Healthcare spaces for autism spectrum disorder - removing barriers for mental disability

Abstract

Mental impairments diagnoses are increasing, due to changes in incidence and prevalence and increased changes in diagnostic methods. Among them, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is now diagnosed in one child on fifty- nine during scholar and pre-scholar age: this will make them frequently visitors of healthcare and therapeutic structures since childhood.Sensorial hypo- or hyper-activation is one of the principal features that can affect the wellbeing of people with ASD, causing discomfort. Sounds, lights, colours, smells, shapes and surfaces should be carefully chosen in order to design as much as possible an “Autism-friendly space”, that could be also a healing space that helps handling sensorial stimuli inside stressful healthcare environments.At the moment, among literature there are just few contributions that analyse the impact of built environment on ASD users, and there are no insights about healthcare spaces. Despite these gaps, there are still no guidelines provided by institutions to set design standards and guide designers, architects or caregivers in the project phase.The goal of the research is to provide a specific evaluation tool for healthcare spaces and best practices formulation, validated in collaboration with stakeholders and ASD users through a co-design approach. These design strategies will be subsequently applied, improving two study-case environments, in order to compare the different outcomes on user's wellbeing and compliance.