GUIDES & BEST PRACTICES REPORT
Supportive Housing for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder
This report provides a framework for designing supportive housing for adults with autism. It serves as guide to existing best practices in the field and incorporates themes that we have seen emerge in similar projects.
Because autism is a spectrum disorder, it affects people in very different ways and to different degrees. It is very difficult to identify planning principles that suit every situation, as the needs vary. Designing housing for adults with autism requires personal outreach and conversations with future residents and their families about specific design elements, challenges, and potential benefits.
One theme that we have found common in most projects, is the need for an on-site occupational program, such as tending a farm, managing a greenhouse, or making ceramics. By having these types of activities it can help with, stimulating the brain, creating neutral pathways, improving sensory processing systems and improving social skills.
Through the design and construction of FORWARD at the Rock (Right) we gained invaluable experience working with families and experts in developing supportive housing for adults with autism. We utilized this experience to create this report and are implementing our lessons learned in a few new projects. We are currently developing a master plan for a community in Connecticut with Centers for Independent Living and a residential campus for 18 adults on a farm on Martha’s Vineyard.