Investigating the Interior Design of Rehabilitation Centers in Iran for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

 Physical factors and the appropriate interior design of rehabilitation centers can be effective in the quality of rehabilitation services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aims to investigate the interior design quality of rehabilitation centers in Iran for children with ASD to improve the quality of rehabilitation services for children.

 In this descriptive survey study, 32 occupational therapists from universities, hospitals, welfare organizations, and private clinics participated. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to assess the quality of architecture in rehabilitation centers in nine domains of space organization, space flexibility, security/safety, texture/materials/furniture, air conditioning, color, light, acoustics, and green space/view/landscape. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software, version 22 using the one-sample t-test. To rank the dimensions, Friedman's test was used. 

The results of the t-test showed that only the design parameters of texture/materials/furniture, light, and green space/view/landscape had a significant on the quality of  rehabilitation services. The ranking test results showed that the mean ranks for the space organization component was 3.72; for space flexibility, 3.95; for security/safety, 4.75; for texture/materials/furniture, 6.63; for air conditioning, 5.50; for color, 5.69; for light, 6.08; for acoustics, 6.45; and for green space/view/landscape, 2.23. Based on the chi-square test results (P< 0.05, χ2=75.863), there was a significant difference in the degree of desirability between the architecture components.

The rehabilitation centers for children with ASD in Iran need to be improved in terms of space organization, space flexibility, security/safety, air conditioning, color, and acoustics. =