Sensory Friendly Residential Spaces for Autistic Children in Dehradun

Abstract

The research paper focuses on bringing out the importance of designing and developing a sensory friendly space for children on the spectrum aged between 2–12 years. This will bring out the importance of early intervention as it helps for fast development of the children. A child spends most of his time at home and feels most comfortable there, thus providing a sensory friendly residential space, will help in developing their behavior and improving social interaction. Our research data will be extracted from internet studies of various features of sensory friendly spaces, surveys, interviews and discussion with the heads of various health centers and most importantly parents. The collected data will help us in analyzing and forming a design strategy in the best ways possible. The survey will show percentage of parents willing to incorporate these changes in their residential spaces and number of houses designed for kids with spectrum. The residential space will cover three distinct aspects that are Sensory, Environment and Social behavior. Three major activity zones that help them to acquire basic knowledge and balance themselves are Activity, Education and Learning zones. Sensory friendly spaces are mostly filled with activities that releases stress and anger and help kids relax themselves without harming anyone.