Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Miranda Family Fund to Support the Public Launch of Drexel University Improvisational Theater-Based Program Helping Autistic Youth

A new grant from the Miranda Family Fund, a donor-advised fund at the Hispanic Federation, led by award-winning artist and philanthropist Lin-Manuel Miranda, will support the public launch of an innovative, evidence-based improvisational theater program for autistic youth through the Social Connections & Treatment Lab at Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute.

While SDARI has been largely available in research settings, the support from the Miranda Family Fund grant will open it up to more families through more accessible, community-facing programs and allow Lerner and his team to build their capacity to train other organizations to implement the SDARI model.

SDARI is an improvisation theater program for autistic youth created in 2004 by Matthew Lerner, PhD, director of the Social Connections & Treatment Lab, an associate professor and leader of the Life Course Outcomes Research Program in the Autism Institute. The program’s improv-based approach was developed, studied and refined over the last 20 years to create a fun and engaging environment that fosters a sense of belonging, where differences are celebrated and participants have opportunities to improve their social-emotional confidence and competence in a neurodiversity-affirming group format.

“Autistic teens and their families often seek programs that can build social capacities while still allowing them to explore and flourish in their own identities, and so the demand for a program like SDARI in Philadelphia is great,” said Lerner. “The grant from the Miranda Family Fund will allow us to fully launch SDARI for the Philadelphia autism community, bringing these proven results to more autistic youth who will make substantial personal growth and enduring friendships through the power of improvisational theater.”

The program was developed for autistic adolescents, a group that has historically received a disproportionately small amount of resources compared to those given to early interventions for younger autistic children. It focuses on a well-known area of need within the autism community: social engagement and confidence. This is also an area often overlooked by autism service providers working with people who are at an age when building a social network is especially important.

SDARI was developed to help autistic youth to build their social capacities on their own terms. Rather than teaching them to behave like non-autistic peers, Lerner’s program leverages improvisational approaches to help teens to find ways of being and connecting that work best for them.

Studies have already shown the impact of the SDARI program, including its impact on durable friendship-making, social confidence and competence, ability to adapt to change, more efficient neural processing of social information, and reductions in anxiety and other mental health challenges – all of which are crucial for attaining a higher quality of life.

Over the course of 6-10 weeks, program participants gain repeated opportunities to build social competence with peers in realistic social settings. By leveraging improvisation’s immediate, in-the-moment atmosphere, the program effectively models the way participants will have to react quickly in real-world social situations. In contrast to many intervention programs for autistic individuals, participants are able to engage on their own terms — rather than having behaviors dictated to them by program leaders.

To ensure the program is meaningful to participants, their individual interests are infused into the structure of the program, which helps them find connection with others around the things they love. The program’s group approach also encourages developing skills along with peers, and often leads to the formation of enduring friendships, according to Lerner.

The program is designed to be delivered by a wide range of individuals — not just trained health professionals in clinical settings — so non-clinical organizations, like theaters and after school programs, can offer the program at much lower cost to participants. This allows it to reach populations that otherwise might not be able to afford this type of social skills development program, according to Lerner.

“Through the program, people who don’t believe they can succeed learn that they can,” said Lerner. “It creates a space that is inclusive and affirming in a way that is still rare.”

For more information, and to learn about applying, please email sctl@drexel.edu, call 215-571-3181, or visit https://www.lernerlab.com/.