PowerPoint presentation “About autism-friendly design” online

November 10 and 11 2016, INservice Autism organized a symposium in Oost Malle, Belgium. Flip Schrameijer’s workshop is online here. What is the state of affairs of autism-friendly design? Examples of a supported living project and a school that are built in an autism-friendly way. How about the theoretical framework? What research into its effectiveness has been done? To what extent has the importance for the well-being of people on the spectrum been acknowledged? Not...

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7 myths about autism-friendly design

  1.  Autism-friendly design is all about the senses It is true that (almost) everyone on the autism spectrum has divergent sensory experiences. These experiences have to be taken into account in design and building. One should primarily think of noise, excessive sunlight, temperature or odor. However, only 18% of the recommendations on this website exclusively try to meet sensory issues. Other aspects of autism concern 15% of the recommendations; the remaining 67%...

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Introduction to autism-friendly design

After previously being a psychiatric nursing student and sociology graduate, I have been working as a researcher and book author on mental health issues ever since. This has included writing a book on designing buildings and homes for people with autism, published in 2013. Subsequently I started this website, ‘Architecture for Autism’, which teaches me something new every day: the more I learn, the more fascinating the subject becomes. Autism Autism is largely an...

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Autism-Friendly Design: A View on its Present and Future State

Contribution by Flip Schrameijer to the conference-book ‘Autism-friendly design’, held October 9th 2015 in London In her excellent 2011 review of the state of autism-friendly design, Maria Assirelli took her own involvement in it as point of departure; and with good reason since she recounted how, in 2005, she took a job at GA Architects, a firm in the vanguard of building for children on the spectrum. Founding partner of the firm, Christopher Beaver wrote the...

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Social integration of people on the spectrum: the promise of autism-friendly design

The other day Paul Whiteley discussed a few studies here on his great blog “Questioning answers” about participation of people on the spectrum in higher education and employment. A central finding is that more than three quarters of those who found a place in education and/or at a job don’t last. This is an extremely important issue of course since it’s at the heart of social integration of people on the spectrum. What is lacking in this discussion – I know...

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Avonte Oquendo: a tragic lesson in safety at school

Yesterday I saw a tweet of one of the people I follow with @autitecture about measures to be taken in New York City schools to prevent another tragedy such as the death of 14 year old Avonte Oquendo. In October 2013 this autistic boy slipped by the front security desk to do what he liked most: running. Probably he had spotted a nearby park to run to; on security camera’s he was seen running in that direction. Like many autistic children he might have been attracted by the...

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