Autism-friendly architecture from the outside in and the inside out: an explorative study based on autobiographies of autistic people

Abstract

Researchers and designers each developed a particular vision on autism-friendly architecture.Because the basis of this vision is not always clear, questions arise about its meaning and value, and about how it can be put to use. People with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum are central to these questions, yet risk to disappear from the picture. Refocusing the discourse about autism-friendly architecture on them is the aim of the explorative study reported here. Six autobiographies written by autistic (young) adults were analysed from two different viewpoints. First, concepts from design guidelines concerning autism-friendly architecture were confronted with fragments from these autobiographies. The second part of the analysis started from the autobiographies themselves. This analysis shows that concepts can be interpreted in multiple ways. They can reinforce but also counteract each other, thus asking for critical judgment. An open space is preferred by some autistic people because it affords having an overview, which increases predictability, and distancing oneself from others without being isolated. Others might like this space to be subdivided into several separate spaces which affords a sense of structure or reduces sensory inputs present in one room.The six autobiographies provide a glimpse of autistic people's world of experience. Analysing these is a first step in revealing what architecture can actually mean from their point of view. For them, the material environment has a prominent meaning that is, however, not always reducible to design guidelines. It offers them something to hold on to, relate to or structure their reality.

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“…The meaning it has for people lies in the functional relationships between its features, on one hand, and goals and intentions of people on the other [2]. A dwelling therefore can have varied functions since people give different meanings to it [2,3]. As such, it is an important element of urban regions because it reflects people's personal relationships to their environment.…”

“…As such, it is an important element of urban regions because it reflects people's personal relationships to their environment. This conception is especially pertinent to individuals living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)-who have a unique spatial interpretation [3][4][5].…”

“…Only twenty-eight years later was when he was able to identify the varying inherent characteristics of the spectrum [11]. Despite the amount of information readily available, many studies have highlighted that the ASD individuals risk disappearing from view in designing ASD-friendly environments [3,12,13]. This is because architecture has not been an evidence-seeking culture [14].…”

“…(2) the research targets the adult ASD population group; (3) to investigate if culture has a direct influence on their spatial preferences. The survey was done in the form of a questionnaire which was sent through electronic mail, the preferred mode of communication by the interested participants.…”

“…The survey was done in the form of a questionnaire which was sent through electronic mail, the preferred mode of communication by the interested participants. The questions were derived from a review of existing literatures that established the 'common' attributes of ASD individuals [6,8,11,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] and 'appropriate' environments for ASD individuals [3][4][5][12][13][14][15][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. Since qualitative data is most relevant and significant for this study, most of the questions are intentionally subjective (see Appendix A).…”