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Tag: Accessibility

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Klatte, Bergström, and Lachmann, 2013

The present paper provides an overview of research concerning both acute and chronic effects of exposure to noise on children's cognitive performance. Experimental studies addressing the impact of acute exposure showed negative effects on speech perception and listening comprehension. These effects are more pronounced in children as compared to adults. Children with language or attention disorders and second-language learners are still more impaired than age-matched controls. Noise-induced disruption was also found for non-auditory tasks, i.e., serial recall of visually presented lists and reading. The impact of chronic exposure to noise was examined in quasi-experimental studies. Indoor noise and reverberation in classroom settings were found to be associated with poorer performance of the children in verbal tasks. Regarding chronic exposure to aircraft noise, studies consistently found that high exposure is associated with lower reading performance. Even though the reported effects are usually small in magnitude, and confounding variables were not always sufficiently controlled, policy makers responsible for noise abatement should be aware of the potential impact of environmental noise on children's development.

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College Planning and Management, 2015

MUNCIE, IN – Well-run disability services offices, accessible facilities and private rooms — along with strong academic programming — may be the key to helping students who use wheelchairs succeed on a college campus, says a new report from Ball State University.

“Pre-enrollment Considerations of Undergraduate Wheelchair Users and Their Post-enrollment Transitions” examined how high school students selected a university and how they adjusted to college. The study was recently published by the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability.

The college decision-making process for students using wheelchairs is more complex than other students, says the new report from a Ball State University team of researchers, composed of Roger Wessel, a higher education professor in the Department of Educational Studies; Darolyn Jones, an English professor; Larry Markle, director of Ball State’s Office of Disability Services; and Christina Blanch, a doctoral candidate in educational studies.

 

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Sacks, 2014

The auditorium is a central and important space in any high school lucky enough to have one. It is used for all types of formal assembly: lectures, award ceremonies, dramatic plays, musical theatre productions, concert performances of orchestra, band, chorus, jazz band, battles of the bands, dance competitions and so on. These varied events place a range of demands on the room. For all events, it is essential that everyone in the room hear, clearly and enjoyably, everything that is presented. This is the goal of acoustical design for auditorium spaces.

The acoustical design of an auditorium is different than that of any other high school space, because of the specific demands of the performing arts, which distinguish the auditorium from a common lecture hall. The auditorium will provide many students their first introduction to performing arts, both as audiences and as performers. We would like for this introduction to be a positive one, and we strive to provide a space that is highly functional, artistically flexible, easy-to-use and satisfying for performers and audience.

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Fickes, 2015

In the Monty Python movie “Life of Brian,” a scene shows a crowd listening as Jesus delivers the Sermon on the Mount. The camera moves back over the crowd to the back where no one can hear anything of the Beatitudes. They call out to the people just in front of them asking what is being said. They can barely hear, and they are not getting it quite right. Suddenly someone turns around and reports that Jesus just said: “Blessed are the cheesemakers.”

“So this magnificent lesson, one of the great lessons of history was lost to the people in the back rows because they couldn’t hear it,” says David Lubman, an acoustics consultant based in Westminster, Calif., who enjoys telling that story when discussing the importance of good acoustics to learning in schools.

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University of Washington, 2012. As increasing numbers of people with disabilities pursue educational opportunities at all levels, the accessibility of campus facilities and physical spaces increases in importance. The goal is simply equal access; everyone who visits your campus should be able to do so comfortably and efficiently.

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Andrade, I., Dorneles, V., & Ely, V. (2012). The present work demonstrates, through a case study, the importance of theoretical knowledge in practical application of spatial accessibility in order to guarantee equal conditions for all people in the movement and use of space. Initially there was a literature review on the accessibility of space and how design in a accessible way. Next, we show one makeover proposal in one public school that wants to provide access to people with disabilities. This makeover was done and so we could evaluate the buildings changes through the method of accompanied walk with two people. Finally we present the main results and discussions.

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Quirk, V. (2014). In 2002, Magda Mostafa, a then-PhD student at Cairo University, was given an exciting project: to design Egypt’s first educational centre for autism. The young architect set herself down to the task of researching into autism design, certain she’d soon find guidelines and accessibility codes to direct her through the process (after all, about one in every 88 children is estimated to fall into the autism spectrum).

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Mostafa, M. (2014). Architecture, as a science, deals with the manipulation of the physical environment to facilitate certain functions and elicit intended behavior. This environment is comprised primarily of sensory elements- textures, colors, patterns, acoustics etc. In accordance to the sensory definition of autism, these elements play an important role in autistic behavior and their cognition and integration are at the core of the disorder. This definition is the basis of the Autism ASPECTSS™ Design Index as discussed here. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the use of this index and its seven principles- Acoustics, Spatial sequencing, Escape, Compartmentalization, Transition spaces, Sensory zoning and Safety- as a design development tool. The paper summarizes the impact of these principles on the development of spatial design criteria for the Advance Center for Special Needs in Qattameya, Cairo, designed by Progressive Architects, and presents a possible prototype for schools for autism which would follow the ASPECTSS principles.

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