Nothing About Me Without Me : Designing Learning Spaces for Neurodiversity & Disability Symposium Insights

Deicke Richards associate and resident access expert, Magda Myszkowski, reflects on the recent Designing Learning Spaces for Neurodiversity & Disability Symposium convened by Associate Professor Ben Cleveland in the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning, University of Melbourne.

‘There’s nothing about me without me and what is essential to some is often harmful to none.’ The words of Heads Together for Brain Injury’s Kate Heine, presenting alongside young people with lived experience of disability Audrey Anderson and Hailey Barber, are particularly pertinent on International Day of People with Disability.

And though the 2025 theme, ‘fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress,’ may feel a formidable goal, one thing I know from years designing spaces for young people like Audrey and Hailey is listening – before, during and after projects – is key to creating change.

Travelling to Melbourne for the Symposium, I was keen to hear the latest insights on education environments for all – that go beyond equality to achieve equity, giving young people what they need to flourish and thrive, not just survive. I’m already applying learnings into my practice and hope my reflection will add value to your work too.

Refuge as Prospect: An Anthology of ASPECTSS, Learning & the Sensory Landscape Professor ****Magda Mostafa, Principal & Co-Founding Partner, StudioTM / Associate Chair in the Department of Architecture, American University in Cairo.

‘Universal design should aspire not only to universal access, but universal delight.’

The most powerful provocation of Prof Mostafa’s keynote was simple: we already know how to design inclusive ‘islands’ – what we need now are inclusive ‘cities.’ Not just autism-friendly classrooms, but entire environments that support behavioural, emotional and sensory needs, from childhood to adulthood.

She introduced a number of ideas to challenge how we design:

1. When it comes to infrastructure, consider the physical and sensory equally – embedding clarity, predictability and relief into everyday movement is good design for all.
2. Transitions are the missing layer – from decompression spaces to campus-wide transition gardens, regulation takes place in the in-between and micro-moments determine whether someone arrives calm, overwhelmed or disengaged.
3. Removing overload for some benefits all – designing for sensory needs first results in environments that are more calm, dignified, intuitive and universally usable.
4. ASPECTSS* is research-backed, scalable and measurable – Mostafa’s ASPECTSS* Autism Design Index, covering Acoustics, Spatial Sequencing, Escape Space, Compartmentalisation, Transitions, Sensory Zoning & Safety, has now been applied from single rooms to whole campuses (Dublin City University a leading case study).
5. Autistic consultation is essential, not optional – and is best achieved when visual communication is prioritised over verbal, spaces are ordered, group sizes are small, expectations are shared early and autistic participants are positioned as experts.

Mostafa provides a blueprint for human-centred design done right. View her Autism Friendly Design Guide here.

Designing for the Comfort of Users with Diverse Needs Dorsa Fatourehchi & Jenna Mikus, University of Melbourne

Focusing on the evolving understanding of comfort in the built environment, this break-out highlighted the need to develop quantitative and qualitative ways of measuring comfort.

Fatourehchi and Mikus contrasted adaptive comfort theory, which uses measurable factors like air quality and temperature, with insights from interviews and surveys to highlight how comfort is multimodal, comprising:

• acoustics – noise management, reverberation, sound;
• air quality – smell, taste;
• lighting – glare, sight, visual comfort;
• thermal comfort – touch, temperature;
• visual and spatial comfort – especially relevant for neurodivergent users.

Introducing standards like those developed by ASHRAE as ‘a valuable baseline,’ Fatourehchi and Mikus posited that as people adapt to environments, environments must also adapt to people.

The question that remains is how can we design spaces that respond to individual needs, rather than requiring individuals to manage and endure discomfort? Increasing familiarity with comfort literacy and post occupancy evaluation is one place we can start – stay across research like the Designing Learning Spaces for Diversity, Inclusion & Participation ARC Linkage Project here.

Time for a Dedicated Disruptive Influence Dr Jodie Wilson, Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University

In closing, Dr Wilson’s declaration that human-centred design begins with curiosity, empathy and a deep understanding of people’s feelings and motivations – particularly those shared via lived experience – has stuck with me. Leaning and listening is what reveals the nuanced needs that should drive design solutions, like scaffolding body-doubling for ADHD, where simply working alongside another person enhances focus and regulation.

Because sensory needs intersect with myriad factors such as culture, environment, identity and lived experience, an inclusive approach must embrace intersectionality – as designers, we can’t assume universal norms and must remain open to learning from diverse user perspectives.

By integrating sensory science with empathy and humility, we can create environments that honour individual differences, reduce sensory stress and promote autonomy, comfort and wellbeing for all users.

Watch back select panels from the Designing Learning Spaces for Neurodiversity & Disability Symposium here. Get in touch with Magda about a future education project here.