Queer and Neurodivergent Identity 1

INCLUSIVE SPACES

CONTENTS

This dossier was researched and compiled on the unceded lands of the Boon Wurrung and Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin nation.

I recognise my place of privilege within settler colonial occupation, my role as a student within an institution that is partnered with facilitators of the Israeli apartheid and my place as an emerging practitioner within a discipline that often contributes to ongoing environmental destruction. Sovereignty was never ceded.

NAVIGATION

This dossier has been crafted for sensitive viewing.

You will be able to find wayfinding buttons on all pages with even numbers where you can access the contents, a space page to ‘tap out’ with no written or visual information to take some time, and a back page to resume where you left off.

The pages are warmly tinted to decrease contrast, while text remains black to create enough discernible distinction.

On Information dense pages, you can gravitate to a summary on the black panels.

Images with high saturation and dense visual content are linked externally for the option of colour viewing.

Headings in the contents are linked.

Italic terminology is linked in the glossary, just click to view, the back button will navigate you to your original page for an uncluttered flow.

Font size and type varies to create thematic consistancies and familiarity.

The dossier touches on aspects of queer history that may be triggering.

Please take your time and engage as you please.

IDENTITY is

Identity is the core of being, an interior hosting our unique biology, orientations, desires, obsessions and quirks.

Identity can be obstructed as we interact and synthesise with society,

and in the case of neurodivergences and queerness there is a presence of systematic and biological suppression when attempting to express identity.

INTERSECTIONAL

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Autism Spectrum Disorder effects

Our neurology can dictate these processes, amplifying, intercepting, dampening, or halting our experiences. Autism (ASD) is a condition that alters behaviours and perception, across a spectrum.

People with ASD may find difficulty in communicating and expressing, experience overwhelm to sensory stimuli or develop obsessive interests. ASD manifests differently in each person but is most prevalent in the ‘Assigned Male at Birth’ (AMAB) population.

Due to a bias in AMAB diagnoses there is a deficit in research and visibility regarding AWAB, Intersex, GNC, Non-Binary and Trans + diagnoses1.

developmental capacity and the nervous system.

It manifests on a spectrum of varying symptoms, from obsessions, communication difficulties or sensory underwhelm/overwhelm.

Autism is typically diagnosed in people assigned male at birth

(AMAB), making other gendered diagnosis less visible.

1 Shaw, Kelly A., Dedria McArthur, Michelle M. Hughes, Amanda V. Bakian, Li-Ching Lee, Sydney Pettygrove, and Matthew J. Maenner. 2021. “Progress and Disparities in Early Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 2002–2016.” Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,

Portrait of transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson, 1970, photographed by Fred W. McDarrah.

QUEER and QUEERNESS

Queer is often used as an umbrella term for the facets and nuances of LGBTIQ+ identities. Once considered derogatory it has been reclaimed by the LGBTIQ+ community as an act of defiance, the term has become charged with paralleled activism and celebrates the fluidity that defies the constraint of definition.

Queer folk, past and present have faced oppression - they are systematically isolated, subjugated, institutionalised and excluded.

Queerness is a culture with no ethnographic boundary, nor ablest or ageist design. It embodies inclusivity whilst upholding values of intersectional strength and connection.

Queerness perpetuates the values of its historical movements, challenging institutionalised violence1, and protesting centuries of oppressed bodies with decadent performance of identity. Queerness is a celebration of plurality.

Queer is often used as an umbrella term for people who identify within the LGBTIQ+ community.

Queer embodies indiscriminate intersectionality to counter histories of oppression and suppression of identities.

1 Baumann, Jason, and Edmund White. 2019. The Stonewall Reader. [New York, NY]: Penguin Books.

Queer space typically holds aesthetic qualities that reflect symbolism, The LGBTIQ+ flag, a rainbow, represents difference and diversity, similarly the ASD flag (also a rainbow) uses this motif to reflect the spectrum of experience.

