I am the mother of a 12 year old girl with autism. I need your help advocating for her and children like her.  Please read my petition BELOW.

Increase Funding for Enhanced Music Education for Those with Autism

Whereas the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is rising in the United States according to Center for Disease Control and Autism Speaks (Coe & Shandwick, 2020), with an estimated 1 in 54 people having an ASD diagnosis in the year 2020, with boys being affected four times more than girls, and

Whereas according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), symptoms for ASD include deficits in social communication and interaction, restrictive and repetitive patterns of behavior, and can cause social and occupational impairment throughout the lifespan (American Psychological Association, 2013). Researchers need to continue to explore ways to provide interventions that help this population adapt and experience an overall good quality of life, and

Whereas music learning has been shown to improve areas like behavior regulation, language development, dexterity, and socialization in children with autism (Applewhite, et al., 2022). Home and school-based therapies that include music learning should seek to utilize new techniques to continue this progress, and

Whereas School-based Music Therapy has emerged over the last decade to be more available and can be added to the Individual Education Plan (IEP), (Schmid, et al., 2020). Music education offers a next-level, group-based curriculum that can meet the demands of inclusion requirements. These requirements are detailed in the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) which states that all individuals are to be given Free and Public Education (FAPE) and that is to include those with disabilities, and

Whereas music education creates ample opportunity to interact with social groups and work on communication skills (Hogle, 2021). By exploring new research to discover innovative strategies and behavior interventions, more students affected by autism can participate, and

Now therefore, we the undersigned citizens petition our government to allow increases in music program funding that are directed toward students with autism and other neurological disorders. Our government officials have done a great job creating funds for the arts, and we want to make sure that they do not leave out disabled populations. The signers of this petition want to let our Senators and Congressional Members know that we support more funding of Enhanced Music Education for Those with Autism.