What Is Autistic Wings Dance Company?

Autistic Wings Dance Company is the dream of 12 years old founder, Leta Rundell. It is a studio dedicated to meeting the needs of exceptional dancers on the autism spectrum. It is a place where they can be themselves, and not have to worry about masking, or acting “neurotypical” so they “fit in” with the other kids. It’s a place where the staff have agreed to dedicate themselves to meeting the dancers where the dancers are at, and understanding there are different issues facing a dancer on the Spectrum than a neurotypical dancer. It is a place of belonging, growth, community, love, and understanding.

What If My Child Has Sensory Issues?

Autistic Wings Dance Company is creating our own version of a Dance Indiviualize Education Plan to address issues just like this. Once you have decided to enroll your child in our studio, we will schedule a meeting and discuss all of the sensory issues your child has. Where needed, we will come up with plans to help your child work through issues. However, we understand that not all sensory issues are something that needs to be overcome.

My child has issues stimming. Can we address that?

Leta understands stimming issues. Her stem is usually moving her feet like she’s tap dancing. All staff and teachers are aware that stimming is like breathing for a lot of kids. Even Level 1 Kids have stims. Our Dance Individualized Education Plan will address any stims the dancer has, just so the dance teachers know that it is a stim and not something else. We will never ask a dancer to stop stimming.

Why Does Autistic Wings Dance Company Only Offer a Homeschool Program?

Money. The simple answer is money. Renting out studio space is expensive. We have a place identified as the perfect place for our studio, but we need the money to move in and do some renovations.

What Classes Are Taught?

Autistic Wings Dance Company’s recreational program includes ballet, jazz, musical theatre, and tap.

Our preschool program focuses on movement.

What is a “Dance Individual Education Plan”?

To the best of our knowledge, Autistic Wings Dance Company is the first dance studio to impliment and create these plans. We have planned a few podcast episodes about our new idea, along with a few blog posts and some samples here on the website. The short answer is that this looks a lot like what you see in a school setting, we are just redesigning it a little bit so that it fits in a dance studio setting.

I Can’t Donate Money Right Now. How Can I Help?

Help us spread the word to families who would be interested in the program. Like and follow our social media accounts. Repost our content. Subscribe to the newsletter. Cheer our dancers on as they start traveling this road. Honestly, liking, following, and reposting/sharing our content is worth more than you would ever know.