the campfire
A small, soft circle — a rug, a few cushions, room for a known handful rather than a crowd. Close enough to feel the warmth; never a stage.
Building the space
The five zones are the cave (solitude), the campfire (a small, known group), the watering hole (open, ambient company), the library (reference and depth), and the habitat (the whole surround that holds the other four). Cave, campfire, and watering hole also run along a sociality gradient — solo, small group, open — lining up with the interaction moods (red, yellow, green). Build the zones so a person can move along that gradient on their own terms, and keep each reachable without a leap.
the cave
Two walls and a low roof of your making — a blanket over a table, a corner with a shelf pulled across, a hood pulled up. Low light, sound down, the world kept out. A retreat, never a time-out.
the habitat
The whole surround: the light, sound, texture, and rhythm the other zones sit inside. Make the habitat steady and sensory-safe first, and the other places become reachable.
the library
Somewhere the group's figured-out things are kept and reachable — a shelf, a box, a screen — a place to go deep at your own pace.
the watering hole
An open, in-between spot near others — a bench at the edge of the room, somewhere to hover and drift, among people without a task or a script.
Building the niche
These are the pieces you change so the space fits. Each card names a need, not a product — a den can be a pop-up tent or a blanket over a table; less to look at can be a screen, a corner, or a turned-around desk. Build for the sense the person is asking about, with whatever you have. Organised here by sense, the way the deck groups it.
Being in charge
Hand over the dial. The same input is fine when the person controls it and too much when someone else does — so give them the switch, the volume, the timing, not a fixed setting.
Sound
Turn the world down, or fill it kindly — headphones, a quieter corner, or a steady hum to cover the jagged, unpredictable sounds. The sound was the problem; lowering it is the answer, not avoidance.
Light & looking
Soften what reaches the eyes. Dim or diffuse harsh light, and clear busy sight-lines — a plainer wall, fewer displays, a calmer view. Clearing clutter is free.
Touch
A soft thing to hold — a plush, a texture, something to squeeze or keep close. A tactile anchor is a real regulation strategy, not babyish; let it stay.
Pressure
Deep, even pressure — a weighted wrap, a firm tuck — but only ever the pressure the person asks for, on their terms.
Temperature
A layer, a fan, an open window, a warm drink. Too warm or too cold fills a body up like noise does; change the air around the person rather than telling them they're fine.
Movement
Room to move, and things to move with — floor to pace or spin, a fidget for the hands, options to sit, stand, or wobble, freedom to stim. Bodies that move to focus are doing exactly what they should.
Mouth & nose
Safe oral and scent input — something to chew or crunch, a snack or a drink, a calming smell brought close or an overwhelming one taken away. Ordinary needs, met without a negotiation.
Space & enclosure
Cover and edges — a den to tuck under, a corner with sides, a claimed spot that stays theirs, and a visible, usable way out. Knowing the door is there is often what makes staying possible.
Telling & talking
Ease the language load — fewer words, a heads-up before a change, and another channel to point, write, sign, or show a card when speech is hard. A different way to communicate is not less communication.
People & time
Thin the social field and slow the clock — one steady person instead of a crowd, quiet company alongside, more processing time, a stopping point before a switch, permission to come and go. Speed is not understanding.
Make your own
The gap the deck doesn't hold yet — draw or build the missing help together.
Building the crossings
A transition is a crossing, and for a mind in deep focus a hard crossing is jarring and costly — attention yanked across with nowhere to land. Lily pads are the stepping stones that make it gentle: a pause, a heads-up, a held place, a graded step. Build the space between the zones so each crossing has somewhere to land, and keep the pace the person's — read from their signals when they can't set it with their feet.
i need a minute
A pause-place at the seam — a beanbag, a windowsill, a cushion where two zones meet — so leaving one lands somewhere before arriving at the next.
not yet
Let the crossing wait on the person's signal — check back rather than push — never on the room's clock.
slowly
A graded strip between a loud zone and a quiet one, where the light dims and the sound drops before arrival. Grade the crossing instead of forcing a single leap.
watch first
A place at the rim of a group, in view of it, where watching counts as being in. Keep joining optional.
coming back
Keep the spot, the task, and the welcome ready, and let a carried object travel the crossing as a thread of continuity between the two banks.
ready now
Go when they go: follow their timing, and build routes that let them move the moment they're ready.
i want to stay a while
Let staying stand — a spot that isn't hurried on just because the schedule wants it.
all done
Let a called ending be an ending — no one-more-thing, no negotiation over whether it really is.
stuck
A landing spot in the gap — somewhere to be between pads without being pushed across. Offer a what-helps, and let them choose; never shove.
On any budget
None of this is a purchase order. A blanket over a table is a cave. A rug zones a watering hole. A turned-around shelf makes a corner. A dimmable lamp makes a decompression seam. A cushion at the join of two zones is a pause pad. The materials are yours to choose; the card names the need, and you fill it with what you have. For the full material-level how-to, see Creating Cavendish Space on a Budget and Nesting.
How it pairs with the play modes
Two play modes map the rhythm; this book builds the room that lets it happen. Run Map the edges with the person to find where the crossings bite — focus to talking, rest to joining in, home to out the door. Run Moving between to see the shape of a day, alone to together and back. Then build the padding where the map shows it's needed. The person maps; you build it with them; the room changes, not the person.
Lineage
- Physical niche construction in the early years — Helen Edgar. Much of the budget and building practice here comes from twenty years teaching children with Profound and Multiple Disabilities, where children and adults shaped the space together. (Credit wording to confirm with Helen.)
- Nesting as the physical architecture of lily padding — David Gray-Hammond.
- Lily padding, and transitional trauma for monotropic minds — Tanya Adkin.
- Caves, campfires, and watering holes — David Thornburg's learning-space metaphors; the case for cave spaces in schools, Prakash Nair, The Language of School Design.
- Cavendish Space, intermittent collaboration, niche construction — Stimpunks Foundation. https://stimpunks.org/glossary/lily-pad/