SpaceCognition and Wayfinding in People with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The fundamental purpose of the built environment is to support people and the activities they engage in while using a space. To design compatible environments for people with autism, designers need to understand the behavioral characteristics of this population. Individuals with Autism have differentiated sensory sensitivities and cognitive awareness. The challenges they experience in processing sensory information frequently results in non-productive behaviors that can be alleviated through design. Individuals navigate environments through the use of their perceptions, cognitive maps, or language. The physical environment can be baffling for all people and difficult to read and understand regardless of one’s abilities. The multitude of information can be identifiable by the engagement of the senses. Researchers found that view and process information as a whole for autistics is difficult due to Weak Central Coherence (WCC), which can cause difficulties in navigating, and Enhanced Perceptual Functioning (EPF) model explains their local level processing. In this study, we have reviewed the Autistics characteristics and their perception of the space surrounding elements of the built environment to illuminate the importance of wayfinding codes in the surrounded environment.

Keywords:

Autism , Autistics , Wayfinding , Cognitive Theories , Architecture for Autistics