To commemorate World Autism Awareness Day, AkzoNobel celebrated the significant day by transforming the National Autism Society of Malaysia’s (NASOM) vocational centre in Jalan Ipoh as part of Human Cities initiative.
The complete makeover
The makeover project involved the painting of both the exterior and interior by the professional painter. The aim is to bring life in a new light to students in the NASOM’s vocational centre by using the power of colors as an enabler to develop new skills and to prepare them to be independent. Color can have such a transforming and uplifting effect on people and places and it is beneficial for autistic children as it can promote both physical and mental relaxation as well as reduce stress. The inspirational colors can also be very effective in learning settings.
Choosing the right colors
To help provide the right colors from the psychological perspective, AkzoNobel worked with the Malaysia’s renowned color therapist, Evelyn Leong, who worked along with the Dulux’s Color Consultants by giving consultation on how to provide the color schemes in order to create a better learning environment for both the students and the teachers.
Autistic people tend to be more sensitive with their senses and the colors used in the vocational centre are mostly pastel shades with low stimulation. Each of the rooms in the centre was painted with a different color to create different moods. For instance, leading to the upper level, there is a rainbow staircase for a slightly playful yet subtle mood where Denim Drift is applied on the walls. As for the living hall, it was painted with green and blue to create a calming yet balanced environment; whereas the creativity room was painted with yellow combined with a soothing color such as violet that will encourage students to keep calm while learning new skills. The teacher commented that the students had been more motivated to go to the centre and they seemed more cheerful, especially when climbing the colorful staircase.
Find out more about Dulux in Malaysia here.
