Jun 26, 2013 09:56 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Ian M. Ellis and Frances Peterson, two architecture students are planning to construct a learning school for autistic children on New York City's North Brother Island. The 20-acre island which is located between the Bronx and Riker's Island has been abandoned for the past 43 years. The island was a site of a disastrous shipwreck, a smallpox clinic, a tuberculosis colony, housing for World War II soldiers and a drug rehab facility.

Since the island has been abandoned for many years, their buildings have crumbled, dilapidated and is completely covered with moss and vegetation. The island has also become a nesting ground for colonial water birds, notably the Black Crowned Night Heron.

The island provides a beneficial environment for kids suffering from autism or children with special needs as their requirements are usually not met in traditional schools. The proposed school project 'North Brother Island School for Autistic Children,' aims to provide a serene and calm environment for kids and their parents.

Hypersensitive children require control, belonging-ness and safety. On the other hand, hyposensitive children like to feel and discover textures, sounds, and sensory experiences.

The project will include three groups of classrooms that open to three different courtyards. Of the three groups, the West group will cater to the needs of children in-between - hypo or hyper. This courtyard is odd yet safe, allowing discovery and exploration near the classrooms, the library, and the break area. The island will also feature a restricted play ground and the building's roofs will be scissor-shaped allowing natural sunlight indoors.

The school project will fill the void in terms of education for children with special needs, which is rare in Bronx.

The main school building will be constructed in the middle of the island, in order to avoid disturbing the birds' nesting grounds along the eastern and southern shores. Architects are planning to restore five existing buildings on the island for the school's purpose. The structures present on the south end of North Brother would be renovated to be used by the New York City Parks Department, Cornell University Department of Ornithology, and the Audubon Society.

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