Educational building facilities for children with autism in Malaysia

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a general term used for a group of people who suffer from complex disorders of neural development. Individual with autism face the problem of development disability where it significantly affects their communication, social interaction as well as behaviour. Besides that, autism also associated with learning ability where it depends on their severity. In response to a growing number of children with autism, the action should be taken to address the needs and problems of these individuals. Therefore, it is essential to provide a conducive environment to enhance their performance especially in terms of learning. This paper unveils the theoretical framework of the study which incorporates existing policies and initiatives regarding to building facilities in Malaysia as well as variables in order to enhance learning environment of children with autism within the context of educational facilities. A qualitative research method has been applied to achieve the objectives of this research. Preliminary findings were gathered through semi-structured interviews with teachers that deal with children with autism. The result indicates that building construction and environmental services have a great influence on children with autism especially in learning.