{"id":57789,"date":"2020-01-30T08:45:32","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T13:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/?p=57789"},"modified":"2020-01-28T10:32:42","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T15:32:42","slug":"sensory-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.arc.ht\/blog\/inspiration\/stories\/sensory-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensory Spaces: An Architect’s Guide to Designing for Children With Autism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucy Healy<\/span> is an Architect with several years experience working on community, education and special educational needs projects. Here, she gives her insight into designing ‘sensory sensitive’ educational spaces for children with autism.<\/i><\/p>\n

According to a 2018 survey by the American Centre for Disease Control, 1 in 59 children are diagnosed with autism compared to 1 in 150 in 2000. Regardless of whether autism is becoming more pervasive or accurate diagnosis and awareness are on the rise, the fact remains that more people are known to be living with autism than ever before.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Autism is a Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD), which is traditionally diagnosed by a triad of impairments; difficulties with social communication, social interaction and social behavior. 78% of people with an autistic spectrum condition (ASC), also exhibit sensory sensitivities to their environments. These can be either a hyper or hypo sensitivity.\u00a0 So, what can architects, engineers and designers do to improve how people with ASC experience the world?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is often said that if you\u2019ve met one person with autism, you\u2019ve met one person with autism. Whilst this quip might be true, it suggests that the task of designing suitable environments for people with autism is extremely challenging. Improving the accessibility of our entire built environment for people with PDD is ultimately the end goal, but we need to focus primarily on the first environment an individual experiences outside of the home, school.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Built environment professionals have a responsibility to create environments that enhance the building user\u2019s experience, and that responsibility is to every building user, regardless of what type of building that might be and what type of disability. Often, the smallest of design considerations can have an insurmountable impact on an individual with autism.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Natural light and simple interior palette, Ewell Grove Primary School, Surrey by HLM Architects<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Sensory Sensitivity Strategies<\/b><\/h2>\n

Sight,<\/b> is one of the foremost senses by which we experience our environment, but having a hyper or hypo sensitivity to visual stimuli can make the day-to-day extremely difficult. Autism can affect a person\u2019s depth of field, tendency to be distracted by clutter, an increased sensitivity to glare, can cause visual fragmentation and make objects and their surroundings appear darker and less distinct than they really are.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Strategies include:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n