Progettare percezione e piena fruizione dei siti di interesse culturale da parte di persone con autismo

Although there are no reliable data on the total number of people affected by autism spectrum disorders, recent estimates indicate that in Italy 1 child out of 77 is affected by these disorders, with a progressively increasing trend; the problem concerns about 500 thousand families and a total of 60 million people with DSA worldwide. Built environment full fruition for all is a key principle of the human right and international codes and standards about Cultural Heritage and Landscape state that promoting the knowledge of cultural heritage and ensuring the best conditions for its full enjoyment are central activities for the enhancement of cultural sites. Therefore cultural sites are actively called to offer adequate levels of accessibility, in physical and perceptive-cognitive terms, satisfying needs and requirements, expressed, implicit or special, of the widest range of vistors, regardless of temporary or permanent diversity and disability. On the basis of these premises, the paper proposes models of inclusive design for accessibility, use and physical, cognitive and emotional perception of cultural sites by people with autism, and presents two application cases of inclusive projects with “autism in mind” for a park and an archaeological museum, both in the province of Salerno (Campania, South Italy) In accordance with the testimonial value of the assets to be enhanced and based on users analysis, with the involvement of educators, architects and parents’ associations, the methodology was finalized to the redesign of full use conditions of the sites, both by persons with autism and for all visitors, focusing on material aspects (architectural and environmental dimension of access, orientation, seeing, listening, touching, stopping, etc.), as well as intangible aspects (educational and emotional dimensions).