Author(s): Lindsay Harkema
How can designers engage neurodivergent perspectives to create built environments that support human neurodiversity? Which collaborative tools and methods work best in neuroinclusive co-design processes? Multidisciplinary research is advancing societal awareness and understanding of human neurodiversity, despite political fearmongering at the federal level spreading harmful misinformation aimed to alienate neurodivergent communities. Certainly, political fearmongering should not eclipse disciplinary pursuits of justice in academic discourse and design practice. Progress towards equitable built futures requires listening to marginalized voices and holding space for various modes of self- and systems advocacy for the universal human right to equally access the physical environment.¹ The concept of neurodiversity frames human cognitive differences as normal variations in the population and focuses on the multiplicity of strengths and perspectives it creates. An estimated 1 in 5 people are neurodivergent and research shows that environmental characteristics significantly impact their lived experiences, yet design frameworks engaging neurodivergent knowledge are underdeveloped. Experts advocate for co-design methods that engage neurodivergent participants in creating neuroinclusive environments. Case studies for these participatory processes and their built outcomes are needed to show how they can be successfully implemented. As community-engagement and collaborative processes become increasingly common in architecture practice and education, ensuring equity and meaningful benefit for everyone involved is important to avoid transactional exchanges and diminishing returns. This essay explores co-design practices that elicit built outcomes shaped by the lived experiences and creative capacity of neurodivergent individuals and designers involved. A review of contemporary research and design frameworks for neuroinclusive environments offers principles that can strengthen co-creative processes and their spatial outcomes. Two case studies of recent, built projects by collaborative design teams in partnership with self-advocate groups and organizations that support neurodivergent populations demonstrate how those frameworks can be successful in practice. These examples test engagement methods and design applications aimed to establish the agency and co-authorship of neurodivergent individuals in the design of neuroinclusive environments.
Volume Editors
Reed Kroloff & Francisco J. RodrÃguez-Suárez
ISBN
978-1-944214-52-4