Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurological disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication with stereotyped and repetitive behaviours. Due to their different perceptions of the environment, designing a suitable space as a rehabilitation centre that causes place attachment is an important issue for them. The term ‘attachment to a place’ indicates the emotional impact of a place to which people are emotionally and culturally attracted. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that increase attachment to the location of autistic children in outdoor rehabilitation centres. In this study, which was conducted by secondary and primary methods, 200 parents of autistic children were surveyed using a questionnaire made by the researcher. After identifying the factors by performing heuristic factor analysis, the agents were named. Thus, the first factor is determined as the spatial perception caused by sight, the second factor as the use of the sense of smell, the third factor as the use of the sense of taste, the fourth factor as the stimulation and touch pleasure and the fifth factor as the use of the sense of hearing. According to the research findings, it could be suggested that the most important factor in place attachment in these children is the spatial perception factor resulting from the visual activity, which covers 14.30% of the total score of place attachment.

Keywords

Autism, Open space, Rehabilitation centre, Architecture, Attachment to place

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References

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