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7328 Strategies for Home and School Environments [CRC Session]

Thursday, July 24, 2014: 1:00 PM-2:15 PM

207 (Indiana Convention Center)

This session will provide information on a variety of simple design strategies for both home and school environments for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that can be applied to help parents, caretakers and teachers create environments that reduce conflict and encourage a more successful living and learning situation. There are a variety of design strategies for both home and school environments for children on the Autism spectrum that can be applied to help parents, caretakers and teachers create environments that reduce conflict and encourage more peaceful living and learning settings.

In this session, parents, caretakers and teachers will learn a variety of design strategies for home and school based environments.

Home Based

Whether your house is new or old, there are easy design applications and strategies available to integrate into your home environment to reduce conflict for children on the Autism spectrum and their cohabitation with you and their siblings. Explore new “out of the box” rules that you can employ to control passive-aggressive behaviors, manage hoarding, and minimize inappropriate decisions. Parents, caretakers and teachers will gain a greater understanding of the simple solutions and non-conventional rules that work to support a peaceful home life.

School Based

There are several design strategies that can be implemented into K-12 settings that aid children with special needs to be more successful during their learning years. While there are design guidelines required by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) such as ramps, handicapped-accessible bathrooms, and stair railing extensions, there are other non-regulated improvements that greatly increase the ability for children with special needs to learn more successfully. They are broken down into the following areas: (1) personal and social space (2) distraction inhibitors (3) durability of materials (4) sensory rooms (5) acoustics and other auditory issues (6) colors, patterns, and tactile issues (7) outdoor spaces, security, and independence issues (8) technology and multimedia applications. Further, there are ways to implement design strategies into the school environment to reinforce long term life skills.

Learning Objectives:

Identify design strategies for both home and school environments for children on the Autism spectrum that can be applied to help parents, caretakers and teachers improve current environments or impact new environments to be built.
Design and implement simple “out of the box” rules that can by employed to control passive-aggressive behaviors, manage hoarding, and minimize inappropriate decisions. Parents, caretakers and teachers will be able to better apply the simple solutions and non-conventional rules that work to support a peaceful home life.

Content Area: Behavior Issues and Supports

Presenter:

Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED, Certified Autism Specialist
Parent, Principal Architect and Owner
Purple Cherry Architects / Purposeful Architecture

Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED AP is a leader in the design of environments for children and adults with special needs. As a Special Needs Architect, Ms. Cherry creates spaces nationally that foster thoughtful living and learning environments and inspire creativity, individuality and independence.

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