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Sensory Garden and Educational Facilities for children with Autism and Cerebral Palsy
@ Sanjay Centre for Special Education, Goa
Type
Professional Project for The Blank Slate
Role
Project Head
User Research
Design Development
Fundraising
Team
Ar. Bina Bhatia
Ar. Anshika Srivastava
Ar. Sagarika Nambiar
Ar. Hiranya Ganatra
Tools
AutoCAD, Revit, Adobe Indesign, Photoshop, Google SketchUp
Duration
1 yr
About the Project
What is a sensory garden?
A Sensory Garden is a space for sensorial stimulation, physical and psychological development. Exposure to an assortment of colours, textures, smells, sounds, along with the physical development areas like a jungle gym, aid in honing motor skills in children, along with social and emotional development.
Our Role
This project was an exercise in inclusivity and sensory integration in design. The end-users were students with Autism, Cerebral Palsy and learning disabilities. The environment the users occupy can be used to ameliorate the difficulties they face, and I kept this in mind by creating a holistic design scheme that makes learning easy.
Understanding the User - Contextual Research
Identifying the Users
Survey With Primary Caregivers and Teachers
For Parents
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What calms the child down?
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Is there particular activity / material / colour / texture / sound / movement / light which makes your child happy?
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What activities does your child face challenges in?
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How does your child interact with birds / butterflies, animals and greens?
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What is the preferred method of learning for your child?
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What is the most challenging Academic Section faced by your child?
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How does your child study at home? What are the aids they need? How much do you need to be involved?
For Teachers
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What kind of natural elements can help in the positive development of children?
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How do you currently conduct 'grounding' exercises?
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How do children react to therapy or teaching outdoors?
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What is the preferred method of teaching acquired for the children, which works best?
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What personal strategies used by you have proved to be effective with the children?
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What shortcomings are experienced on a daily basis which can be solved by us? (For eg. Unavailability of a space required to carry out a particular activity.
Key Insights from interviews
The results were grouped along four axes - the results are either suggestions, challenges, or information about our end user.
Design Concept
Translating the results into Project Brief
The survey results helped derieve programs for the design scheme. The programs have been categorized according to the skill they develop.
Design Language
Spaces for Pause
Meandering Pathways
Barrier-free Movement
Sensory Integration
Design Program
Courtyard Sensory Garden
Existing School
Existing School
Existing School
External Periphery Garden
External Periphery Garden
Site Plan
Periphery Sensory Garden
Explore the Space
Entrance Area
The Entrance has a handicraft store and bakery, which sells the students’ creations. The kitchen is a vocational space for children to learn baking
Mock Facades
The mock facades help with social skills like conversations, purchasing, selling, visiting a bank, etc.
Therapy Area
The psychology area is a calming zone with therapy pods for students during overstimulation.
Entrance Area
The Entrance has a handicraft store and bakery, which sells the students’ creations. The kitchen is a vocational space for children to learn baking
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Courtyard Sensory Garden
Explore the Space
Life-Sized Building Blocks
Students are encouraged to build and interact with the mazes teachers build to improve wayfinding
Math Zone
The visual-spatial style of teaching Mathematics with multimedia aids eases up learning.
Calm-Down Pods and Swing Set
Wheel-chair friendly swing along with calm-down pods
Life-Sized Building Blocks
Students are encouraged to build and interact with the mazes teachers build to improve wayfinding
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Fundraising Media
During the pandemic, the project lost it's main benefactor. To raise funds, I strategized fundraising, which involved creation of this video. The video is aimed at parents, teachers and local communities in Goa that would be interested in contributing to the welfare of the school.
I've followed a 'Pixar Story' approach in creating the storyline of this video.
Key Takeways
In a leadership role for this project, I was responsible for co-ordinating aspect of this project in a new city. The project taught me the value of empathy in making design descisions. When dealing with neurodivergence, there is a low margin of error, so one must get to know the user as much as possible.
Apart from that, I learn about fundraising and how crowdfunding works. It was a challenge to get people to care about your cause, especially when it doesn't affect their active lives.
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