Zeina, A. (2025). Designing Recreational Spaces to suit Autistic Children. International Design Journal, 15(2), 189-196. doi: 10.21608/idj.2025.343479.1231
Amr Ahmed Mohamed Ali Zeina. "Designing Recreational Spaces to suit Autistic Children". International Design Journal, 15, 2, 2025, 189-196. doi: 10.21608/idj.2025.343479.1231
Zeina, A. (2025). 'Designing Recreational Spaces to suit Autistic Children', International Design Journal, 15(2), pp. 189-196. doi: 10.21608/idj.2025.343479.1231
Zeina, A. Designing Recreational Spaces to suit Autistic Children. International Design Journal, 2025; 15(2): 189-196. doi: 10.21608/idj.2025.343479.1231
Designing Recreational Spaces to suit Autistic Children
Planning and Urban Design Department, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
Abstract
Autistic children in early and late childhood suffer from the lack of welcoming parks or other recreational areas that are sufficient to accommodate them. By involving them in the recreational area, we help them integrate with their peers of the same age group, take their behaviors into account, and reduce the social and psychological gaps that exist between children with autism and normal children. The research will focus on how to meet the needs of autistic children by designing parks dedicated to them as a step to understand their requirements and contain their behaviors within recreational spaces, which will later help researchers on how to integrate them with normal children within one recreational space. To solve this problem, the research first used the inductive approach to identify the needs and requirements of autistic children through scientific and medical research that addressed this topic and personal interviews with experts to support the research study. After that, the analytical approach was used to examine and evaluate some international examples of designing recreational spaces for children with autism in order to ensure that the design meets their needs and takes their behavior into account. Finally, the deductive approach was used to reach a guide that helps the urban designer create safe and comfortable recreational spaces for children with autism, and finally the results and recommendations.
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