Horticultural therapy gardens for adults with autism – guidelines for designing

Abstract

Designing spaces for adults with autism requires the knowledge of the specific nature of the disorder not only by gathering knowledge about it but also through active participation in the process of treatment charges who often have difficulty with verbalizating their needs. Close co-operation with the therapists is also important. This fact is presented by the authors of the quoted publications and it was also confirmed in the process of developing the concept of spatial management around one of the centers. The analyses concluded that garden spaces should be created to get autistic adults involved in social interactions, but they should be very individually designed to givethe choice and possibility to decide how to spend free time. It is also important to prepare the therapy space for ergo therapy, sensory therapy and active therapy. The space composition should be characterized by uniformity, repeatability and predictability, which means easy and very simple form to feel safe. The specific needs of autistic adults in many cases impose design solutions where the form, function and content are equivalent. The analyzed material also shows that there is no universal method of designing space for autistic people, there are only guidelines because each case requiresan individual approach.