On February 6, our community gathered at the SAAAC Autism Centre to celebrate a year of meaningful arts programming made possible through support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. We were honoured to welcome Andrea Hazell, MPP for Scarborough–Guildwood, who joined our team to learn more about how this program has supported autistic and neurodivergent children, youth, and adults across our community.
In late 2024, SAAAC received a $99,900 Ontario Trillium Foundation Seed grant to build a year-long arts program rooted in accessibility, safety, and joy. Over the past year, the program supported 114 students. The support from OTF allowed us to create structured, sensory-informed art sessions where participants could explore creativity in ways that felt comfortable and meaningful to them. For many families—especially newcomers and those facing financial barriers—this program opened doors to arts spaces that are often out of reach.
“This Ontario Trillium Foundation Seed grant is helping SAAAC create safe, inclusive spaces where autistic children and adults feel supported, understood, and empowered to thrive,” shared MPP Andrea Hazell during her visit.
At SAAAC, our arts program has been reimagined. It is not solely centred on performance or outcomes. It is centred on participation, regulation, communication, and belonging. Our sessions are designed with predictability and flexibility in mind. Participants are never pressured to engage in a certain way. Instead, they are supported to move at their own pace, make choices, and build confidence over time.
This approach is guided by our Pillar Model for inclusive arts spaces. We focus on being prepared and predictable, using strong visual supports, creating communication-friendly environments, adapting spaces to meet sensory needs, and respecting autonomy at every step. Together, these pillars help reduce anxiety and create the conditions where learning and connection can naturally happen.
Funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation helped cover key staffing costs, including a project supervisor and a visual arts instructor who brought both professional skill and deep understanding of autism to the program. As Jamie Laframboise, Senior Director of Occupational Therapy, Recreation, Education and Advocacy at SAAAC, shared, this support allowed us to build arts spaces that reflect lived experience and real community need.
As we look ahead, this recognition event was not just a celebration of a grant—it was a celebration of what is possible when communities invest in inclusive, thoughtful programming. We are deeply grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation and to all the families, artists, staff, and volunteers who made this year of creative growth possible.
