Neurodiversity Symposium: Building Community & Rethinking the Built Environment
Neurodiveristy: Building Community and Rethinking the Built Environment is an online, 4-day, cross-disciplinary symposium of critical interactions addressing all-inclusive ways for inhabiting and perceiving our environments.
Scroll down to view videos from each day and download the event program (PDF).
The event aims to stimulate dialogue amongst designers, medical field experts and people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their caregivers in regard to the inclusivity of our current environments and with particular focus on designing for neurodiverse individuals and those with ASD.
Sean Ahlquist // Severino Alfonso // Christopher Banks // Jaime Bassman // Hansel Bauman // Caroline Borgia // Seb Choe // Jennifer Cook O’Toole // Erica Daniels // Brian Foti // Eron Friedlander // Brooke Goodspeed // Adam Harris // Lauren S. Henry // Stephen K. Klasko // Barbara Klinkhammer // Alex LePape // Amy McCann // Joseph P. McCleery // Bruce Meyer // Magda Mostafa // Itai Palti // Wendy Ross // Joel Sanders // Roseann Schaaf // Stephen Mark Shore // Lonnie Smith // Gregory Tino // Sabra Townsend // Loukia Tsafoulia // Mark L. Tykocinski // Rachel Updegrove // Verona Carpenter Architects
Organized by:
- Severino Alfonso and Loukia Tsafoulia, Synesthetic Research and Design Lab, College of Architecture and the Built Environment, Thomas Jefferson University
- Dr. Wendy Ross, Center for Autism and Neurodiversity, Jefferson Health, Home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College
Note: This event occured in the past. Find more information on an upcoming Neurodiversity Symposium here.
Day 1 Part 1 // Neurodiversity: Foundation I
Remarks
Mark Tykocinski
Building a Foundation for Autism
Wendy J. Ross
4 A’s of Autism: Awareness to Acceptance to Appreciation to Action as a Pathway to Fulfilling and Productive Lives
Stephen Mark Shore
Dialectical Design Thinking. Towards Space Inclusivity
Severino Alfonso & Loukia Tsafoulia
The Other, Binary Thinking, A True Spectrum: My Autism Diagnosis Story
Rachel Updegrove
In Dialogue
Day 1 Part 2 // Neurodiversity: Foundation II
How Autism Affects a 19-Year-Old College-Bound Autistic Student in Everyday Life
Caroline Borgia
Cannabinoid Based Medicine in the treatment of Symptoms Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Erica Daniels
GET Café: the journey from concept to cappuccino to competitive jobs
Brooke Goodspeed
I’m Not Disabled ... You Are
Lonnie Smith
Everyday Strategies: Autism and the Things it Teaches from A Family Perspective
Sabra Townsend
In Dialogue
Day 2 Part 1 // Design Frameworks: Evaluation Strategies I
Enabling Architecture: ASPECTSS and the Built Environment from an Autistic Lens
Magda Mostafa
Building Autism Accepting Environments
Adam Harris
In Dialogue
Day 2 Part 2 // Design Frameworks: Evaluation Strategies II
Reflecting on the ADA and Those Left Behind
Eron Friedlander
Body Politics: Social Equity and Public Space
Joel Sanders
In Dialogue
Day 2 Part 3 // Design Frameworks: Evaluation Strategies III
Direct In Vivo Evaluation of the Autism Accessibility of Architectural Spaces Through the Lived Experience of People on the Spectrum
Joseph McCleery
DEAFSPACE: Insights on the Power of Participatory Design and Community Building
Hansel Bauman
In Dialogue
Day 3 Part 1 // Sensory Ergodesign: The Human Body as a Catalyst I
Creating Sensory Friendly Spaces: Tips from an Occupational Therapist
Jamie Bassman
The Orchid, the Dandelion and the Slide: Exploring autism and architecture’s need for sensorial agency
Sean Ahlquist
In Dialogue
Day 3 Part 2 // Sensory Ergodesign: The Human Body as a Catalyst II
Through Autistic Eyes
Brian Foti, Alex Le Pape & Gregory Tino
The Person-Space Dialogue: Towards a unified language
Itai Palti
In Dialogue
Day 3 Part 3 // Sensory Ergodesign: The Human Body as a Catalyst III
Launch Pad: Design to Empower Everyday Superheroes
Jennifer Cook O’Toole
Joyful not Painful: Designing for All Learners
Verona Carpenter Architects, Jennifer Carpenter & Irina Verona
In Dialogue
Day 4 Part 1 // Inclusive Futures I
Remarks
Stephen K. Klasko
Remarks
Barbara Klinkhammer
Building Inclusivity into Everyday Life
Christopher Banks
President and Parent: Neurodiversity is always on my mind
Bruce A. Meyer
In Dialogue
Day 4 Part 2 // Inclusive Futures II
What’s Next? Building Independence in the Home, on the Job, and on the Go!
Amy McCann
Round-Table Discussion: Future and Conclusions
Discussion with the event speakers moderated by Severino Alfonso, Wendy Ross & Loukia Tsafoulia.
+ Seb Choe, Lauren S. Henry, Roseann Schaaf.