Contextual design guidelines of a Sensory Garden for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh's number of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rises daily. Evidence shows that issues in sensory integration have a significant impact on the behavior of a child with ASD. Due to sensory integration, children with ASD face difficulties detecting, comprehending, and organizing sensory information from the body and surrounding environment, resulting in hyper and hypo-sensitive reactions. This paper aims to generate guidelines for designing a sensory garden to help sensory integration for children with ASD in Bangladesh to lessen their struggles. First, the authors reviewed the literature on children's behavior with ASD, their problems, and how a sensory garden can help them reduce their problems. Then, they conducted informal interviews with two therapists who work with autistic children daily and 12 caregivers from four organizations to gain insight into the most significant physical impediments children with ASD face in Bangladesh. These interviews helped to generate a checklist for evaluating case studies. Then, two case studies are done on foreign sensory gardens to understand the landscape architects' considerations in creating a multisensory garden. Finally, the authors provide recommendations for designing a sensory garden for children with ASD using qualitative analysis to meet their unique needs and improve their daily lives.