Arts for Autism founder asks board to repurpose support toward scholarships and events

The founder of the Arts for Autism Foundation told the Special Needs Advisory Board she plans to shift the organization’s model away from a weekly paid dance class toward three larger community events, training for local businesses, and an Arts Access Scholarship that would pay local providers to include students with autism and other developmental differences.

The founder said the town historically invested about $10,000 a year in the foundation. “So currently, today, what we what you all have invested into the Arts for Autism Foundation annually is about $10,000 between 3 seasons a year of dance classes and 2 events a year,” the founder said, adding that the proposed scholarship cap would be about $7,000 annually and that event funding would be roughly $3,000 for community events. She explained that the Arts Access Scholarship would pay local Miami Lakes businesses directly and prioritize residents for awards while remaining open to nonresident applicants who bring business into town.

Board members approved a motion to advance the Arts for Autism proposal as the board’s next step; staff noted the request will need to be scheduled on the town council agenda for final authorization. The board’s voice vote was recorded as 'Aye' and the item was advanced for the council. Board members requested more detail about how scholarship awards would be distributed and how many families would be served if the $7,000 cap were reached; the founder estimated the cap could fund roughly 25–30 families for two months of classes at an average award of about $200–$300 per family. The founder also said the foundation could provide staff trainings to participating local businesses to increase inclusion.

The board did not finalize funding allocations at the meeting; it advanced the program for follow‑up and council review.