Literature Review

DESIGNING FOR AUTISM: AN ASPECTSS™ POST-OCCUPANCY EVALUATION OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS-----Magda Mostafa

Existing Problems

Suggestions

Escape spaces are too large, lighted during the day, too open (toward the classroom), and adjacent to exterior walls (noise from outside activities can exist) The end of a hallway being used as an escape space, with large spaces and high ceilings, there is reverberation and reverberation. And there are visual disturbances from the corridor. All of these can reinforce the child's anxiety

Improve the escape spaces: smaller escape spaces provided in classrooms. Select the quietest areas of the classroom to create spatial and visual separation from the classroom space. But remain the vision for supervisors to take case children in enscape space. The level of control of escape spaces should change gradually based on the skill level and age of the children to avoid dependence on their presence and the difficulty of transitioning to more neurotypical spaces, in other words, to avoid the "greenhouse effect. Spatially provide a third intermediate level of escape space opportunity for school-wide de-escalation; reduce the frequency of sensory overload while alleviating the need for school-wide escape.

Observation

The arrangement of furniture and their optimal use for the activities that take place in the classroom needs to be reevaluated. The use of the teacher's normal desk interferes with the concentration of the children in the teacher, and more storage space is needed for the teacher to place office supplies Alternative teacher desk configurations are used to make better use of available space. It is recommended that activity stations have a clear spatial territory that defines the activities to be performed at each station. This activity/space match should be as consistent as possible children before entering high stimulation areas. Add material changes and buffer bins to provide sensory transitions for children.

In general, there is no appropriate overload of transition spaces throughout the school, and spaces that require additional transitions include: drop-off to entry vestibule; entry vestibule to main hallway; playground to hallway; hallway to classroom; hallway to special space; and school to courtyard.

Entrance vestibules can take the form of lowered acoustical ceiling treatments. The car parking to entrance vestibule encloses the covered drop-off area with a low security fencing system that allows students to sit outside under supervision and wait to be picked up.

Corridors leading to classrooms, it is recommended that acoustical seating be provided at the entrance to each classroom/observation room unit with some setback space adjacent to the corridor. These pods will create a quiet oasis space that will allow students a time to adjust as they return to the classroom from a sensory stimulating experience level.

Corridors leading to specialist spaces that are required to provide perhaps the greatest sensory adjustment which are considered high stimulation areas.

School to courtyard, covered areas could be more clearly developed as transition areas with the introduction of seating and more enclosures.

The main sensory areas of the school are well organized and well defined.

These areas include: parking lot drop-off and pick-up (high stimulation); entrance hall/administration (low stimulation and transition); professional spaces (high stimulation); library/computers (low stimulation); classrooms (low stimulation); playground (high stimulation), and courtyard (possible future natural sensory transition space). There is little sensory ambiguity between these areas, although the transitions may be better managed, as noted above. There are no recommendations for the sensory zoning arrangement of the school other than in relation to other criteria such as transition spaces.

Specifying sturdy materials, protective measures, avoiding movable or hanging objects, and avoiding sharp edge are some examples of considerations that may reduce these risks.

The design of the building includes many positive spatial, material and operational features: adequate lighting, openness of spaces, avoidance of clutter, noise reduction, camera recording, neutral colors It is recommended that intercoms be installed on the exterior walls of the keycard entrances to the outdoor playground and courtyard spaces. If, for any reason, a teacher or staff member is locked out, they will have no way to re-enter the school. Also, if a child is injured, teachers may not be able to leave them to get help and need an immediate means to summon assistance.