The standards and legislation for the built environment, although imperfect, are generally designed to support access for people with physical disabilities – whether they have mobility, vision or hearing impairments. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) protects people with disability in Australia from discrimination, which flows into the National Construction Code (NCC) and regulates equitable access where safe and where it doesn’t cause ‘unjustifiable hardship’ to provide it.
Designing with access for neurodiversity in mind is not addressed in these guidelines, but the practice is emerging despite that.
“Design for neurodiversity is definitely a growing area as people are more aware of people who have Autism or other forms of neurodiversity, such as Alzheimer's, ADHD, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dyslexia, Tourette’s syndrome or post-traumatic stress disorder,” says Ellen Naismith, an access consultant…