The Paladium NYC, Timothy Hursley

Click image for colour

RedBull Music

Presents: ATL is Burning, 2019

Queer space embodies this through assemblage of colour and reflection, as depicted in historic queer venues. Within the LGBTIQ+ community are equally vibrant cultures of Ballroom and Drag, despite historically being an underground movement. Loud and bodacious performances often with vocally affirming audiences - in colourful and reflective venuesare likely overstimulating for folks with ASD.

EXPERIENCE in PILLARS

Consider the pillars of our interior and exterior identity, Connection, Perception, Sensation and Expression

The processes we encounter as we grapple with our external moderation of self.

Fig 1. Identity permeates into the exterior word and the pillars of expression translate the ephemera of our inner working. However, the neurology of a person with ASD often overwhelms this process and obstruct action.

In certain contexts, there is an obstruction, as elevated perception and sensitivity encroach on the steams of communication, adjacent is the suppression of connectivity and expression.1

People with ASD may experience times of heightened perception caused by certain sensations.

Sensory Hypersensitivity is a cerebral reaction that can impact the way we express and communicate.

1 Jones, Sandra C., Muhammad Akram, Chloe S. Gordon, Nicole Murphy, and Fiona Sharkie. 2021. “Autism in Australia: Community Knowledge and Autistic People’s Experiences.” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 51 (January).

Fig. 1

SITE VISIT

My first site visits were to stockists of L’Oréal to begin to map the alchemies between consumer and retailer. After viewing each allotment within the pharmacies I was struck by the typical ‘drug store’ merchandising.

I observed some of the retail frameworks that may contribute to exclusionary outcomes.

The products on self-replenishing shelves creating a visual density with 5 or 6 of each product in each section.

Stark gendered marketing towards cis women.

Excessive repetition of active discounts, in bright high contrast colour creating information density.

Reflective surfaces, in glass and acrylic.

Click image for colour

Chemist Warehouse, South Yarra

VISUAL ARTICULATION

I ‘Exploded’ the image into its crucial fragments to begin to unpack what is necessary and what is excess. When designing for people with sensory sensitivities it is important to minimise, to create visual conciseness, moments of spatial void and articulation.

Despite the space closely reflecting some elements of the ‘queer aesthetic’, it is important to distinguish the ways queer spaces can exist.

When designing for this particular intersectionality there is a need to deconstruct what is represented in current formatting and interrogate each decision.

Based on my research on ASD and observations I can assume that the current retail experience would overwhelm the senses and invoke uncomfortable emotional and physiological symptoms.

Based on key findings I have identified Representation and Stimulation as critical pillars of design resolution which I have explored in the following matrices

PROPOSED RESOLUTION

REPRESENTATION

PROPOSED RESOLUTION

SENSATION and TEXTURE: MADE

Materials play an important role in the sensory experience, they can invoke familiarity or comfort and conversely, disturb.

Material is particularly nuanced when explored in relation of Neurodiversity, it is immensely subjective and experiential.

I decided to experiment by creating a more perceivable indication of sensory qualities in a material library.

Here I have used a stamping method to imprint details of coarseness and texture. There are multiple facets of materiality that build perception, I have identified texture and reflection as two elements pertinent to ASD.

Proprioception

Pine Timber

Laminate Veneer Lumber (LVL)

Click image for colour

ROUTINE And PROGRAM

The intersections between Queerness and ASD are multifaceted and nuanced, there is limitless subjectivity that is linked to temporalities and context which cannot be replicated. In order to explore these nuances within my own subjectivity I looked for precedents in Suzie Attiwill’s work with ABACUS1, a school for children with Autism on the Mornington Peninsula. There are limits to this dossier in that there are no tangible or appropriate methods to simulate complex spectrum disorders, despite a need to have understanding of these experiences in order to design for them.

I followed a framework from Suzie’s paper ‘Inter¬relational’ to begin to situate some of my findings. I started by interrogating my objects of routine, the materials, habits and moments which create the scaffolding of my day. It is through this structure we can begin to lend meaning to some of the divergencies of ASD. It is important to view a retail experience as a culmination of moving parts internally, through interiority and exteriority.

1 Attiwill, Suzie. 2019. “Abacus: Inter~Relational Diagrams.”

There is a span of intimate time that will unfold before any designed experience, in which a person may sooth through routine. People with ASD find consistency and predictability safe1, and through this exploration of routine we can understand associations that may exist broadly within human experience. By introducing cues from these personal moments, and taking material cues from safe spaces of structure, we can begin to design with more precision.

In saying this, there is no blanket methodology, eg. It wouldn’t be suitable to take design cues from the ‘home’ as this space is abstract in its meaning - home may not be a safe space nor have a consistent aesthetic across the population. I suggest by mirroring a process or routine through programmatic, consistencies and wayfinding in a retail space, we can create a safe space for people with ASD.

1 Adam, Jos J, Bernhard Hommel, and Carlo Umiltà. 2003. “Preparing for Perception and Action (I): The Role of Grouping in the Response-Cuing Paradigm.” Cognitive Psychology 46 (3)

Rubber band

Routine is a place of familiarity and safety – embodied in designed space it can create consistency and predictability that can calm the nervous system.

QUEER SPACE IS IMMATERIAL

CASE STUDY

South City Beach Kiosk is an example of public space that becomes Queer space through occupation. Designed for public amenity and a place that embodies function and binaries – it is not typically or aesthetically Queer.

The Kiosk through community and association has absorbed an un-designed purpose, as a place for congregation. The space has become superimposed with meaning and history, caried through bodies and experience.

It is a precinct of immaterial Queerness.

The brutalist, monotonous cement form is a departure from queer spaces I have explored previously in this research but reinforces the notion that queer space is not materially distinct but is attributed to its occupation.

Not all spaces designed for queer people are reformations of the pride flag, or the cultures that operate within queerness.

History affirms it has always been about people, indiscriminately.

The proof is in this history, queer spaces have not always been accessible or designed, there are spaces that mirror the beach kiosk globally that intangibly embody places of refuge.

South City Beach Kiosk, Forbes & Fitzhardinge Architects, Perth, WA

SYNTHESIS

After in depth research into both Queerness and Neurodiversity there are many commonalities we can begin to enlarge, mend and celebrate.

There is a need for intersectional representation.

Analysis suggests 15-35% of people with ASD identify within the LGBTIQ+ communitywith disproportionately high representation against the 4.5% of the general population who identify as LGBTIQ+1. There is a biological tether between these intersectionality’s which is still being grappled with scientifically, but can become tangible in designed space.

Before I go into too much depth I would like to acknowledge some of the other considerations I would like to explore adjacently. Queerness and Queer rights activism is deeply connected to equal rights within BIPOC populations, who have paved the way for the progress we have seen to date.

To briefly touch on immense western histories of colonisation, there is a need for built space to invert dominant power structures and advocate for intersectional rights and accessibility.

Within the broader context of the Anthropocene there is a need to acknowledge these truths - Comprising less than 5% of the world’s population, First Nations people protect 80% of global biodiversity2– this is to say sustainable design reinforces the values of Queer and BIPOC population’s as well as the convergent and substantial representation of Neurodivergent folk within Queerness.

2 Gorodetsky, Gleb. 2018. “Indigenous Peoples Defend Earth’s Biodiversity—but They’re in Danger.” National Geographic

1 George, R., and M.A. Stokes. 2017. “Sexual Orientation in Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Autism Research 11 : 133–41.

Solidification these intersectional interests into space can be achieved by basic observation of queer spaces.

I recently attended an exhibition called Queer Love which is curated based on the thread of queerness, but to observe the opening night was to see intersectionality in action – it was diverse, considered and beautiful – the closing night of this exhibition was designated as a sensory friendly event.

It really is just about people and place, and the ways we operate with empathy.

CONCLUSION

From this initial research I can begin to visualise the way this intersectionality operates –when you engage in the day to day with these lenses of sensitive design you can begin to remedy.

The research I have engaged with has led me to other convergent ideas and identities, many of which have consistent strengths and challenges.

The built environment operates within power structures, as we operate within the built environment.

To move forward in this design research, it will be critical to understand how we can transcend oppressive systems and create equity for people who occupy these conditions with varying degrees of accessibility and privilege.

There are many aspects of designing for Queer and Neurodivergent populations that can be further explored.

Lived experience carries with it complex interactions, all of which can be investigated –however I have found significance in materiality, programmatics and UX.

To further develop this body of work, I intend on broadening my evaluation of these areas to hone the ways they intersect with the chosen demographic, practicing with innovative design empathy to create inclusive spaces.

Glosaary of terms

Autism Specturm Disorder - a neurodevelopmental condition of variable severity with lifelong effects that can be recognized from early childhood, chiefly characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behaviour.

AMAB and AFAB1 - Acronyms meaning “assigned female/male at birth” (also designated female/ male at birth or female/male assigned at birth). No one, whether cis or trans, gets to choose what sex they’re assigned at birth.

GNC1 - Gender non-conforming, a person who does not identify with prescribed gender.

Interoception - the collection of senses perceiving the internal state of the body

Intersex - Intersex people have innate sex characteristics that don’t fit medical and social norms for female or male bodies, and that create risks or experiences of stigma, discrimination and harm.

1 “Queer Undefined.” 2020. Queer Undefined. 2020. https://www.queerundefined. com/.

LGBTIQ+ Community1 - the collective of people who have identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or questioning.

Non-Binary1- is used to describe genders that do not fall into binary definitions of male or female.

Proprioception - perception or awareness of the position and movement of the body.

Routine - a sequence of actions regularly followed.

Sensory Hypersensitivty - extreme physical sensitivity to particular substances or conditions.

Transgender1 - Trans is an umbrella term that includes all identities within the gender identity spectrum, including (but not limited to) people who identify as transgender, transsexual, gender queer, gender fluid, non-binary, sistagirl, brotherboy, transman or transwoman.

Vestibular Sense - the movement, gravity and/or balance sense, allows us to move smoothly

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adam Nathaniel Furman, and Joshua Mardell. 2022. Queer Spaces : An Atlas of LGBTQIA+ Places and Stories. London: Riba Publishing.

Adam, Jos J, Bernhard Hommel, and Carlo Umiltà. 2003. “Preparing for Perception and Action (I): The Role of Grouping in the Response-Cuing Paradigm.” Cognitive Psychology 46 (3): 302–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0010-0285(02)00516-9.

Attiwill, Suzie. 2019. “Abacus: Inter~Relational Diagrams.”Baumann, Jason, and Edmund White. 2019. The Stonewall Reader. [New York, NY]: Penguin Books.

Bleeker, Maaike, Ayşe Güleç, Carmen Mörsch, and Eliza Steinbock. 2022. DNA #10: Re_Visioning Bodies. Spector Books.

George, R., and M.A. Stokes. 2017. “Sexual Orientation in Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Autism Research 11 (1): 133–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/ aur.1892.

Gorodetsky, Gleb. 2018. “Indigenous Peoples Defend Earth’s Biodiversity—but They’re in Danger.” National Geographic, November 17, 2018.

Jones, Sandra C., Muhammad Akram, Chloe S. Gordon, Nicole Murphy, and Fiona Sharkie. 2021. “Autism in Australia: Community Knowledge and Autistic People’s Experiences.” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 51 (January). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04819-3.

Mareis, Claudia, and Nina Paim. 2021. Design Struggles Intersecting Histories, Pedagogies, and Perspectives. Amsterdam Valiz.Nav Haq, and Pascal Gielen. 2020. The Aesthetics of Ambiguity. Understanding and Addressing Monoculture. Amsterdam: Valiz.

Pecora, Laura A., Gary B. Mesibov, and Mark A. Stokes. 2016. “Sexuality in High-Functioning Autism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 46 (11): 3519–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2892-4.

“Queer Undefined.” 2020. Queer Undefined. 2020. https://www.queerundefined.com/.

Shaw, Kelly A., Dedria McArthur, Michelle M. Hughes, Amanda V. Bakian, Li-Ching Lee, Sydney Pettygrove, and Matthew J. Maenner. 2021. “Progress and Disparities in Early Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 2002–2016.” Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, November. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2021.11.019.

The Lancet. 2017. “Advancing LGBTIQ Rights.” The Lancet 389 (10085): 2164. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(17)31539-8.