Designing a behavioral setting: a new approach to the education and treatment of children with autism spectrum disorders (case study: Children 4-7 years old at Bushehr Autism Center)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• rezvan zarei ¹
• ahmad torkaman ²
• Mohammad Ali Rahimi ³

¹ Ph.D. Student of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Bushehr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran.

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Bushehr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran.

10.30495/jpmm.2023.30915.3707

Abstract

The design of educational-therapeutic places as a set of behavioral setting can be effective in the formation of behavioral patterns of their users in terms of attention to the dimensions of environmental qualities. Therefore, it is important to know the components that influence the formation and proper functioning of behavioral setting. The aim is to identify the components of environmental quality assessment in the design of behavioral setting, and to evaluate their impact on the education and treatment of autistic children aged 4-7years.
The research is applied and its research method is descriptive-analytical and semi-experimental. The statistical population and sample size were determined for two groups of experts and subjects from Bushehr Autism Center. Through the simple random sampling method and by the Cochran formula, 38experts were selected; And from the center's 4-7year-old autistic children, all 18of them (experimental group) were selected for the sample size. Gathering information in two theoretical and field sections; And to analyze information from descriptive and inferential statistics (Paired sample t-tests and Friedman), it was done through SPSS software.
There is a significant effect between the components of environmental quality assessment in the design of behavioral setting, and the education and treatment of autistic children aged 4-7years; That the effectiveness of the components is different from each other and includes:"Functional-behavioral","Structural-physical","Perceptual-cognitive"components respectively.
By establishing a balance between the place-making components, it is possible to improve the quality of behavioral setting for the better education and treatment of autistic children and provide the means for their progress.

Keywords

• "Psychological educational-therapeutic models"
• "Architectural design"
• "Behavioral setting"
• "Environmental quality"
• "Autism disorder"

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