Are sensory aspects of the built school environment associated with learning or well-being outcomes for autistic students? A systematic review

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Recent reviews have suggested promising evidence for creating built environments for autistic people but, to date, none of these have focused specifically on the school setting. This systematic review aims to identify and synthesise research reporting on the physical/built school environment and how this impacts autistic student learning and/or well-being. Four electronic databases were searched, resulting in 23 included studies. Quantitative narrative synthesis suggests an association between increased or specific noises and reductions in student learning and/or well-being, and a link between specific visual elements (lighting, distractions) and reductions in learning outcomes. Few studies reported upon physical space, smell, or temperature of the school environments, highlighting these as avenues for future research. This study has implications for modification to education environments.