PROBLEMS!

here's the first part of the body which basically talks about existing problems....

Problems

Considering that the studies in show approximate prevalence of 0.6 to over 1 percent of identified individuals with an ASD in Asia alone, the lack of educational spaces is practically the main issue that these peoples face in Malaysia. Meaning, there aren’t any proper mainly educational spaces available for these kinds of disabilities and also, most of the existing spaces are often a basic daycare centre and they usually don’t provide any accurate education or essential knowledge, they usually function as a place that keep these kids busy and managed during the day while parents are gone for their daily jobs.

Another problem with the existing spaces are that they usually placed in residential or trading areas and they aren’t actually built to the intention that brings on so many problems on its own, one would be the lack of space. In these spaces usually there aren’t eongh spaces to have different rooms with different activities. For example the playground issue which is one of necessity areas in such places since playing and interacting with other kids acts a major part in solving the impaired social interaction issues on kids who suffer from ASD. These spaces are usually built in closed indoor areas with very little openings and also often placed on higher floors so it’s highly difficult to have a playground not to mention the danger it has towards kid’s safety.

Safety of the space is a large issue on its own for these kinds of centers, since most of these spaces are not tend to be child proof and kids friendly. The design of these spaces as mentioned before is for a whole different function so the staff and owners of learning centers have to come up with an adjustable safely plan and make the spaces child proof themselves, which in most of times they are not completely accurate and secure because these kind of safety plans are not planned for such important spaces and are usually normal house kits.

Studies also showed that 40% of children with an ASD do not talk at all. Another 25% to 30% of children with autism have some words at 12 to 18 months of age and then lose them. Others may speak, but not until later in childhood. And most of designers don’t take that in consideration while designing learning centers. The kids need to have some basic signs (such as bathroom sign or eating sign and etc,) in their reach so they can communicate easier with the teachers and helpers.

In my opinion, most of these problems with the spaces and design is often rise from the lack of information on such sensitive subjects. Mainly because of lack of recourses and information on newly found diseases designers don’t have enough knowledge and insight on what these kids really need so they end up doing what they’re familiar with. So the lack of awareness on the issues actually has a high effect on how the space is designed for these kids and usually the outcome is not only not satisfying but also very dangerous and impractical for the function. And frankly most of designers today are not as up to date as they should be and they usually stuck in their comfort zone and they don’t cooperate with new ideas and new issues. Mainly because they feel more comfortable with what they know and what is familiar since they have the so called rulebook or regulations on what they want to built. This is why the existing learning centers are either similar to daycares (kindergartens) or basic typical schools which in either cases is not very efficient.

Recent studies also have estimated that the lifetime cost to care for an individual with an ASD is $3.2 million. For instance: Individuals with an ASD had average medical expenditures that exceeded those without an ASD by $4,110–$6,200 per year. On average, medical expenditures for individuals with an ASD were 4.1–6.2 times greater than for those without an ASD. Differences in median expenditures ranged from $2,240 to $3,360 per year with median expenditures 8.4–9.5 times greater. To add up to these expenses, most of learning centers are usually private properties so they usually are established with private founders and the cost of facilitating the place and also the admission and tuition fees are sort of high. There’s also cost of transportation since there are only couple of learning centers for kids with ASDs and most of them are located in high class sort of neighborhoods such as Mont’ Kiara and Solaris.

And last but not least of problems is that considering that the median age of earliest ASD diagnosis is between 4.5 to 5.5 years, and for 51 to 91 percent of children with an ASD, developmental concerns had been recorded before three years of age, the earliest admission in the current learning centers is not before 5 to 6 years old; which in some cases it might even be too late for any practical neurological development. 

INTRODUCTION

sorry for not updating my blog for a while....here's my Introduction part...have in mind,it's still work in progress and in need of some changes..:)

Introduction

With a growing trend towards human based and purposed design today, most of researchers and designers are focusing on special groups or individuals. Designing for disable kids is an obvious example of that. However, when discussing this subject the first thing a designer comes up with is the design parameters for PHYSICALLY disabled people. That’s because it’s the stereotype of disabilities and also more familiar for ordinary people. Although even with this familiarity, physically disable people still get unnoticed trough out the design process.  For instance: the main issue that physically disabled people are facing today is the access issue, they don’t have enough available areas in society where there are many buildings that are not accessible for disabled public.

Another problem that disabled people are facing nowadays is the lack of awareness, which basically means there isn’t enough open acknowledgment. Usually, the circle of people who know about disabilities comes to the person who got the disease, the people who work with patients and of course the family and friends or basically anybody who has a close contact with these kinds of people. In other words if you don’t know anybody with a disability then you simply don’t know anything about it. Not to mention that mental and neurological disabilities often are the most severe cases in such situations.

