Design Criteria Affecting Behavioral Problems of Autistic Children in Special schools

Autism Spectrum disorder is a disturbance in the development of the nervous system, which, with a defect in thinking, feeling and excitement, creates a range of behavioral problems for these individuals. Patients with autism are sensitive to the surrounding environment due to inadequate sensory processing. Studies have shown that the architecture and design of educational schools can have positive effects in improving their behavioral problems; therefore, recognizing the architectural components affecting behavioral problems of these children seems to be important for architects. The purpose of this research is to identify and prioritize the criteria and sub-criteria of architecture affecting the behavioral problems of Autistic children. In order to achieve this goal, in the first step, we will examine the background, views, and criteria presented in previous studies. Then, using the Delphi method, the most important criteria for designing are used to identify and screen the design.The research method used in this article is a descriptive-analytical method. The decision group in this study included 20 architectures and educators with sufficient experience about the educational environment of Autistic children. In this research, the Fuzzy Delphi technique was used to identify and screen the most important architectural criteria, which two criteria of "environmental physical factors" and "space organization" were identified among the factors derived from the research background. Then, for demarcation of the criteria and cause and effect, and their ranking, the Fuzzy DEMATEL technique was used. As a result "Light", "Texture and Materials" and "Aacoustic" factors were ranked from first to third; Matlab and Excel software were also used to analyze the findings.