THE ROLE OF INTERIORITY IN REDUCING DISTRACTION LEVEL S IN THE PROCESS OF IMITATION SKILSS THERAPY OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

• Main Author: Astrini Sakya, Kharista
• Format: Dissertations
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/36024
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Further development of the interior design concept is to design spaces not only physically but also interiority (relating to mental). Interiority is not merely a spatial concept, but it is the concept in which disunited spaces can be the one uniting body, mind, and space. Interiority is the presen ce of oneself being able to comfort him/herself in spaces. The interiority is greatly needed to build the interaction between the users and the space so that they can do their best. Therefore, the interiority becomes important when it is related to the behavior problems of children with autism in optimizing their development to be able to live their daily lives. The number of cases relating to the autism and therapy rooms has shown a significant increase from year to year. Autism can be defined as individuals who experience problems in interacting and communicating eye contact with others. The behavior of people with autism varies greatly depending on the severity of the symptoms, the function of thinking, and the type of the disorder.The available facilities in the form of therapeutic services and education for people with autism in Bandung are currently sufficient. However, research on the validity of the appropriate and needed therapeutic rooms for the therapy has not been conducted, even though the physical environment is expected to have a positive influence on the development and behavior of autistic children. The behavior of children with autism should be changed in order to make them be able to adjust to stimuli existing in the environment and also to improve their interaction skills. Children with autism do not have the ability to imitate, even though imitation is the beginning of someone to be able to replicate the behavior of others (the first stage in the development phase). When the function of the imitation skill of children with autism start working, they begin to be able to think associatively and it then develops into perceptual abilities. Finally, the children can interact socially and adapt to society easily. Hard to focus becomes an obstacle facing by the children when they are undergoing therapeutic processes in the therapy rooms. It is because they have distinctive behaviors such as being easily distracted by internal and external factors. The internal factors are factors arising in children themselves, while the external factors are factors associated with the influences coming from outside the individuals such as the state of the therapy rooms when the therapy is taking place and the surrounding environment. The absent of interaction between the autistic children and the space results in obstacles and difficulties in the implementation of the therapy. Hence, the purpose of this study was to determine the behavior of children with autism in room during the process of imitation ability therapy, to find the influential factors being able to reduce the level of distraction during the therapy in the therapy room, and to understand the process of interiority (unification between autistic children and space) during the therapy. This study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The experiments were carried out in two stages. They were pre-test and post-test one group design so that the level of distraction and imitation ability resulted from both test were compared in different experimental spaces. The results of the experiments were then interpreted and then confirmed to the informant to find out other supporting factors. Data were collected sequentially through the technique of observation by watching videography (eye movements and posture, motion patterns) of the spatial behavior of children with autism, collecting information about interiority, and calculating the frequency of distraction, the value of imitation skills and quantitative data using statistical tests. The results of the study are able to answer the research questions and hypotheses. First, the behavior of children with autism in the therapy room tends to be more active due to the presence of many objects distracting their focus. Hence, the children need to start the therapy with an adaptation phase in which the interior acts as a pre-therapy. Second, the influential factors being able to reduce the level of distraction in the process of the imitation skills therapyof children with autism in the therapy rooms are interiority towards the therapy room, child sensitivity, adaptation processes, self-recognition, spatial behavior / behavior patterns, interest in interior elements, distractions, proxemics, and comparisons of children’s anthropometry and furniture. Third, the study has found the phase of increasing imitation skills of interiority (behavior indicator of interiority) which can explain that during the process of the imitation skills therapy, the interiority plays a role in reducing distractions so that the children can focus, feel comfortable during therapy and improve their imitation skills. The research hypothesis can be proven by the finding that the elements of rooms can become distractive objects for children with autism (becoming an inhibiting factor to focus on the process of imitation skill therapy). The use of reflective objects can help the process of unification between children with autism and the room. Interiority (the union of children with autism and the space) creates a sense of comfort in the room so that it can improve focus when the process of imitation skill therapy is being conducted (interiority)