Learning difficulties and neurological disabilities are usually put in the same category as mental disabilities. And even with that in mind there aren’t any proper spaces designed for their education. Normally these educational spaces for kids with learning disabilities are mistaken and misunderstood with just a normal daycare for them. Designers for these kids often forget that they need a space to actually function as a kind of school not just a place to manage the kids and get them through the day. In my opinion this is due to the fact that designers sometimes forget that these kids may not be able to have complete individual function in the society but with an accurate educational guidance they will be able to cope and survive. Another reason for such ignorance is that most of the designers don’t have an updated resource and knowledge of current diseases, while most of these diseases are newly discovered. AUTISM is a very common instance in that area.

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These sign all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. It is one of the three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met.

Autism has a strong genetic basis, although the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear whether ASD is explained more by rare mutations, or by rare combinations of common genetic variants. In rare cases, autism is strongly associated with agents that cause birth defects. Controversies surround other proposed environmental causes, such as heavy metals, pesticides or childhood vaccines. The vaccine hypotheses are biologically implausible and lack convincing scientific evidence. Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child's life. The signs usually develop gradually, but some autistic children first develop more normally and then regress. Although early behavioral or cognitive intervention can help autistic children gain self-care, social, and communication skills, there is no known cure.

The Learning Center visit

It was a very emotional and touching visit....I got to talk to couple of teacher I sat trough couple of classes and I watched the kids learning and interacting with each other....

here are some brief notes from my visit to this autistic learning center:

·         Usually students should be on time, if they’re late and the activities have already started they get frustrated.

·         Kids in the same centre are divided in 3 groups. Early ages (5 years old) which are the most sever ones and hard to manage and control. Then kids between the ages of 6~7 to 10 years old and at last kids between the ages of 10 to 18 years old.

·         Classes are usually contained 5 people or less.

·         The space is very calm and quite at all the time.

·         Most walls are white colored with the splashes of sharp colors. The classes are also known by their colors.

·         Signage is an important thing since the kids have verbal issues. Like: bathroom sign is in reach of kids so they point at it whenever they need to go.

·         The verbal issue that most kids bring them the need to have a verbal trainer and therapist.

·         In private classes in where the most of education takes place. Usually they teach them with puzzles and traces. For example: if they want to teach them the Numbers, first the kid makes a puzzle of that number then on another paper kid trace the numbers and then they try to write it on their own.

·         There’s also treating and gifting involve. Whenever the kids do something right they get a star or a treat. Even for small accomplishments.

·         The most of controlling is via singing a song or making noises so that they get the kid’s attention.

·         Kids usually making noises or humming.

·         Unlike normal schools for different subjects kids don’t change the classroom, usually they’re in the same classroom and the teachers change. This is due to the fact that kids are already familiar with the space and they don’t need to explore it.

What is Autism ?????

"...Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met.

Autism has a strong genetic basis, although the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear whether ASD is explained more by rare mutations, or by rare combinations of common genetic variants.In rare cases, autism is strongly associated with agents that cause birth defects. Controversies surround other proposed environmental causes, such as heavy metals, pesticides or childhood vaccines. The vaccine hypotheses are biologically implausible and lack convincing scientific evidence. Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child's life.The signs usually develop gradually, but some autistic children first develop more normally and then regress. Although early behavioral or cognitive intervention can help autistic children gain self-care, social, and communication skills, there is no known cure..."

What is this all about????

Well…Here’s the story…

After a personal experience this past summer I’ve decided to do something productive with my final year project and dissertation....so, that’s why I chose to do my dissertation all about education and more importantly education for kids with learning disability…because I feel like they’re always left out and nobody knows about them….my dissertation topic is about how to design an educational space for AUTISTIC kids….basically want I want to talk about  is problems they’re facing and suggesting solution based on my research…so ..Here it goes….

Kick Start

Hey Ya'll,

well...this is it..this is the final chapter....to think that by this time next year we all will be moving on with our lives..is creepy....but to be fair we gonna have a hard fight to reach that point...so this is the start of my own fight on the way to reach that degree of mine!!!!!!

this blog is created by a motivated group discussion and is to connect with my group mates and lecturer..(also being green and save on paper waste!!!!!)....

I'll be posting my drafts,thoughts, and basically anything I have on my dissertation...plz let me know what you think bout them...would help me big time!

tanx and enjoy