daily plans in visible spots at the track.
Signal transitions: use consistent countdown cues e.g. “last throw” or “two minutes to start.”
Model flexibility: when plans change, calmly explain why and what happens next. Predictability in communication is as valuable as predictability in schedule.
Coach Cue:
Predictability doesn’t limit spontaneity it creates the stability that lets athletes adapt confidently.
Action Task 🗓️
Try this: Before your next session, share one visual support. e.g. a venue photo, schedule image, or your coach profile and ask athletes:
