Titles
T-Z
The Image of Public Spaces Through Children's PerspectiveThe Impact of Partial Sleep Deprivation on the Relationship ...The importance of situated activity analysis for the empower...The Legacy of Italian Psychiatry as a Lever for Innovating t...The Legacy of the Charter of ViennaThe Productive House and Suburban Entrepreneurialism: Rethi...The spatial accessibility of an experimental integrated heal...The Walking Fringe - Mobility in the Context of Peri-urban S...This is London: Analysing the Visual Techniques of the ‘Pr...Through The ‘Gaze’ Of the Child: Re-Imagining Florida an...Toward Smart Transportation: Doha as a Case StudyTracing Emergent Spaces for Making the City More Liveable: t...Transforming a highway overpass into a park: The Cheonggyech...Transit-Oriented Developments Towards a Livable CityUnderstanding the Role Human-Environmental relations Play in...Unpacking the perceived scarcity of Town Planners in South A...Urban Livability, Well Being, and Identity: Exploring the Im...Urban Mending – Spatial Strategies For Realising The Socia...Urban Self-Awareness: Applying the Principles of the Metabol...Urban villages in Shenzhen: the meaning of being neglectedVertical Urban gardensWalkability Assessment of Magallanes and Spolarium Street in...Walkability in Planning Proximity: a Critical Review of the ...Welcome and IntroductionWhat Is a Farmers' Market? Exploring the Meanings and Roles ...What's Our Narrative on Liveable Cities? Whatever Happened to Suburbanism: Productive Landscape Prese...When Time is not of the Essence: Slowness and Certainty Beyo...Wild Ways - Mixed-methods Research to Understand Urban-rewil...Willingness to Accept Densification and Urban Renewal Proced...Zero Carbon Precinct – Designing the Protocols, Overrun an...
Presenters
Schedule

VIRTUAL: Livable Cities – New York

A Conference on Issues Affecting Life in Cities
Neurodiversity and Design: How Can Design Benefit Neurodiverse Individuals with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)?
A. Harris
8:00 am - 9:30 am

Abstract

Despite accommodations made, there have been significant processes made by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities act of 1990), Neurodiverse individuals are still excluded in public spaces. Neurodivergent individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a growing percentage of the population in the United States. The need for public spaces to accommodate young adults and adults with ASD is really needed, particularly in District of Columbia’s public museums that will continue to attract millions of visitors every year. Accommodations for all individuals, including those with neurodivergent conditions are required by federal law, and more importantly, to not exclude individuals with ASD from experiencing these culturally significant exhibits that contribute to the quality of livability and life. Using a Value-Inclusive Design framework, this study proposes how space can be provided in museums that accommodate perception and sensory challenges. Design components will be discovered in each museum visited as a guide to become more knowledgeable about museum spaces and exhibits that may need to be adjusted to benefit ASD and other neurodivergent individuals. Along with design components addressed in two museum precedents for accommodating neurodivergent individuals, a survey of museum director perspectives and documentation of circulation patterns and key public exhibit space are planned to assess lighting, acoustics, material textures, and spatial factors in four DC museums. With this information, a set of criteria will guide the design of a new prototypical space that can assist museums in accommodating ASD individuals, thus promoting social inclusion and cultural enjoyment for all visitors.

Biography

I am currently enrolled as a Graduate student and working towards a Master’s degree in Architecture at The University of The District of Columbia. Before attending UDC, I received my Associate’s degree in Fine Arts at Montgomery College. After graduating, I took a year off and went back to pursue Architecture. I am extremely passionate about architecture and design and have been for most of my life.