Autistic friendly school ASD Incorporation in Mainstream Schools

Abstract

The following thesis is an exploration of how K-12 schools within the context of mainstream education, which in this case follow CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) curriculum, manifests itself spatially in terms of architecture to incorporate students with ASD. The thesis is divided into 2 parts, first focusing on the research on strategies to make schools more inclusive of students with ASD through literature study, literature case-studies and live case-studies. Literature study is used to lay down considerations which could help in designing places for people with ASD and the use of such consideration has been seen through literature and live case-studies. The research part studies CBSE curriculum and how architecture can help students with ASD. It also looks for special arrangements in mainstream schools for students with ASD through case-studies. The ASD friendly school is delineated due to the CBSE guidelines to include students with 18 different disabilities into mainstream schools out of which ASD is having the highest prevalence. 1 in every 125 children between 3-6 years of age and 1 in every 60 children between 6-9 years of age. The first part talks about the detailed study of the chosen site along with a detailed area program created for the project. In design transition there is conceptual underpinning of the project and design evolution from concept to final product.