IMPACT OF THE QUALITY OF SPACE OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN : Insights from three selected schools form Kandy, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Children with Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD)are found to struggle with diverse challenges in achieving quality of life in their education environments. In view of this the current investigation looked in to the impact of the quality of space in their learning environments in enhancing the Quality of life of Autistic children. Two types of school environments that accommodate students with ASD were examined namely, a special education school (A) and two mainstream schools with special educational units (B & C) in Kandy, considering 10 participants from each school (n=30). Inclusive design parameters were examined by a photographic survey and observations by the investigator and recorded via a 5-point Likert scale based on their level of presence. Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedQL) was adopted to measure quality of life of participants. School A demonstrated the highest averages of for quality of space (65%) as well as quality of life ( 61.7%) while C ( 34%/48.3%) and B ( 30%/44.7%) showed lower averages respectively. Accordingly, the study observed a clear relationship between the Quality of Space and the Quality of Life of children with ASD, highlighting the potential of enhancing the quality of life of the students with ASD by improving the quality of space of local schools.