6th International Neurodiversity & the Built Environment Symposium

Marking its sixth year, the International Neurodiversity & the Built Environment Symposium explores how design can honor diverse sensory, cognitive, and relational experiences. This year’s theme, Building Empathy, includes practitioners, researchers, artists, students, and self-advocates to rethink how environments can support dignity, agency, and belonging.

Symposium Details

Friday, March 27 // 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM 

East Falls Campus, Thomas Jefferson University 

Hybrid format available // Event Webpage 

Register here // See and download the schedule here or read below.

The symposium examines how empathetic, art-informed approaches can move beyond accommodation toward more collaborative, caring, and human-centered futures. Through presentations, dialogues, and creative work, participants will consider how neurodiverse perspectives can expand our understanding of spatial perception, multisensory environments, community well-being, and inclusive design practices.

International Neurodiversity & the Built Environment Symposium: Building Empathy

Join us for our hybrid symposium dedicated to advancing conversations at the intersection of neurodiversity and the built environment. Hosted by the Synesthetic Research & Design Lab in collaboration with the Center for Autism and Neurodiversity, this event brings together voices from architecture, the social sciences, healthcare, media arts, and neurodivergent communities.

The symposium features keynote remarks, panel sessions, film screenings, and multiple moderated dialogues, offering a dynamic platform for exploring new ways empathy can inform spatial practice and design innovation.

Full Schedule

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM: Introductory Remarks

9:00 – 9:15 AM: Welcome

Severino Alfonso & Loukia Tsafoulia, Synesthetic Research & Design Lab

Wendy Ross & Sabra Townsend, Center for Autism and Neurodiversity

Partner: Lizbeth Goodman, SMARTlab & Inclusive Design Research Center of Ireland, UCD

We are very grateful to our sponsors

Cigna Healthcare

Heckendorn Shiles Architects

HOK

Perkins&Will

9:15 – 9:30 AM: Remarks

Edmund deAzevedo Pribitkin

Executive Vice President, Jefferson Health

Barbara Klinkhammer

Dean, College of Architecture & the Built Environment, Thomas Jefferson University

Panel Sessions

Panel 1

9:30 AM – 10:45 AM

9:30 – 9:45 AM

Ned Redmore, The Open University

Promoting empathetic and insider understandings of the experiences of autistic people with profound intellectual disabilities in research

9:45 – 10:00 AM

Matthew Heckendorn, Heckendorn Shiles Architects

Intentional Playground Design

10:00 – 10:15 AM

Patricia Douglas & Elizabeth Straus, Queen's University & Toronto Metropolitan University

Affective Reverberations of Built Environments at School

10:15 – 10:45 AM: In Dialogue I

Moderators: Alison Troup (M.Arch’27) & Pragyan Swarnkar (B.Arch’28)

Panel 2

11:00 AM – 12:15 PM

11:00 – 11:15 AM

Severino Alfonso & Loukia Tsafoulia, Synesthetic Research & Design Lab

Echoes: A Multimodal Exploration of Neurodiverse Spatial Perception

11:15 – 11:45 AM

Stuart Neilson & John Schaffer, Independent Researcher & Wild Asperagus Productions

Picturing Inclusivity: Creating Connections Through Art

11:45 AM – 12:15 PM: In Dialogue II

Moderated by Austyn Fennell, MSIA 28

12:15 – 1:00 PM – Lunch Break

Panel 3

1:00 PM – 2:15 PM

1:00 – 1:15 PM

Argyro Vatakis, Panteion University of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Cognition and the Senses in Designed and Lived Spaces for Increased Well‑being

1:15 – 1:45 PM

Film Screening: Voices. Listeners in the Noise

Panelists: Shannon McLain, Emma Russek, Misha Samorodin, Ev Smith, Rachel Updegrove.

1:45 – 2:15 PM: In Dialogue III

Moderators: Akshara Manda (M.Arch ’26) & Hunter Jordan (BS Arch Studies ’27)

Panel 4

2:30 PM – 3:45 PM

2:30 – 2:45 PM

Estee Klar & Adam Wolfond, Dis-Assembly: A Neurodiverse Arts Collective

Rally with the human and more‑than‑human in non-speaking autistic expression and artistic mutual facilitation and care.

2:45 – 3:00 PM

Kristina Marchand & Larissa Sattler, Perkins&Will

Sensory Ecologies: Integrating Hidden Senses into Spatial Practice

3:00 – 3:15 PM

Tess Dickman & Morgan Tweed, Studio Pacifica

What Is Your Space Saying When You’re Not in the Room?

3:15 – 3:45 PM: In Dialogue IV

Moderators: Emily Morina (M.Arch’26) & Dania Abdul Rahim (M.Arch’26)

Panel 5

4:00 PM – 5:15 PM

4:00 – 4:15 PM

Stuart Lustig, Cigna Healthcare

Why Precision Matters: Individualizing Beyond One‑Size‑Fits‑All Approaches in ABA

4:15 – 4:30 PM

Bess Williamson, NC State University College of Design

Finding Neurodivergent Histories of Design

4:30 – 4:45 PM

Kai Olsen & Kay Sargent, HOK

Designing Neuroinclusive Spaces: Sensory Processing, Cognitive Well‑being, and Neuroinclusion

4:45 – 5:15 PM: In Dialogue V

Moderators: Alexandra Rosca (MSIA’28) & Khushali Rushabh (M.Arch’26)

• Register for the event here.

• Download the schedule here.

We Look Forward to Seeing You!

For more information, please visit:Jefferson.edu/neurodiversitysymposium