APLUS is a not-for-profit research organization dedicated to the design and development of public places, programs and policies that promote the inclusion of people with cognitive disabilities like autism, Alzheimer's Disease, and disabilities associated with the natural aging process. 

 

Our goal is to research and apply design strategies that improve environmental impacts on the brain:  Sounds, smells, shade and shadow, patterns, and colors.  We will gather facts from best practices and highlight environmental factors at locations known to cause confusion.  We will then apply our knowledge of cognitive disabilities along with architecture and design to help identify common environmental factors known to create over and/or under stimulation.  We will suggest removal of unwanted stimuli in your space, and suggest alterations in a design manner known to be conducive to attentiveness, way finding, body/space perception, and augmentative communication. 

 

We are available to provide design review and recommendations to public libraries, schools, transit stations, grocery stores, hospitals, parks and play lots, recreation facilities like swimming pools and gyms, and other public places that service families with disabilities.  We can provide analysis of public programs like day camps, and make recommendations for more inclusive strategies. We can train staff how to better mitigate environmental stimuli, like cooking smells or excessive sound reverberations that may exist within your space that can hinder attentiveness by "neurotypicals" and disabled people alike.  

 

We will offer design advice to the design and development of newly constructed public places, like school, libraries, parks and play lots, transit stations, hospitals, and other places where people with cognitive disabilities should and could be active participants.

 

Our design solutions will always be attractive, non-intrusive, and affordable.