Designing for Neurodiversity

Synopsis

We design our built environment and the places we inhabit to meet a series of technical standards, developed to accommodate diversity through built form and to provide spaces that support physical ability, motor, visual and auditory impairments.
In developing truly inclusive environments, we need to support the mind and the needs of people who experience sensory and neurological differences. Designing for the mind should be considered an enriching and integral part of the design process.

This presentation will investigate Neurodiversity and its complexity with unusual insights revealing some of the enhanced abilities and extraordinary skill sets of this group. How can design underpin Neurodiversity by creating inclusive spaces that support health and wellbeing in our community and as individuals?

Will we be choreographing environments to be sensorially and technologically responsive as well as adaptive to multiple neural and sensory landscapes. Could we benefit from such design tools as Hypo/Hyper Sensory Scales, Emotional Mapping, Sensory Plans, Proxemics and Sense Sensitive Design supported by Evidence Based Research. Where would these insights take us? What does good look like in tomorrow’s new world of design?