Developing spaces specifically for patients with autism and related conditions offers unique design opportunities to help them navigate the built environment.
How structures are built has a massive influence on the quality of life for people with autism. According to a 2021 scoping review by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, several studies have emphasized how the altered perception of sensory stimuli and processing of information coming from the environment is one of the main issues for people with autism. In many instances, people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) simply don’t have the opportunity to autonomously interact with the built environment because it can’t accommodate their specific spatial needs.
Architectural firms like Edmonton-Canada-based Stantec are working to change that.
“There’s been a lot of greater awareness around mental well-being and a greater sensitivity to stimuli and sensory understanding,” Stephen Parker, a behavioral health planner at Stantec, told Autism Business News. “Some of that stems from trauma-informed design. It’s all about voice and choice, and helping an individual, whether they’re going through a crisis or not, to give agency in their treatment model and their pathway.”
When it comes to creating spaces for people with autism, Parker emphasized three important trends in design.
Promoting Self-Regulation, Autonomy and Agency
Trauma-informed design acknowledges the emotional power of the built environment to create spaces that better serve its occupants. The principles that guide the concept can be applied to any setting. Still,they are especially important when it comes to spaces for people with autism to ensure they have an active sense of autonomy wherever they are.
People with autism can often experience excessive sensory input and become distracted, anxious, stressed or frustrated. Designing a space that allows them to minimize unhelpful sensory experiences on their own offers them agency and fosters the ability to adapt to situations.
Simple solutions like giving people with ASD the ability to control their lighting can make a big difference in how they respond. Parker said he’s seeing many more haptic or somatic approaches that use integrated building technologies. This allows users to integrate or connect with their sensory environments. Gesture-controlled projectors and other devices can help a person on the spectrum interact with various services.
“We talk a lot about agency and autonomy, and choice and voice, because if you can dial in to the different stimuli that may be positive or negative, and you can provide greater choice for that, then hopefully [patients] can self-regulate better and the built environment can be a tool to aid in that,” Parker said.
Developing Flexible Sensory-Enabled Environments
How spaces are designed greatly impacts the sensory experiences of people with autism. More and more design strategies are considering each person’s unique needs. That’s why flexibility is so important. Parker said Stantec is seeing a lot more interest in how to create a sensory room that’s more adaptive to the needs of patients.
“If you can provide more flexible sensory-enabled environments, then [people with autism] are more comfortable and able to be more inclusive with how they enjoy the freedom of movement we do,” Parker said.
Sound
People with autism are often triggered by sound. When creating built environments, it’s important to plan for the possibility of hypersensitivity by creating well insulated spaces that offer a way to adjust sound levels. This helps to reduce the chance that people with developmental disorders will become overstimulated.
Parker said the acoustics of a room are a big factor in design. This is ot only to meet HIPAA requirements in clinical environments for patient privacy, but also to mitigate unwanted noise. You might not notice traffic from the hallway or the street below, or think twice about the whine of the fan from the HVAC system, but patients with autism can experience those sounds differently, he said.
“It might be background or white noise, but it could be incredibly disruptive for someone with sensory sensitivity to unwanted noise,” he said.
Sight
Like noise, light can impact the behavior and mood of people with autism. When designing autism-friendly spaces, architects are now considering light and color. Muted tones of greens and blues and solid earth tone colors are good choices because they have much shorter wavelengths than bright colors, which helps prevent overstimulation.
In addition to lighting, patterns on walls may overwhelm an autistic person. Keeping décor simple is a good way to prevent distraction and distress.
Reducing clutter in a room is also helpful. People with ASD may be drawn to small details in an area around them. Designing organized spaces that include storage solutions for supplies and other items will lessen distractions for individuals with autism.
“We tend to shy away from a lot of structured patterns, because that might be a fixation issue,” said Parker. “[Fixation] can be really beneficial in a very controlled environment, but if there’s a wall graphic and they can’t make it across the hallway because they’re counting every single dot or trying to trace the pattern, [it can be a distraction]. So, you have to look at what works best because every patient on the spectrum is unique.”
Another trending design element related to sight is providing adaptable spaces that offer greater control and flexibility within a room. A space can be reconfigured for sequential circulation, which refers to an arrangement of furniture that makes it easier for people to navigate. Dividing a room into small, more manageable spaces can also help prevent people with autism from being overwhelmed.
“It’s about how, in every space, you can provide an opportunity to escape the way one space is organized or zoned in a room, versus another,” said Parker. “You provide choice and transition as well, so that way there’s not a huge shock.”
Touch
Another trend in designing spaces for people with autism is the ability to physically interact with a built environment. Parker said there are several different technologies and features that Stantec can set up to help give patients a sense of tactile control. For instance, the HVAC system can be modified to recreate the sensation of being outside on a breezy day by putting in an independent fan and a wall control.
Haptic or sensory projectors and other gesture technology is another option to explore. This tech can be used to control virtual objects or enhance remote control of devices. Haptic projectors can create a multi-sensory environment by casting moving images and patterns onto walls, floors or other flat surfaces. Parker said you can see this tech in some airports now, projecting games like Tic Tac Toe on the floor for kids.
Parker said he’s currently creating a prototype space in the digital world that encompasses all senses. “We’re finding that it’s important to take a more holistic approach to sensory-enabled spaces,” he said. “Maybe you’re a school district in a K12 setting and you need a sensory room or calming space to help with de-escalation – whether that’s for a child on the spectrum, or you’re simply dealing with a high stress environment.”
A sensory room that Stantec Architecture recently completed for Cooper Health. Interior design by Tasso Karras. Photo credit: Stantec
Incorporating Cultural Competence into Processes
Another growing trend is cultural competence, which refers to the ability of an individual to understand and respect values and beliefs that differ across cultures, and to appropriately consider them when planning, implementing, and evaluating processes such as environmental designs.
Parker said that one of the biggest things he’s learned from working on his design projects is understanding his own bias. He’s currently working on designing a generational trauma and addiction treatment facility in the Arctic for an Inuit community. Their approach is to bring the entire family into inpatient care to address generational trauma.
“Another program we have is fetal alcohol syndrome. That’s a very interesting dynamic because if a child has a developmental disorder, then you may have a mother dealing with addiction. So, you don’t treat them in isolation because the relationship is what really will help the family get through a very difficult time,” Parker said. “A lifestyle choice influences the life and development of a child who may have developmental disorders. So, it’s important to contend with that holistically and from a view of kinship.”
This approach is something that carries over to designing spaces for people with autism, who often face unique and different cultural biases and obstacles. “Cultural competency is something I’ve been learning more and more in the work I do, because that process and the culture will eat policy every day,” Parker said. “Using and leveraging that cultural competency to really inform your designs and not really follow a one-size-fits-all approach is important.”
