The Housing Environment as Neurological Determinant: A Scoping Review of Neurodivergence and Housing Design for Sensory Accessibility

Standard residential design is built around neurological norms that may disable a substantial proportion of neurodivergent people. This article synthesizes prior research at the intersection of neurodiversity and residential built environments, drawing on the social model of disability and the neurodivergence paradigm to reframe sensorial inaccessibility as structural, rather than individual. During this review, three themes emerged: the home as a site of sensory adversity; the relationship between spatial autonomy and the capacity for self-regulation and independent living; and the prevalence of deficit-based research frameworks that marginalize disabled people’s own knowledge and experiences. This article argues that the continued absence of sensory accessibility from building standards, recommendations, and policy constitutes a structural failure to uphold rights and that addressing it requires not only technical change but also an epistemic transformation in how knowledge about lived experiences and needs in residential environments is produced, taught, and implemented. To support this transition, neuro-inclusive design principles for residential architecture are proposed.