Abstract
The population with special needs is continuously growing, particularly with a significant increase in diagnosed neurodivergent individuals. This rise is attributed to the widespread availability of diagnostic tools and increased awareness. However, current standards for designing comfortable indoor environments predominantly focus on neurotypical users, often neglecting the specific needs and customizations required by neurodivergent individuals. This is crucial not only for creating comfortable indoor spaces through a user-centered, participatory approach but also because neurodivergent individuals often exhibit hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity closely linked to their diagnoses. Consequently, their exposure to certain indoor environmental conditions differs significantly from that of neurotypical occupants. To better understand their needs, a comprehensive review of the existing literature was conducted. The findings revealed that the indoor comfort needs of neurodivergent populations have only been explored in the past two decades. Moreover, previous studies have primarily used questionnaires and tools designed for neurotypical individuals, which may not be suitable for neurodivergent populations. Neurodivergence often entails difficulties in social interaction, responding to direct questions, or language and comprehension disorders. In some studies, proxy respondents were used to gather information, but this approach introduced personal interpretations of the neurodivergent individuals' experiences. Given that standardized questionnaires are validated for neurotypical users, it is imperative to assess their validity for neurodivergent users as well. This necessitates a meticulous examination of the questionnaire's applicability to neurodivergent individuals. To enhance the accuracy and relevance of the responses, neurodivergent participants can be accompanied by caregivers who have undergone specific training. These caregivers, through dedicated workshops and Q&A sessions, acquire the skills necessary to assist neurodivergent individuals in comprehending and accurately responding to the questionnaire items. This collaborative approach ensures that the unique experiences and perceptions of neurodivergent individuals are captured more effectively, thereby enhancing the validity of the data collected. By administering these adapted questionnaires, some of the uncertainties and inconsistencies found in the existing literature were confirmed, highlighting the necessity of a dedicated approach specifically designed and modeled on the users. This evidence underscores the importance of developing tailored methodologies to accurately capture the comfort needs of neurodivergent populations. In this context, it became necessary to identify an alternative method for directly obtaining information different from comfort perception, but focused on the reaction to different environmental stress that could be caused from specific environmental condition. Analyzing attentional states under varying environmental conditions in a controlled setting allows for understanding the impact of different environmental parameters. Although this method is widely used for neurotypical occupants, it has rarely been applied to neurodivergent populations. The few studies involving neurodivergent individuals had small sample sizes and often specific participation prerequisites. Attentional state analysis, however, is a well-established tool in the diagnostic process used by psychologists and neuropsychologists to understand cognitive functions in neurodivergent individuals. Additionally, existing literature on neurodivergent populations and indoor comfort often applied specific tests analyzing only particular attentional components. Therefore, a standardized attentional test with broad applicability to neurodivergent populations, free from prerequisites such as IQ, was identified. This test was administered with the support of specialized personnel (psychologists, educators, and neuropsychologists) under varying environmental conditions. The study involved 50 participants: 25 neurotypical individuals (control group) and 25 neurodivergent individuals (neurodivergent group). They were administered the attentional test under six different environmental conditions to determine the most impactful parameters and the attentional components with the most significant performance variations. The results indicated that increased temperatures, sudden noises, and background noises led to higher rates of errors, omissions, anticipations, and slower reaction times in the neurodivergent group. Additionally, specific reactions to certain noises and increased motor stereotypies were observed in each scenario.