Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 3-19-2023
Abstract
Inclusive design is an approach that aims to include special children with the general student population by developing the whole system, including the built environment, to accommodate their needs. Although efforts have been made to include children with visual impairments in the educational mainstream, available design guidelines often miss their "real lived experience". Available inclusive school design criteria are considered limited and the necessary design qualities of space to cope with their impairments are often missing the phenomenological, holistic approach. This study is conducted using a mixed method. The necessary spatial qualities are extracted from visually impaired children's real experiences through a phenomenological approach. An in-depth interview is done with visually impaired participants; transcriptions are extracted and analysed through thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is done by the NVIVO qualitative research analysis program. The themes are later validated through a personal experience at the blind museum "Dialogue in the Dark" in Cairo, Egypt. Research findings show and explain the main four themes that affect the visually impaired experience, which are: senses stimulation, accessibility, sense of place and perception of safety and they can be translated into design considerations.
Recommended Citation
: [1] Sarah Oteifa, Khaled Dewidar, Yasser Mansour , "Inclusive Schools Design: A Phenomenological Investigation into Visually Impaired Lived Experiences," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 1616 - 1631, 2023. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2023.110340.