Amazement Square

Amazement Square, a children’s museum in Lynchburg, Virginia, will partner with local school divisions and hospital Centra Health’s autism and developmental services to facilitate a comprehensive program addressing social-emotional and academic learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic for children with autism and other autism spectrum disorders and their families. The program will include a community advisory committee, in-class curriculum, exclusive quarterly museum experiences, professional development for museum staff, and publicly accessible digital resources. The program will increase the understanding of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) concepts among participating children, facilitate conversations and program development among the advisory committee, expand museum staff knowledge of inclusivity and autism spectrum disorder programming, and heighten awareness of the museum’s accessibility resources.