Who are we: Since 2013, PRISM has been closing a gap in Greater New Orleans by providing performance-arts-recreational-services, offering inclusive & specialized accommodated-programming for youth with disabilities & neurotypical youth. PRISM facilitates creative exploration & education while supporting the development of social skills, peer-relations, self-esteem, & friendships. Prism employs four Behavior Specialists who focus on the individual & group behavioral needs of the performers and four Creative Coordinators in Dance, Music Instruments, Voice, and Theater. The season ends with final public performance. Skills obtained: Students receive training in dance, voice, musical instruments, music-technology, working as a theater troupe, involvement in music video production, individual & peer social/emotional development. The > 1:1 professional & volunteer-staff, to student ratio, facilitates a high level of accommodation, supporting individual needs. Students have a “Buddy” (Tulane Student Volunteer) right beside them, modeling chord harmonies on the iPad, offering hand-over-hand assistance with percussions on a djembe, encouraging them to dance, or support their singing. A majority of PRISM students are on the Autism Spectrum. Data collected from PRISM’s last nine seasons has aligned with research indicating that engagement in the creative arts demonstrate increases in self-esteem and social/emotional expression for children diagnosed with disabilities. Partnering organizations: Prism partners with the student run organization, Tulane United for Autism is overseen through Tulane University Center for Public Service. The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (NOJNHP) supports an ongoing and evolving partnership with PRISM bringing local collaborations with guest-artists such as Charmain Neville, Mama Jamilah, Baba Luther, & Wash Board Chaz to work with the student performers. Also, NOJNHP provides In-Kind support to PRISM through professional quality music recording & editing, and music video production. Our Target Audience: Each year PRISM has an end of season public performance. PRISM performers also make multiple public appearances at Festivals, Award Ceremonies, & Conferences. Because of last years music video, we are able to reach a larger audience as seen in the following local 4WWL CBS article PRISM also has its 2021 music video posted on various organization's YouTube channels. In 2020 a story about PRISM was posted on the World Music Therapy Website highlighting PRISM’s resilience through the pandemic. In 2019 PRISM had a live performance for the Kennedy Center VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education Conference. The PRISM music video was shown at the 2022 NOLA Autism Festival and is scheduled to be shown at a presentation for the NOLA VA and through a virtual VA presentation in Washington DC. Who we Impact: Over the last nine years Prism has touched and positively impacted the lives of over a hundred young individuals with disabilities in the Greater New Orleans Region, over two hundred and fifty volunteers through affiliations with local Universities, and during the pandemic through Prism’s partnership with the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, been able to employ Professional Performance Artists during a time when that industry was severely and negatively impacted. Prism continues to grow and evolve, sharing its light and happiness, offering unique and powerful opportunities through a truly inclusive model.