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Neurodiversity refers to "the range of differences in individual brain function and behavioral traits, regarded as part of normal variation in the human population" A “neurodivergent” person refers to someone whose brain processes information in a way that is not typical to most individuals (University of Washington). "Neurodivergent' isn't a medical term, instead, it's a way to describe people using words other than 'normal' and 'abnormal" (Cleveland Clinic). Neurodivergent people may be on the autism spectrum, have learning disabilities, or have traumatic brain injury. This also includes attention deficit, dyslexia/dyspraxia, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Tourette’s syndrome. Roughly 1 in 6 people are neurodivergent, meaning roughly 12 million neurodivergent people visit California State Parks each year.
"Neurodiversity is a state of nature to be respected, an analytical tool for examining social issues, and an argument for the conservation and facilitation of human diversity" (Museum Next)
While the California State Parks Accessibility Guidelines provide a variety of resources for Park Staff to design accessible space, there is little to no mention of providing tools for visitors with cognitive and developmental disabilities or visitors who identify as neurodivergent. This isn’t a fault of the Guidelines so much as there currently are no state or federal building codes/regulations that directly address accessible design for neurodiverse populations. The U.S. Access Board is currently considering these factors. For more information on serving the greater diversity of our visitors, please visit the Training Pages on JEDAI and Creating Physically and Emotionally Safe Environments.
Available Research
Available Research
Accessible Outdoors_ Preparing Volunteers and Staff to Work with.pdfExposure to nature for children with autism spectrum disorder_ Benefits, caveats, and barriers - ScienceDirect.pdfHow Neurodiversity Centered Museum Education within Art Museums.pdfSummary: Research has found people with disabilities, females, and BIPOC communities face the greatest number of barriers to accessing woodland areas. (Morris et. al 2013)
Barriers fall into 2 categories - physical and structural barriers and socio-cultural/economic/personal barriers.
"Physical/structural barriers relate to 'general/over-arching' barriers such as weather, 'on-site barriers' ie. access points, signage, facilities, and 'off-site barriers' ie. lack of information/transportation"
Socio-cultural/economic/personal barriers "reveal an overlap between social and personal experiences of and attitudes towards woodland areas." Ex. an individual's confidence to visit woodland areas may be associated with an absence of a cultural norm of or within an individual's community. "Economic barriers may stem from personal (ie. low income) or societal circumstances (ie. deprivation).
Community members with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience "some barriers related to characteristics of the green space (such as intense visual and acoustic input); other barriers related to the social environment (such as judgment from others and social exclusion)." (Dongying et. al)
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