Neuro-Inclusive Spaces: Sensory-Responsive Environments

Abstract

This qualitative thesis study explored perceived relationships between outdoor built environments and sensory sensitivities in neurodiverse user groups, focusing on autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. Thirty-one participants with lived experience in and with these focal groups engaged in semi-structured interviews. Through the thematic analysis of their narratives, the study uncovered patterns that highlighted perceived relationships between designed landscapes and sensory sensitivities in neurodivergent individuals, encompassing both heightened sensitivity (hypersensitivity) and reduced sensitivity (hyposensitivity). These are evident in emergent themes covering individual and personal factors, sensory affordances, the benefits of outdoor environments, ambient environmental factors, materiality, spatial design, navigating environments, pedestrian-centric transportation, sensorimotor movement, safety, refuge, human settlement types, social environments, and accessibility plus inclusion, with subthematic patterns falling within these larger thematic categories.

The study revealed significant sensory barriers faced by neurodiverse user groups tied to design shortcomings, like noise pollution, artificial lighting, vehicle-centric transportation systems, inadequate wayfinding, limited sensory refuges in overstimulating environments, and a lack of accessible places for all ages, among others. Qualitative insights also pointed to promising design interventions, including biophilic design, sensory refuges, multi-generational sensorimotor engagement, improved wayfinding, and the availability of diverse sensory opportunities for those with distinct sensory needs. The study emphasized fostering inclusion through the diversification of spaces themselves — that designed landscapes should mirror the diversity of the communities they serve — moving away from homogeneity.

The study findings emphasized the necessity of carefully crafting inherently multi-sensory landscapes by considering the distinctive sensory requirements of neurodiverse user groups, a concept reflected in the development of the Sensory-Responsive Environments (SRE) framework as part of this study. The SRE framework — a design lens that centers the neurodiverse community — integrates three key concepts: Sensory Design From the Margins (adapted from DFM; Rigot 2022), sensory-zoning strategies, and the incorporation of nature-based interventions. While illuminating the call for enhancing neuro-inclusion within the design of outdoor environments, it is acknowledged that there is much more to learn, explore, and expand upon in this emerging field.